The “potager” (vegetable garden) at Villandry Castle in the Loire Valley is a most impressive rendering of the idea of a vegetable garden. It is huge, colourful and a demonstration of horticultural art at its best, along with the science to make it work. The “parterre” areas are planted twice each season. Spaces are surrounded…

Built in the 1700’s as part of a vast country residence in the Loire Valley near Amboise, this pagoda was evidence of a fad for all things Chinese in that era. There were gardens, a huge lake and a “grand canal” like at Versailles, and a huge residential “chateau”. All that remains now is the…