Isn’t the green lovely
I’m just returning to work today after two glorious weeks holidaying in France. There is so much to be gained from these experiences, and it’s not until your return home that you can make the comparisons and really decide on what aspects of a trip you really enjoyed.
I’m impressed with the Chateaux Gardens and their surrounding landscapes. It’s mostly the beautiful trees and Avenue formations that I enjoy. We never venture to look at the interiors as not even my visa card can pay for the broken priceless vase one of the boys will definitely knock over.
However it’s the flower displays in the towns and villages that impress me most. The mix of perennial’s and grasses with small amounts of annual bedding have great impact on the visitor.
Instead of the grass strip between path and roads the local council and community have planted bright perennials in oranges, purples, and all sorts of colours. Ornamental grasses are used to punctuate the displays and create rhythm. They sway and swirl, and are not over manicured and therefore not intimidating displays of horticultural excellence. Irish tidy towns groups should try more of this, and it would save them money in the long term.
Parts of France have had very little if no rain for 6 weeks, and therefore the grass areas are dead. On returning home my Son said to me ‘Isn’t the Green lovely’, I just laughed. Isn’t it the main reason so many of the European visitors come. They don’t come here for sunshine, and are prepared for the rain. All the same I enjoyed the break from it.
