Happy day very dear friends and loyal readers, 🙂
Gosh we are in for a treat today thanks to Mairiuna who informed me about a beautiful and spectacular garden located at Portrack House near Dumfries in Scotland: The Garden of Cosmic Speculation which opened in 1998, inspired by modern-day cosmological theories.
It incorporates sculptures, water features, paths, lawns, a walled garden, and a maze, all arranged on the sloping grounds of a 19th-century country house. It’s on my bucket list for next trip to magnificient scottish lands!
With forty main sections, including garden, bridge, landscape, statue, terrace, fence, and other structures, the “Garden of Cosmic Speculation” covers nearly thirty acres of natural space!
The garden celebrates the natural world, inviting visitors to experience its beauty, mystery, and wonder. It also encourages visitors to use the five senses – sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste – to explore the environment.
Finally, the garden also invites people to use their imagination, as they encounter playful, and sometimes humorous, interpretations of the universe.
Click ➡️ for more pictures!
Is there a unicorn 🦄 in the garden? Did not see one… 😊
IN PRINT
My search on Amazon revealed this beautiful hardcover book about the garden. It is now on my wishlist.
This book tells the tale of this famous garden, created by internationally recognized architect, writer and lecturer, Charles Jencks, and his wife, the award-winning British garden and landscape designer, author and journalist, Margarete J. “Maggie” Keswick.
Their project, “The Garden of Cosmic Speculation“, is a landscape of extraordinary beauty and complexity. It celebrates science and offers an extraordinary vision of the universe. It is full of ideas and expressions, games, memories and allusions to cosmology.
The author narrates how the design and construction of this complex, whimsical, and at times, abstract, system was accomplished. He interweaves his own narrative into the larger story of the evolution of modern science. The book includes stunning photographs of the constantly changing, yet eternally intriguing, space.
Opening day is set for May 2023 at the garden which usually open for private tours only for four hours on one day of the year, providing access for only 1,500 people. Gotta book early!
If you had the chance of visiting the garden, please share your comments below so we can all benefit from your experience and insights.
While we are on the subjects of books, this is one that is an ideal gift for gardeners!
The National Trust of Scotland has unveiled details about its upcoming guide book, which is due out in spring of 2023. The book, titled “Gardens of Delight”, will feature more than 70 gardens and attractions throughout Scotland. Preorder the book now to receive it.
Until next, enjoy gardens and public parks as they provide a beautiful place to escape from the rigors of daily life and enjoy the wonders of nature. Strolling along shady paths among lush foliage provides a refreshing break from the monotony of workaday life!
Janice
Proud member of Scotiana’s team.
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/historic-environment-scotland-designates-crawick-multiverse/
Thank you for this very interesting post, Janice. The name of Charles Jencks (1936-2019) was in the news again today for, in recognition of its national importance, the Crawick Multiverse (close to Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway), has just been added by Historic Environment Scotland to their Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes.
Covering an area of 22.5 hectares (55.6 acres), the Crawick Multiverse was Mr Jencks’ final land-art project, and is his largest completed work in the UK.
Iain.