My English Country Garden Blog

My English Country Garden Blog is a wonderful place to sneak into the English countryside.

The blog’s author says:

Here I’ll be sharing my thoughts of other gardens, old recipes and garden writers with you, from William Lawson via Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte to Nancy Mitford.

Landscape gardens were one of the major features of Jane Austen’s England. It was more than a nice place to stroll. It was a philosophy of the 18th century life.

The neoclassical architecture was thought to be bringing one closer to  nature, as opposed to the medieval one that fortified one against it. Austen, the devoted fan of William Gilpin, was ever aware of it.

Pemberley is a prime example of an estate owned by a man who embraced the new worldview. Darcy’s house, perfectly situated when looking at it from the outside, opens to the park when looking from the inside. Every window offers a different point of view on the surrounding scenery. The windows of the saloon open to the ground, leading directly to the lawn outside. Indeed, at Pemberley the lines between the house and the garden blur, and by extension the man and his estate become one. The quiet elegance of his rooms speaks of his taste, just as the informality of his grounds speaks of his manners and mind.

To Elizabeth to be mistress of Pemberley means to be mistress of Darcy’s heart.

My English Country Garden Blog flashes out the details that would be so familiar to Austen’s contemporary reader. The various kinds of plants, their scent, colours, forms, meaning and history described with gardener’s taste and intuition create splendid images of the haunts our favourite heroines and heroes were fond of so much.