Early Spring, Northern California

Change your clocks, change your batteries. It is day-light savings time in California. Our days are marked by cycles of rain and cold weather alternating with glorious sunshine. We rush into the garden when the sun is out and feverishly prune, weed and labor. Already there are almost premature signs of spring, as is often the case, but it's just Mother Nature taunting--there will still be freezes and some dismal days ahead before we can settle into the "real" growing season. This weekend in our garden we see the precursors of le printemps....

Trumpet Daffodil

(Narcissus 'Salomé')

Trumpet Daffodil

(Narcissus 'Ice Follies')

There are thousands of jonquils, daffodils and narcissus available these days, so just about any shade of white, yellow or apricot is available, as well as the various flower forms. I have opted for softer colors in lieu of the classic 'King Alfred' daffodil in our garden and we have 'Ice Follies', 'Paper White" and 'Salomé'. Always, always plant these in swaths to get the best effect--and away from deer browsing as they will nip off the flowers.

Silver Black Lace Primula

(Primula vulgaris 'Silver Black Lace')

This is one of the delicate plants that I use along the walkway at the entrance to the house so it can be appreciated up close. The clumps of foliage stay around all year and multiply slowly.

Early shows from flowering shrubs include:

Red-flowering Quince

(Chaenomeles 'Kurokoji')

Winter Heath

(Erica carnea 'December Red')

This is one of the hardy heaths from the European Als. It blooms through a good deal of the winter months, into spring.

Flowering Quince

(Chaenomeles 'Toyo Nishiki')

Flowering quince are great for cutting and bringing indoors, especially if one has a penchant for Ikebana.

Japanese Camellia

(Camellia japonica)

I planted this Camellia in the background years ago and promptly forgot about it. These plants grow very slowly! I am not a huge fan of Camellias usually but many have gorgeous flowers and some are even scented. This one is a classic for its color and blossom but I don't even recall the variety. I did pick several blossoms this year to float in a centerpiece bowl and they were lovely.

Loaded with fragrance, and among my favorites are:

Evergreen Clematis

(Clematis armandii)

I use this vine on so many projects, it is getting to be a trademark, I'm afraid. Once it takes hold--which can be anywhere from one to two years after initial planting (not uncommon for most vines), it is spectacular. It makes a great screening plant (as shown here on top of a fence with a lattice support) or as a "fringe" along a balcony or eaves.

close-up of Clematis blossoms

Sweet Olive

(Osmanthus fragrans)

This evergreen shrub is a great background plant--but not too far in the background because the scent of the flowers is too delicious to miss. The foliage is attractive and it is easy to keep it in bounds. Its only drawback is that it grows so slowly. There's another species that has pale orange flowers and gives off a lovely scent that is reminiscent of oranges (Osmanthus fragrans aurantiacus) AND one that is used in some of the most expensive perfumes: Osmanthus fragrans thunbergii.

Some choice perennials have emerged to provide a little more interest along the pathways.

Voodoo Lily

(Dracunculus vulgaris)

Caution: this is an invasive plant and has an obnoxious odor if you get too close. It was already in our garden when we bought the property and there seems to be no way to get rid of it so I move volunteers back into a clump every year.

Mediterranean Spurge

(Euphorbia characias)

another Euphorbia with red stems and a miniature form--great for containers

Watch out for this perennial too--it will spread its seeds everywhere, but is easy enough to weed out. Use care when cutting back--the sap is irritating if it contacts the skin and toxic if ingested--ergo, not a plant to have in your garden if there are children around. If you want to cut it for arrangements, dip the stems in boiling water or hold a flame for a few seconds to stop sap bleed--much the same way as one does with poppies. It's tough, reliable and early to provide some color when little else is out. These have been blooming for a couple of months. This genus has about 2,000 species so there are lots of interesting color possibilities and some of the species will also repel gophers!

Lenten Rose

(Helleborus orientalis)

This image shows some of the varietal coloration in the flowers from free hybridizing.

Lenten Rose

(Helleborus orientalis)

These plants are from Turkey, Greece and Caucasus, but have adapted very successfully here because of our relatively warm winters. It will grow fairly well in dry shade but a little water helps. As it self-sows, you can select the ones you like by the variations in flowers, i.e., it hybridizes quite freely, especially with other species.

Some of the stone fruit blossoms have opened as well--which could be a disaster for the fruit crop if the rain falls too hard and long.

Dwarf Nectarine

(Prunus persica nucipersica)

Miniature Nectarine

(Prunus persica nucipersica 'Necta Zee')

Our faithful cover crop in the vegetable garden is blooming as well. I enjoy this plant long before we can harvest the favas.

Fava Bean

(Vicia faba)

Spring is just around the corner....

Château de Villandry, Loire Valley, France

Villandry undoubtedly has the most immaculately maintained gardens in the Loire Valley. It is France’s archetypal potager--an elaborate kitchen garden--with seemingly endless parterres defined by meticulously clipped boxwood.

The original gardens were designed in the sixteenth century in the Italian Renaissance style, with a water garden, ornamental flower gardens and vegetable gardens.

Grand Allée of Lime trees

The château was built in 1536 for Jean Le Breton, France's Controller-General for War and Ambassador to Italy under François I.

Moat at Château

Le Breton studied Italian Renaissance gardens while in Italy and was influenced by this in developing the gardens at Villandry.

16th Century wall

The addition of flower beds, fountains, bowers, and ornaments came particularly from his exposure to Florence.

The château remained in the Le Breton family for more than 200 years then suffered through neglect under its two subsequent ownerships and the garden was almost completely destroyed. It was rescued in 1906, by Joachim Carvallo, a Spanish-born doctor and his American wife, Ann Coleman. They poured an enormous amount of time, money and devotion into repairing the château and recreating the beautiful gardens in the Renaissance spirit.

Their great attention to detail begins at the southwest entrance to the estate, where the gravel courtyard has been raked as carefully as a Zen garden and all the hardscape is pristine.

The restoration evokes a painstaking love and deep Italian and French influences in developing the symbolism of each garden area.

Rose bud fountain nozzle

Scroll detail on viewing platform

In fact, the garden is fraught with romantic symbolism, but requires some study to realize this. The garden is basically composed of three levels: the highest is Le Jardin d’Eau (the Water Garden), at the north end of the 15 acre garden. The second level, just north of the moat of the Château, Le Jardin d'Ornement, consists of the Garden of Music, the Decorative Flower Garden, the Garden of Love and the Garden of Simple Delights.

View from belvedere over Le Jardin d'Ornement toward Le Potager

The lowest level is Le Potager (the kitchen garden), the garden for which Villandry is perhaps best known.

From the belvedere the best views of the geometric gardens can be observed.

Le potager, which covers three acres itself, derives from the medieval kitchen gardens cultivated by monks and nuns in the abbeys. Tree roses were traditional in the abbey gardens and at Villandry they have been planted geometrically to represent the monks.

The crosses seen throughout the garden reflect the monastic origins of Le Potager and the rotation of more than 40 types of vegetables, are arranged by color, form and companion planting rules. Only vegetables used in the 16th century are still grown.

The agréments (features designed for pure pleasure) placed throughout the garden suggest romantic love-- for example, the gloriettas, or gazebos, that punctuate Le Potager are made from latticework formed into intimate curved shapes, with a fountain splashing softly in front of each one, that seem to beckon lovers.

Glorietta

arched roof of glorietta

bench in glorietta with scroll supports

pair of gloriettas at cross intersection

fountain at cross

Features such as the urns overflowing with vegetables and fruit symbolize the abundance of the garden.

Strolling through Le Potager, one comes upon one lovely element after the next, with even fences and arbors detailed to suggest romanticism.

Painstakingly espaliered fruit trees line the walls in separate garden areas and climbing roses clamber over retaining walls.

The Garden of Love, which is built on a level above that of Le Potager, is absolute symbolism.

It is composed of four aspects of love expressed in carefully pruned boxwood forms: Tender Love, Passionate Love, Fickle Love and Tragic Love. In ‘Tender Love’ perfect heart-shapes of boxwood express love in its most ideal (Renaissance) form. In 'Passionate Love,' the hearts are broken in a crisscross maze. The ‘Fickle Love’ quadrant fans out the shapes to symbolize the volatility of feelings. Yellow flowering annuals--representing jilted love--are at the center of this quadrant. The last quadrant, 'Tragic Love,' is a disarray of shapes with jagged edges like daggers and the flowers within are red to symbolize the blood spilled in duels.

Le Jardin d'Ornement

Beyond the Garden of Love, are parterres with patriotic themes, like the Maltese cross, the Languedoc cross , the Basque cross and the classic fleurs de lys.

Le Jardin d’Eau contains the Florentine-influenced water gardens, which are like models of those at Versailles. The serene ponds of water are surrounded by immaculately kept lawns and softly splashing fountains.

East of the Water Garden is the Garden of Music, reached on one side by a bordering grape arbor.

Grape arbor

Garden of Music

Among the romantic architectural elements at the estate are great stone walls with ballasts and L'Audience.

L'Audience

Manicured grass paths bordered by allées of pollarded Limes (Tilia platyphyllos) lead to Le Jardin du Soleil on the opposite side of Le Potager from the Garden of Love.

A tightly manicured arbor encloses Le Jardin du Soleil, where annuals and perennials flower continuously alongside Le Jardin d'Herbes Aromatiques. Over 30 varieties of herbs for cooking and medicinal use are grown here.

Papaver orientale

Trollius chinensis

To the northeast there is a recent addition of a Renaissance style maze planted with 12,000 clipped Beech (Fagus sylvatica) trees.

Eight gardeners work full time аt Villandry under the supervision of Henri Carvallo (the great-grandson of Joachim), primping and tweaking the 45,000 annuals and 60,000 vegetables that are planted in a color-coordinated array every year and maintaining thousands of espaliered, pollarded, pleached and sheared trees and shrubs.

As an added incentive to visit Villandry (as if one were needed!), Les Nuits des Mille Feux is held in July. 2,000 candles light up the Château and gardens from sundown until after midnight and musicians stroll through the gardens playing Baroque music.

In 1924, Joachim Carvallo founded "La Demeure Historique," the first association for owners of châteaux with historical value, and ten years later Château de Villandry was designated a Monument historique*, and subsequently named by Unesco as a World Heritage Site. The success of Villandry is a testament to the strength of wealthy private ownership in preservation and restoration. There are many châteaux in France that have fallen into severe disrepair because of the destitution of their owners. In cases like Ussé, the gardens are still fairly well-maintained, but the château is crumbling while the family occupies one wing and struggles to hold onto their heritage.

* Monument historique is a State procedure in France by which heritage protection is extended because of a place’s historical importance.