La Rive

La Rive

We have returned home, thoroughly buoyed and exuberant, after a wonderful weekend spent visiting each of ten exquisite private gardens, generously made available for public viewing by their respective owners during this season's Franschhoek Open Gardens 2011 extravaganza. All funds generated by this worthy cause have been donated by the Lions Club of Franschhoek to the Fleur de Lis old age home in the village.

A poppy alive with busy bees in the garden of La Rive

We left home at midday on Friday, full of anticipation for what we were soon to experience. We had wisely booked two nights' accommodation, so that we could spend two full days visiting the gardens, at five per day. On our last day, we had the additional, spontaneous invitation to view garden designer Henk Scholtz's private garden, but more on that exciting, impromptu event later.

First up, may I present La Rive, a truly magnificent English Country style garden set in the heart of the village. By suburban standards, this is a very large garden and one that makes my own seem little larger than a pocket handkerchief! I overheard someone say, "six full-time gardeners are employed to maintain it"...and I can well believe that! This garden did its best to reduce me to tears at one point! It really is THAT beautiful! 

This is the garden that stole my heart when we last visited Franschhoek. We had espied some of its hidden charm whilst walking amongst the old gravestones, set in the historic cemetery that is situated alongside on the opposite bank of the picturesque river which courses gently through the village. I had seen a lovely, secluded stone bench perfectly framed beneath the deep, enveloping shade of a giant oak tree on the opposite bank. I'd photographed it and then, being the quizzy soul I am, craned my already stretched-to-maximum neck even further to steal a glimpse of what appeared to me to be the perfect filmset for a remake of 'The Secret Garden'. Imagine my delight when we learnt a short while afterwards that this was to be one of the Open Gardens we'd be able to visit. La Rive was our inspiration for attending the Franschhoek Open Gardens weekend and the first garden we elected to visit! 

This is the sight that greeted us upon stepping through the entrance courtyard gateway! This very large garden has three distinct garden rooms. The first is the garden surrounding the pool and U-shaped homestead. Let's walk around this section, shall we? I'll leave you to take it all in...

Please don't mind my butting in...I just wanted to point out that the second garden room, to be accessed on the upper garden terrace, is reached by ascending the wide staircase (seen here) situated at the far end of the pool. As you can see, the stairs are attractively framed by a generous, creeper clad pergola and are lined, on both sides, with lusciously planted pots of seasonal flowers.

A section of the large, beautifully landscaped garden on the upper terrace. 

We now approach the piece de resistance of this truly magnificent garden...the gateway to the third garden room, or as I prefer to think of it, 'The Secret Garden' situated on the lower terrace and established along the length of the   river to which it lies adjacent.

And there, in the distance, beneath several creeper clad archways, is the bench I saw from the old cemetery, on the opposite bank!

The tempting pathway leading to the bench is formed by lengths of old railway sleepers, generously interplanted with fragrant ground covers and clumps of alyssum and pansies in full bloom. A sight too glorious for words!

Enjoying some quiet time was this elderly couple...who succeeded in getting themselves into everyone's pictures. 

The wide, double gate leading to the secret garden is a work of absolute beauty in and of itself.  I played around there for ages, capturing it from all angles. 

My patience finally paid off and I had the bench all to myself for a little while. Did I sit? No, I spent the time photographing it from different angles, both from the front and from behind. It is a double bench, with a wide seat on both sides and was equipped with two, well-padded, full-length cushions to ensure a comfortable rest. No wonder those two "oldies" hogged the spot for far longer than was polite! My husband's theory is that they make this an annual event...trying to see how many pictures they can appear in :)

Large, planted pots are used extensively in the garden beds at La Rive. We have returned home determined to incorporate several more in our own garden! 

The bench viewed from the riverside. In addition to the large Oak tree beneath which it rests, are several tall tree ferns which soften the scene in the most pleasing way. 

Looking back towards the entrance to the secret garden from the pathway leading to the bench. 

This is the side-ways view that awaits anyone seated on the bench! 

We took so many pictures of the flowers in this garden, both generally and in close-up...I would need to devote an entire post just to share those with you!

For now, it has been my intention to give you an overall view of the layout and style of La Rive. Sadly, I have only been able to give you a glimpse. Should anyone wish to see more, I shall be happy to prepare an additional post once I have completed my objective of producing ten posts of the ten open, private gardens we saw this past weekend. I also want to do an additional post, in which I unveil the garden we were invited to see, privately.  

"HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?" I hear you exclaim, disbelievingly! Well, we had driven past this particular garden and, as so often happens, I asked my husband to, "Please double back! I HAVE to take a closer look at that garden we just passed!" As usual, he willingly obliged. I had intended taking one picture of something that had caught my eye, but I was foiled. The owner was seeing off some lunch guests and so it was not possible for me to do my usual sneaky, over-the-garden gate capture. I needed to ask permission to do so this time. The owner, an evidently charming gentleman greeted me with a broad, friendly smile and answered, "Of course!" Imagine my surprise when I was invited into the front garden to get a better shot at my intended capture. Feeling slightly sheepish, I initially declined, but the invitation was so warm and generous, that I felt I could then accept. Once inside the garden, my enthusiasm clearly got the better of me and, before I could stop myself, I asked whether I could please take a second picture! I was then invited to step through the house and into the totally private garden at the back...BUT you will have to wait until I do a separate post on Henk's magical garden!

To conclude this post, I shall share three of several statues that grace the magnificent grounds of La Rive...

This intriguing and eye-catching, stone sculpture has pride of place in a secluded section of the secret garden. We saw two further works by this same artist in two of the other gardens we visited. We have yet to discover this talented artist's name.

This winsome child sculpture gazes across the garden on the top terrace.

Deep in thought, she remains poised on a rock at the top of a waterfall that cascades into a koi pond beneath her.

I do hope you enjoyed accompanying me on a visit to La Rive. I should be delighted if you'd care to join me at each of the gardens we visited. If so, please "watch this space!"