the front garden
The tour brochure described Marc McCalmon and Sara Brallier’s Froggy Bottom garden in DuPont thus: Froggy Bottom garden, DuPont, “a 600 foot long stroll path and tumbling stream lead downhill to a stone and gravel patio at the foot of the garden, furnished with…owner-made benches inspired by a visit to Beth Chatto’s garden”. Our speaker from the UK was the famous Adrian Bloom of Blooms of Bressingham, whose garden is “Foggy Bottom”, so this was perfect to have on the tour.
entry sign
in the gate
just inside
the garden's upper level
Walk with me down Froggy Bottom's stroll path.
Here we turn to look back up the path.
Now we look down to the lower patio.
Sheila takes a detour, crossing the waterfall stream.
We pass a bank of artfully placed rocks.
Strolling on down...
A shady border is to our left.
We approach the lower patio.
And again we look back.
The stream from above ends in a pool by the lower patio.
We pause in admiration.
Just look at those inlaid stones.
Standing on those inlaid stones, we look up at the waterfall.
The water theme carries past the lower patio with this dry creek bed....
...that ends in the very bottom of the garden.
At the bottom, a borrowed view, and borrowed space to hang a birdhouse.
We'd like to sit around the fire but have many gardens still to see.
From the fire circle, we look back at a little shed...
...and at another view of the waterfall pool.
Again we admire the paving.
We gaze up the hill from the fire circle.
One last look at the lower pool.
Back we go up the stroll path, past the shady corner.
At the top again, we explore the gardens and pond.
braving the stepping stones
the upper pond...
bog plants
and another view
It's hard to leave this garden.
I was a little embarrassed by these, er, pot "feet" until I realized the pun: "Froggy Bottom".
Alliums
And so we depart, onward to more gardens. The only way to get to spend enough time in a garden like this is to create it yourself, attach yourself to the creator, or become their jobbing gardener.
[…] She showed me in her guest book where ADRIAN BLOOM (one of the weekend’s speakers) had come through the garden….There is his entry, “Adrian Bloom, Foggy Bottom” (the name of his famous garden) and he writes “Excellent!” I would be so thrilled. Nicholas Staddon also signed; he is British but now a plantsman for Monrovia nursery, also a speaker for the event. I wonder if they made it to all the gardens, and if Adrian got a kick out of one being called “Froggy Bottom.” […]
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