Magical Gardens – Real Life Wonderlands

Of all the scenery in Alice and Wonderland, I really enjoy the Queen’s hedge maze the most. It sort of reminds me of The Labyrinth. I think it would be amazing to go inside of a garden maze one day. Although actual travel is out of the budget right now since we just went on vacation, there’s nothing wrong with daydreaming about the places I want to go. Currently my imagination is taking me on visits to these magical gardens that are like real life Wonderlands.

Magical Gardens – Real Life Wonderlands

Dubai Miracle Garden, Dubai

The Miracle Garden in Dubai gets first mention. This place is absolutely breathtaking. It opened in Dubai on Valentine’s Day 2013. The largest flower garden in the world, it’s made up of over 109 million planted flowers on 72,000 sq meters. There are floral heart archways, flower covered houses, and basically anything you can imagine involving art and flowers. This is truly what one thinks of when they hear the term magical gardens. I feel like if I were to ever spot a white rabbit with a pocket watch, it’d be here. 

Topiary Garden Zarcero, Costa Rica

This topiary garden located in front of the Iglesia de San Rafael is like Alice in Wonderland met Edward Scissorhands. Created by a man named Blanco Brenes, he has been adding new topiaries since he began in 1964. You can find a dinosaur, a peacock, and even a dancing couple amongst the many topiaries. The favorites though, are the 16 juniper archways that lead to the church. How amazing that one man has created over 100 fantastic topiaries.

Wisteria Tunnel at Kawachi Fujien Garden, Japan

This private garden in Japan is only open in the spring for Wisteria season and again for autumn. There are 22 types of wisteria from 150 trees that cover 10,000 sq meters. There are two wisteria tunnels as well as other areas to see and smell these beautiful flowers. 

Labyrinth Park of Horta, Spain

This beautiful park in Barcelona, Spain combines an 18th-century neoclassical garden and a 19th-century romantic garden. Originally began in 1791, it had many architectural elements added throughout the years. In 1971, this park was open to the public and had many restorations. The park features many Greek statues, waterfalls, springs, and at one time even had a replica of a small graveyard. The hedge maze is simply amazing. This is one of the magical gardens I wouldn’t mind being lost in for an hour or two.

Guildford Castle Gardens, England

From a defense fortress to public gardens, the Guildford Castle has seen it all. In 1888 it was reopened as a public pleasure garden to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee the previous year. These colorful gardens, now absolutely breathtaking, were once motes for the castle. In true Wonderland fashion, there’s even a life-size statue of Alice Through the Looking Glass on site. 

Garden of Cosmic Speculation, Scotland

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation is located in Dumfries, Scotland at the home of landscape architect and theorist, Charles Jencks. The garden is not something one sees everyday – a combination of math, science, and nature come together to make these intellectually stimulating and visually pleasing designs. Although the garden is private, it does open once annually for charity. 

Does your hometown have any beautiful gardens like these? Which of these magical gardens would you most like to visit?