Maggie,
Went and visited England this morning thanks to your wonderful pictures! Do most of the houses/cottages have gardens like these? Or is this some of the tourist attractions? Wondered if it was like here, some of us garden, and others don't do too much.
Thanks for sharing, take care,
Mama Kane

I loved your question Mama Kane ... I'm so glad you asked!
The Cottage Gardens article is of a typical rural fishing village bordered by farmlands, with no imported industry or any devised tourist attractions - there is just its beauty and the sea. There are no hotels, except for one large house-looking thing resembling 'Fawlty Towers' :-). In the summer, a few locals offer bed and breakfast for visitors. There are no McDonald's, or restaurants except the fish and chip shop (the 'chippy'), the pub's dining room and the tearoom shop. So to answer your first question; no, these residential gardens have not been created for tourists at all - they are just typical 'yards' as we call them. The word yard 'over there' means a cement or gravel lot for parking heavy equipment and lorries (big trucks).

All ground around a British house is always termed 'the garden' ... even if it does look like Onslo's (and very few do!) which is indicative of the answer to your next question ... It seems to me that there are more homes with tended gardens than not, throughout most of the UK, even in urban areas. Although the larger private and open gardens receive more press in our media, even narrow strips of land fronting row townhouses usually accommodate the owners' flower passions, or subtle verdant beauty - and I will eventually post a few photos of some, on the Virtual Stroll pages.

It really is risky to generalize about anything, but in this case I will dare to! I dare to say that the ratio of gardeners to non-gardeners in the UK might be exactly the opposite of how it is over here (maybe more!). When growing up in the south of England, I always thought that in summertime, "the entire country seems to be one huge garden." And on my return visits, it is one of those constants that never fails me.

Hi Mama Kane, I studied at Oxford many years ago. Although we lack the opportunity to keep our own garden at this time, I (like Maggie) still draw on faraway vistas of the heart to fill my soul. That and visiting her site helps soothe my ache for the land of endless gardens!

I know so many people like myself who have never been to Britain, but love it from afar - sight unseen (in real life). Thankyou for sharing your lovely times there with us, Maggie.

Sorry Maggie, I saw the thread title and couldn't resist a re-visit, but it wasn't a Charlie D. thread after all....lol

Easy to be misled by that title... I was thinking her topography had grown since the earlier shows.
If so, surely the tabloids would have had a field day with it. (we don't get the Star over here)