I study gardens. Every summer I sign up for the Garden Conservancy Open House tours. This year I went over to Connecticut, about an hour away to suss out Bunny Williams garden. It’s awesome. She has lots of land and many gardeners so she’s been able to make a woodland garden that almost defies belief. The best part was the beginning as you enter. Off in the distance, catching the corner of your eye is something not ‘animal or vegetable’. Brilliant. Wish I had the space for it.
I covet that rusted wire orb
The key element of the Roji is the path that crosses boundaries and entrances and guides you to the tea house. Stone paths are traditional and the stones in the outer path are straight with a formal pattern, the stones in the inner path are scattered, yet purposeful. They guide you through the space and slow you down, involve you and take you out of yourself. There is a sense of bridging, crossing over and proceeding deeper into the Roji leaving the dust of the world behind.
-excerpt from A Tea Garden in Tivoli
Annabelle Hydrangea in June seem like waves of surf. The tea house can be seen in the far back, cool in the green shade of the afternoon.
In early summer the blossoms are pale green
