We went through these gates and found ourselves in a delightful planted garden. Given the day was getting warmer and warmer, it was quite a relief to be wandering shaded paths as we admired the semi-formal arrangements.
As mentioned last week, I don’t have much gardening knowledge, but this didn’t prevent my appreciation of the colours on display. Mrs. PC is better versed in plant stuff (that’s a technical term) and confirmed these were hollyhocks:
Some of the areas were a bit overdone for my tastes, and other spots were just right. This, to my mind, is just right:
Some of the wider vistas reminded me of the gardens of stately homes I was dragged around as a cheerful child back in the UK. You’ve probably seen a few serving as picturesque backdrops to televised British costume dramas. There is always a line going “Mr. and Mrs. Whittenstall-Ponsonby-Wealthy-Slave-Trader-Landed-Gentry-Hyphenated-Jones kindly request the company of…” and then you fall asleep.
I particularly enjoyed the small stream running through the gardens, and was very tempted to dip a toe in the water. Mrs. PC stopped me just in time, and took this one as a reminder I really should listen:
Must have been temporarily disoriented by the heat, but with cooler heads prevailing, we repaired to a shady bench and enjoyed a picnic lunch.
As you might have gathered, I’m not one to make regular visits to stately homes or formal grand gardens, at least no more than once or twice in a decade, but my lack of seriousness aside, I did enjoy these gardens. I can very much appreciate the skill, effort and passion necessary to produce such a lovely setting. Our new backyard requires a little landscaping, and now we’ve so many ideas. I think Mrs. PC is open to a tasteful statue or two or three…
I’ll finish by saying thanks for reading, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and sign off with a few more photographs below!
OldPlaidCamper 
Lovely garden filled with beauty, humor & imposing statue of OPC with cool attire & mighty trident. Always a pleasure!
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Thanks, Walt! My immaturity aside, it really was a wonderful garden!
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Mrs PC said it may not be a good idea to dip your toe in the water? I bet she is really happy that you didn’t strip down like Neptune and wade in the fountain. That’s my attempt at humour…Seriously, though, what a wonderful place to sit down in those two chairs and ponder the beauty, and a lovely setting for a picnic lunch! Nice that you are enjoying your time together, and I like the shot of the Hollyhocks, they are so pretty!
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Thanks, Jane! I’m learning to behave better in public spaces… Yes, those hollyhocks are so pretty. We used to have them growing outside our kitchen window back in France, and it might be we can grow them successfully in our new backyard. An idea for next year…
I hope your week is off to a good start! (It’s cooled down here just a little, maybe enough so we might hit the water, paddle for an afternoon…)
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Lovely gardens
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Agreed!
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What a lovely garden PC. I enjoyed traipsing through it with you. And always nice when you get inspired for your own garden. Cheers and have a great weekend. 😀
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Thanks, Miriam! I’m hoping our inspiration doesn’t become an obsession… luckily, only a small backyard!
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What a wonderful garden stroll and love the last photo!🙂 Sounds like Mrs. PC will have plenty of ideas for the backyard landscaping, if she wasn’t too distracted by your shenanigans. How are you guys adjusting to the warmer temps? Thankfully the humidity is gone and we had our first great weather day in awhile. Sounds like Kane is definitely going to Bayern and now I have to subscribe to another sports package. Then again, I may just constantly rewatch Ted Lasso. Enjoy the week!🙂
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Thank you! One positive about the excessive humidity – it doesn’t encourage us to consider spending more time “working” in the backyard…phew! Slightly more seriously, the warmer temps aren’t too bad, fairly similar to when we lived in SW France (an area known as the cauldron of France) so we’re mostly ok with it provided we’re not doing yard work. It cooled down a lot over the weekend and into this week – I had to find some long pants!
Has Kane gone yet?! I’ve just started season 3 of Ted Lasso, and it’s definitely better than watching Everton. Most things are, and I certainly hope you don’t find yourself having to watch them!
Enjoy your week!
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I really enjoyed walking through these formal gardens, pc, with you and Mrs. PC and, as always, your writing had me chuckling from beginning to end. Folks like you two and me who like to romp in the wild woods find a formal garden a little goofy at times, but there is that element of nature and the reverence for it, that keeps us going through the clipped hedges. I love being surrounded by lots and lots of flowers. Always a pleasure, my friend. I hope you two are going well in your new home, and I think it’s great that you’re getting acquainted with the Quebec environment. Cheers to you both.
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Thanks, Jet, and happy this one prompted a smile or two. Agreed, these planted gardens are a bit of a head scratcher, but goodness, the people maintaining them work hard at it!
Hope your week is off to a great start!
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