Program 683a: English Country Gardens; On Becoming a Gardener; In Praise of Wasting Time

There are gardens all over Britain where you can enjoy a riot of color and floral design. On the next Travel with Rick Steves, we get tips for including some of the best English country gardens in your sightseeing.

Author Catie Marron [ KAY-tee MARE-un ] tells us how she got inspired to develop a garden of her own, to feel like she belonged at her new home in Connecticut.

And M-I-T physicist Alan Lightman explains why a little unstructured time to goof off every day is good for you.

Take an hour to smell the roses, with the next Travel with Rick Steves.

• English tour guides Gillian Chadwick, Tom Hooper, Roy Nicholls
• Catie Marron, author of "Becoming a Gardener" (HarperCollins)
• MIT theoretical physicist Alan Lightman, author of "In Praise of Wasting Time" (TED Books)

• The RHS Chelsea Flower Show for 2025 is being held May 20–24 in London. Most timed-entry tickets sold out well in advance.
• The National Garden Scheme raises money for charity with special private garden tours in Britain.
• Kew Gardens in London is the headquarters for the Royal Botanical Society.
• Places mentioned during the "English Country Gardens" interview in segment A include Beatrix Potter's house Hill Top and William Wordsworth's Rydal Mount and Garden in the Lake District; the Physic Garden in Chelsea; the medieval gardens at the Wheal and Downland Museum in Sussex; Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent; the gardens at Hidcote in Gloucestershire; and sculptor Henry Moore's "Hoglands" home in Hertfordshire.
• Other garden favorites mentioned are the Italianate Bodnant Gardens near Conwy in North Wales; the gardens of the Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow, Ireland; and various gardens in Cornwall, Sussex, and Kent. Rick and the guides also make note of outstanding rose gardens at Warwick Castle on the River Avon, and at London's Hampton Court and Regent's Park near Baker Street.
• Catie Marron wrote "Becoming a Gardener" to document how working a garden is a way to celebrate life.
• Catie has also written "City Squares" and "City Parks," and lamented on Travel with Rick Steves program #482a that squares and plazas are not as prominent in American cities as they are in Europe. She also spoke with Rick on program #525 about her role as former chair of Friends of the High Line, the organization that oversees the above-ground park space and walkway in New York City on a converted elevated railroad line.
• Alan Lightman is a Professor of the Practice of the Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of "In Praise of Wasting Time."
• Alan's latest books include "The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality in the Age of Science" and "The Miraculous from the Material: Understanding the Wonders of Nature."
• Alan spoke about what he discovered "Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine" on Travel with Rick Steves program #549a in December 2020.

• "I thoroughly enjoyed a day of outdoor art sculptures and gardens in Hertfordshire visiting Henry Moore's home. The flower garden and expansive acreage of rolling hills exhibit the world's largest collection of his work. It was awe inspiring!" (Elise in Nevada City, California)

• BRU_BTV_0260_00801_Gentle_Rivers_APM
• George Shearing, "Country Gardens," The Best of George Shearing, vol. 2 / Capitol
• KPM_KPM_0339_04001_English_Country_Garden_A_APM
• KPM_KPMK_1181_01401_Growmore_APM
• Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, "Country Gardens," Percy Grainger: The Power of Love / Naxos
• KPM_KPM_0209_02701_English_Country_Garden_APM
• Adelicia Ensemble, "'Connecticut Country Fair' from 'New England Suite' (Vally Weigl)," Music for the Appalachian Trail / Gasparo Records
• * English String Orchestra, William Boughton, conductor, "The Banks of Green Willow (Butterworth)," Music for a Devoted Gardener (collection) / Westminster Abbey Heritage Collection-River Records
• Michelle Sell, "Arroyo," Secret Harbor / Sugo Music
• Lynne Arriale Trio, "Red is the Rose," Come Together / Motema Music
• Con Sordino, "Butterfly Waltz (Erkki Melartin)," Music for a Devoted Gardener (collection) / Westminster Abbey Heritage Collection-River Records
• Ray Lynch, "Here & Never Found," No Blue Thing / Ray Lynch Productions
• Ryuichi Sakamoto, "Aoneko No Torso," Smoochy / Milan
• Adelicia Ensemble, "'Connecticut Country Fair' from 'New England Suite' (Vally Weigl)," Music for the Appalachian Trail / Gasparo Records
• * Elizabeth Cotton, "Washington Blues," Shake Sugaree / Smithsonian Folkways
• Ryuichi Sakamoto, "Lorenz and Watson," BTTB / Sony Masterworks
• Covent Garden Royal Opera House Orchestra, "Tales of Beatrix Potter: Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, part 2 (Lanchberry)," Lanchbery Ballets / Warner Classics
• Pompon Finkelstein, "Lost in Reflection (based on Verdi's 'La Forza del Destino')," Buddha-Bar, vol. 8 (collection) / George V Records
• MPATH_MPATH_0039_00901_Coveted_APM
• Penguin Café Orchestra, "Perpetuum Mobile (2008 digital remaster)," Signs of Life / Virgin
• David Arkenstone, "No Rain, No Rainbows," Echoes of Light and Shadow / Domo Records

* Indicates filler music used during internal breaks on the broadcast

• At 17:14, Gillian recommends traveling to Bodnant Garden in Wales "in May" for the blossoms. Roy adds that, usually in June, during the height of the garden season, some major private gardens in Britain are open for viewing by the National Garden Scheme.
• Catie, at 22:02, says her family came across their Connecticut country house "about five years ago." She describes the joy of tulip blooms in March and April to brighten a particularly dismal spring season in 2020, during the first pandemic lockdowns, starting at 25:00.
• At 43:20, Alan refers to a Time magazine cover article "from a year and a half ago" about teenage depression.
• In the reset at 47:51, Rick mentions Alan's most recent books are titled "The Transcendent Brain" and "The Miraculous from the Material."