Friday, May 31, 2013

My Adventures in Virtual Gardening

Queen's House Ornamental Kitchen Garden in Second Life

It seems that I've been captivated by the Potager or Ornamental Kitchen Garden for a very long time now.  Though I come from a long line of gardeners, I was first introduction to the magical structure of the potager through the BBC television series The Ornamental Kitchen Garden hosted by Geoff Hamilton.  The mix of fruits, vegetables, flowers & herbs arranged in symmetrical garden beds stuck me as such a practical & exceptional work of art that I've been in love with ever since.

For a while I was content using potager techniques in my own backyard until one fateful day back in January 2008 when I goggled "Versailles Kitchen" and found Louis XIV's "King's Kitchen Garden" aka the "Potager du Roi".  As with so many things associated with Versailles it was mind blowing!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

The Potager or Ornamental Kitchen Garden

A Potager at Château de Villandry, France

Designed to feed both body and soul, the potager or ornamental kitchen garden is the ultimate combination of parterre and vegetable patch.

Fruits & vegetables, flowers & herbs, are artfully arranged in symmetrical garden beds that are surrounded by low clipped box hedges.  These individual plots, separated by sand or gravel paths,  are precisely placed to form striking geometric patterns.