Germany, Bali, Biltmore

Sanssouci is a French term that means "without worries." For King Frederick the Great of Germany, the Sanssouci palace and gardens was a retreat where he escaped the worries of running an 18th century empire and where he pursued his passions for philosophy and the arts.

The 18th century was the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, and Sanssouci mirrored the spirit of the times. King Frederick worked with French and German landscape designers to perfect his vision of an estate that would later reflect his compassionate style of leadership. Frederick was seen as the first servant of his state, and this was reflected in his attention to the plants and trees in his gardens, as well as his tolerance for windmills and the close proximity of peasants and farmers to his estate.

Sanssouci's style follows a highly decorative Rococo sense of balanced symmetry. Its gardens are characterized by a series of carefully manicured lawns, geometric plantings that surround fountains and reflecting pools, and hedged avenues that open on to quiet, smaller-themed gardens.

A remarkable feature of the gardens is the system of sculpted terraces. Starting at the palace, they flow downhill to the palace lawn, and open to a large swath of grass that is edged with colorful floral borders of annuals and perennials. Oriented to the south and curving gently, these terraces capture full sunlight throughout the day. Laurel and yew trees stand amid the banks of glass-enclosed rooms in the terraces' retaining walls. These individual greenhouses were used by Frederick to cultivate sun-loving orange and fig trees, as well as grape vines. During the cold winter months, the doors were closed in order to protect the delicate non-native plants, and their fruits were enjoyed at the king's table, inside the green domed palace. The terraces are connected by a prominent staircase, which directs visitors to the large fountain that stands at the center of the lawn.

The fountains of Sanssouci were an essential element to the Rococo style. Fountains were thought to symbolize wealth of life. Windmills helped to pump water from a nearby river, to irrigate Sanssouci's gardens and keep its fountains flowing. The technology of the times was not always efficient to create the sort of soaring fountains that visitors see today. Frederick switched the fountains on just before the arrival of company.

Bali Bird Park
Bali, Indonesia

In the late 1800s, George Washington Vanderbilt began construction near Asheville, North Carolina, on Biltmore Estate, the largest private residence in the United States. The architect of this French Renaissance-style chateau was Richard Morris Hunt, and the landscape architect was Frederick Law Olmsted, whose most famous works are New York's Central Park, the landscaping at the National Zoo, and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. Today, the estate is open to the public, and visitors can tour the house, grounds, and many garden areas: the Library and South Terraces, the Walled Garden, the Conservatory, the Shrub Garden, the Spring Garden, and the Azalea Garden with its bass pond. The estate preserves much of Olmsted's original plan.

Early on, Olmsted determined what guests would see from the house. Just off the 23,000 volume library is the Library Terrace, with its thick canopy of trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans) and wisteria, supported by a large arbor that provides a shaded and cool area. Below is the expansive South Terrace, with its large central lawn that accommodated bowling tourneys in Vanderbilt's day, and its limestone tea room at the far corner of the square. From here, there is a breathtaking view of the Blue Ridge, including the highest point, Mt. Pisgah.

The Italian Garden was originally called the Garden Terrace, but came to be identified by its statuary and ornamental pots. It is actually of 16th-century French design, and features three symmetrical pools containing water lilies, Egyptian lotus, canna and ornamental grasses. The main features of this expanse are its broad gravel paths and panels of manicured lawns.

The English Walled Garden, situated on a four-acre square, is bisected by a vine-clad grape arbor. In an Elizabethan Knot Garden tradition, the upper half of the square is filled with colorful ornamental plants and patterned beds of Victorian influence. Tulips are presented in abundance during the spring. Initially, the upper part of this garden was to be a kitchen garden, in which to grow fruits and vegetables for the estate's residents and guests. Today, however, this walled garden's flowers bloom throughout the year. It is an unusual garden to be credited to Olmsted because he was known for his naturalistic design rather than for formal gardens.