While walking to the Folger Shakespeare Library for a tour, we enjoyed the massive gardens on the Capitol grounds.
After touring the Folger Shakespeare Library, we enjoyed their garden…
…before walking down to the Smithsonian Castle…
…along the way we found more patriotic gardens…
At the Smithsonian Castle we found prodigious gardens with lovely spots to sit and relax.
As lovely as all the gardens were, my favorite was the parterre, which has an interesting history.
Originating in Italy’s 16th century Renaissance, the French adopted the style in the 1580s.
For America’s bicentennial in 1976, the Smithsonian Castle installed this parterre, inspired by a print of Philadelphia’s exposition one hundred years before.
Two other gardens were built on each side of the parterre in 1987.
While the Moongate Garden was inspired by 15th century China, the Fountain Garden was inspired by 14th century Spain.
