Gardens of the World

Formal Gardens has always been my favorite segment. They did a great job of leading the viewer from ancient Egypt through Imperial Rome, to Islamic gardens and the gardens of Renaissance Italy. After exploring the gardens of seventeenth century France, this segment explains how the formal garden was swept out of fashion by a craze for landscape gardens, only to have formal gardens return during the nineteenth century. All of this information is covered in half an hour with fantastic photography and beautiful music. This segment alone is worth the cost of the DVD.

Flower Gardens is a visual poem on the beauty of flowers. Audrey Hepburn begins this segment by saying that "There's an expression that says: 'happiness is to hold flowers in both hands'. For those of us who love flowers, they are the heart and soul of a garden. From bud to bloom, they satisfy our taste for color, scent and sentiment." Her love for flowers really shines through. You can tell that she wasn't acting; she was just being herself. This segment features Monet's garden at Giverny, including his waterlily pond.

Tulips & Spring Bulbs is my least favorite segment, mainly because Keukenhof isn't my sort of a garden. It is neither natural nor formal and much of this segment was filmed in that garden. If you love Keukenhof , you will love this segment; it is just a matter of personal taste

Country Gardens is probably my second favorite segment in this series because the garden at Ninfa, near Rome were so beautifully photographed and the music makes this garden even more magical. I really can't choose between this segment and the one on Flower Gardens; they are both delightful.

Public Gardens & Trees is awkwardly written because this segment features George Washington's garden at Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson's garden at Monticello. The reasoning behind this is that those gardens were once private but are now public; this doesn't make any sense because all of the gardens in the section on formal gardens were once private but are now public. By devoting part of the segment to those two gardens, there was barely enough time to present a basic introduction to the development of gardens and parks which were designed for the public. It is still an interesting segment.

I hope that I have convinced you to buy this DVD. It is well worth the price. I have watched the episodes

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