There are those who, as soon as they get to an unfamiliar city, immediately go to its most celebrated museum to learn more about where they have arrived. And then there are those who prefer a tour of its botanical garden, for exactly the same reason. Sir Francis Bacon wrote that “as ages grow to civility and elegance, men come to build stately, sooner than to garden finely—as if gardening were the greater perfection.”
Stefanie Waldek, an American writer with a passion for travel and space adventures, has compiled a very long list of gardens that she considers must-sees. It is a mixture of historical gardens, botanical ones, Zen oases, and other unique green spaces, located throughout the world.
“For me, gardens are the perfect microcosms for exploration here at home [on Earth],” writes Waldek, “they’re something that can be enjoyed by all kinds of people, all over the world.”
Her work, 150 Gardens You Need to Visit Before You Die is part of the 150 series released by Belgium-based publisher, Lannoo. While each of these gardens should be visited at least once, a truth about gardens is that they are best enjoyed when visited repeatedly, to admire the changes they experience with the seasons.
Here are some of the gardens that Waldek highlights. Some are famous, others less so, but all share captivating and beautiful aspects that are sure to appeal to curious travellers.
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Amber Fort, Jaipur
It appears in the distance like a mirage, floating on the waters of Lake Maota near Jaipur. This terraced garden sits at the foot of the Amber Fort, an age-old fortress in the town of Amer, built over a period of more than a hundred years, starting in the late 16th century. It was long the residence of the Rajput maharajas and their families. The garden is home to fields of saffron crocuses and is four-sided in the classical Persian pattern (Čahār bāgh). It is said to be even older than the glorious palace.
Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix
Some people think that nothing grows in the desert, but that is of course not the case at all. Proof of this can be found at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1939 by Swedish botanist Gustaf Starck and philanthropist Gertrude Divine Webster, the garden occupies 60 hectares and includes over 50,000 plant species. In addition to being a botanical attraction, the garden is home to the Desert Landscape School, which teaches professional and amateur gardeners how to design gardens for areas with arid climates.
Ryoanji, Kyoto
The rock garden at the Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto is the most famous example of karesansui, or dry garden, in the world. The defining characteristic of dry gardens, which distinguishes them from other styles of Japanese gardens, is the total absence of water. This garden of stones was created in 1450 as an integral part of the temple and includes 15 rocks arranged in such a way that it is never possible to see all of them at once. This aspect of the garden so fascinated the composer John Cage that he was inspired to write a piece dedicated to this place of peace and meditation.
Jardín Botánico del Instituto de Biologia (UNAM), Mexico City
Mexico is famous for its historical sites, beaches, and cuisine, but perhaps not as well known is the coutry’s astonishing biodiversity. A visit to the botanical garden of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) offers a chance to see some of wide variety of plants found in the country. The collection includes many endangered cactus species, which are particularly valuable at a time when the world is threatened by climate change. The impressive garden stands on an ancient lava flow, which over time has created natural waterfalls, caves, and rock gardens. Among the garden’s most unusual inhabitants is the rare tarántula del Pedregal spider.
The Sacred Wood, Bomarzo, Italy
Although it is a 16th-century Italian garden, the Sacred Wood in Bomarzo, Italy is a completely unique site, unlike any other gardens of its day. Conceived by Pier Francesco “Vicino” Orsini, a soldier and patron of the arts, together with architect Pirro Ligorio, this garden follows a Mannerist style while defying the common conventions of symmetry and order of its time. Instead it introduces surreal and grotesque sculptural figures, including mythological monsters and elephants. The sources that inspired Orsini remain a mystery, but the charm of this eccentric garden is undeniable. Among those drawn to it was the artist Salvador Dalí who shot a short film there and drew inspiration from it for his painting The Temptation of St. Anthony.
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The Tulcán Cemetery, Ecuador
While we may not think about it often, cemeteries are also gardens. “In Tulcán there is a garden so beautiful that it makes you want to die,” reads the epitaph on the gravestone of José Maria Azael Franco, responsible for designing said garden. Franco’s masterpiece is part of the municipal cemetery of the Ecuadorian city, and he worked there for decades as a caretaker and gardener beginning in 1936. With his talent for topiary art, he decided to breathe new life into the place by trimming the cypresses into shapes that paid homage to different cultures, from the Incas to Augustinian monks. In recognition of his work, the Ecuadorian government declared the cemetery a cultural site in 1984. Franco, who was then 85 years old, died the following year.
Ayrlies Gardens & Wetlands, Auckland
Some of the most fashionable plants in our gardens and urban green spaces, such as Phormium (also known as New Zealand flax), come from faraway New Zealand. But where should gardeners go when visiting this island state of Oceania? One of the most fascinating sites is the Ayrlies Gardens in Auckland. In the 1960s the area where it is located was a wasteland, but despite the garden’s relatively young age, it has been named a New Zealand Garden of International Significance. Created by Beverley McConnell, the garden offers a picturesque and almost wild yet thoughtful design. The wetland area, a 14-hectare marsh added in 2012, provides an invaluable habitat for birdlife.
The Butchart Gardens, Victoria, Canada
Created by Jennie Foster Butchart, the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island in British Columbia are an extraordinary example of environmental restoration. Her husband made his fortune in cement production during a building boom, but his wife found the views of a quarry from their home far from idyllic. When the site was finally decommissioned in 1909, Foster Butchart decided to turn it into a garden. She began with what is now called the Sunken Garden and that was followed by a rose garden, an Italianate one, and several other themed gardens. A staircase bridges the 15-metre span from the quarry floor to the planted areas that surround it. Perennials, shrubs, and trees now grow there but only after tons of soil were brought in using horse-drawn carts. The Butcharts opened the property to the public and in 1915 there were 18,000 visitors. Now close to a million people make the journey to see them each year.
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Fondation Claude Monet, Giverny, France
Monet’s famous paintings of water lilies were created in his garden at Giverny—a rural location in the north of France where the painter moved in 1883. The star of some of his most recognisable works was his water garden, crossed by a Japanese-style bridge, which he commissioned. As the artist’s eyesight deteriorated, his garden flourished and his paintings became increasingly Impressionistic.
Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore
Located just off the Orchard Road shopping area, the Singapore Botanical Gardens were founded in 1822 by Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, a British officer best known for founding the city of Singapore. Created with the aim of experimenting with different crops, in the early years the gardens focused mainly on the cultivation of the para rubber tree, grown from seeds imported from Kew Gardens in London. Today, they are a world-class scientific institution, dedicated in particular to the cultivation and conservation of orchids. The Singapore Botanical Gardens were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, the only one in the city-state.
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Tromsø Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden, Tromsø, Norway
Temperatures range from minus 6 to a relatively balmy 15 degrees Celsius and for a good three months of the year, from November to January, the sun does not rise above the horizon. Despite these extreme conditions, the Tromsø Botanic Garden, the world’s northernmost botanical garden, is home to a wide range of species from all seven continents and includes alpine, Arctic, and Antarctic plants. These include the Himalayan blue poppy (Meconopsis betonicifolia) and numerous lichens that cover the rocky landscape. The garden is accessible free of charge 24 hours a day and is part of UiT, the Arctic University of Norway.
Campos de los Tulipanes, Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina
Not, you’re not in Holland, but in Argentinian Patagonia, near the border with Chile. The Trevelin tulip field, cultivated by the Ledesna family since 1996, is an ephemeral attraction that attracts tourists for one month each year (between October and November). It may seem strange at first but the climate here is actually ideal for tulips and thousands of the brightly coloured flowers create a majestic spectacle at the foot of the Andes. The region welcomed many Welsh settlers in the second half of the 19th century and these migrants in search of better lives brought their typically British passion for gardening to the New World.
