The Jumping Bridge at The Garden of Cosmic Speculation.
Welcome to our latest Curiosity of the Week, which looks at a very special garden, featuring some awesome sculptures and slightly mind-bending landscapes.
The wonderfully named Garden of Cosmic Speculation at Portrack House in Scotland was created by architecture theorist and critic, Charles Jencks. This quirky and unusual garden takes its inspiration largely from cosmology and mathematics.
Rather than a conventional garden full of flower beds, this garden prominently contains sculptures and landscaping, making it just a little special. The 30 acre garden was planned with forty major areas, featuring gardens, bridges, landforms, sculptures, terraces, fences and architectural works.
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation’s areas include a DNA Garden, Geometrical Snail Mounds, a Cascading Universe, a Fractal Terrace, a Quark Walk and a Black Hole Terrace.
The space also includes a Nonsense House, a Common Sense Garden, a Linear Paradise Garden, a Land Dragon and a Water Dragon. The garden takes you on a journey through the smallest building blocks of nature, through landforms and geometry, by ‘using nature to celebrate nature’.
The Black Hole Terrace.
The garden was created by Charles Jencks at his home, Portrack House, near Dumfries. Jencks is a world-renowned cultural theorist, landscape gardener, and the founder of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres.
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation is a private garden, so it isn’t usually accessible to members of the public. The great new is that the garden is open to the public this Sunday (1st May) to raise money for Scotland’s Gardens and Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres.
Admission will cost £7 for adults, £5 for concessions, and children under 16 years go free. The garden will be open from 12pm to 5pm and visitors should pay on the gate (free parking is available in the field opposite). There will be a pipe band playing during the day, and teas and cake will be available.
More info: For more details on the open day visit www.scotlandsgardens.org.
The Cascading Universe.
We are always on the lookout for interesting customs, hidden places and unique buildings to share with our readers. If you have an idea for our Curiosity of the Week then please do get in touch, we welcome suggestions from everyone. You can contact us by emailing info@contrarylife.com or send us a message via Facebook.