Happy Friday GPODers!
A few months ago we got to see some unbelievable scenes from the world-famous Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, South Africa thanks to Caroline Crolley from Yakima, Washington (Check out those submissions: Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Part 1 and Part 2). But that wasn’t the only stop Caroline made on her visit to Africa. Along with her stop in the south of the continent, she made a visit to the bustling city of Marrakech, Morocco in the north. There are countless activities to fill every hour in this city brimming with art, history, and incredible food, but, as a plant lover, Caroline made time for a trip to Majorelle Garden.
This historic garden in the heart of the city combines art and plants in astounding ways, and has a few famous characters tied to its history. The first is the person who created the gardens and who gave it its name (as well as the name of the blue that can be found throughout the gardens), Jacques Majorelle, a French painter and the son of the celebrated Art Nouveau furniture designer Louis Majorelle. After purchasing the plot of land in 1923, Jacques spent decades cultivating gardens around his Cubist villa and even began opening the gardens to the public in 1947. Sadly, a divorce in the 1950s led to him selling the home and the gardens were abandoned. Thankfully, the exact right people came around in the 1980s and saved the gardens: the famous fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé. It took over 20 gardeners to revitalize the landscape, but the gardens were eventually opened to the public again. The style and perspective of all these creative minds is prevalent in both the structures and plants found in this garden today, and Caroline managed to perfectly capture that in these photos.
Traditional Moroccan tile work welcomes visitors.
Several reflecting ponds enhance the plantings.
Love the blue! (Named Majorelle Blue because of its prominent use in the gardens)
This linear reflecting ponds enhance is a famous feature of the garden.
One of my favorite photos of the many I took in the country. The plasterwork is characteristic of Morocco.
This shows how the garden is situated in the middle of the Medina (the walled medieval city within Marrakesh), and also how crowded it was with visitors.
Lots of gravel mulch.
Cacti in the late afternoon light.
Lovely palms.
Thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous photography of another incredible international garden with us, Caroline! I am increasingly envious of your travels, but it is a pure pleasure to see these marvelous garden masterpieces through your lens.
Which public gardens are on your bucket list, and have you scratched any off recently? Let us know in the comments below, or consider sharing photos from your visit with the blog. Follow the directions below to submit your photos to Garden Photo of the Day!
We want to see YOUR garden!
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, fill out the Garden Photo of the Day Submission Form.
You can also send 5–10 photos to (email protected) along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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