Are These the World’s Most Beautiful Gardens?

Beautiful gardens take root as an idea in the mind of a designer, who can look at a space and see its potential for splendor. Celebrate the gift of gorgeous garden designs by taking a tour of some of the world’s most famous — and lovely — gardens.

Take a step behind the beauty of gardens to discover the designers who create them. The newly revised and updated edition of The Garden Book showcases the work of more than 500 garden designers and gardens in more than 45 countries. Whether you love gardening, design, history or inspirational scenery, you’ll savor touring the timeless gardens from around the world pictured in the pages of this book. Here's a glimpse of what you'll see.

Find inspiration for your own corner of paradise in the Vlinderhof Garden in Utrecht, Netherlands. “Vlinderhof” means “butterfly garden” in Dutch. This community-maintained garden was designed by Piet Oudolf, designer of New York’s High Line Park, the 9/11 Gardens of Remembrance at the Battery and Chicago’s Lurie Garden. Vlinderhoff covers 1.25 acres and displays what’s called the New Perennial style (or Dutch Wave). It features drifts of perennials and grasses that stir in the breeze, creating waves of color, height and texture.

This world-famous Renaissance garden follows the style of a traditional French ornamental kitchen garden or potager. Designed by Dr. Joachim Carvallo in the early 20th century, the potager unfurls in nine boxwood-edged squares filled with a variety of tasty and colorful edible crops. Carvallo focused intently on choosing plant varieties for the garden, selecting those that offered delicious fare and eye-catching good looks. Typical potager varieties include blue leek, red cabbage and beetroot and carrots with bright green tops. Villandry is located in the French Loire Valley.