Tropical Gardens of the Philippines. Elizabeth Reyes
The house looks out onto magnificent views of the garden and the surrounding countryside.
A sweep of stately palms ushers you into the driveway of the Lu Ym property and up to the sprawling house set on a hill designed by Bobby Manosa. The hillside setting is spectacular with wide, well-tended lawns, lush ornamental borders and airy views.
From the house one gets a glimpse of the luxurious and flowing design of the garden. Wide stone steps softened by greenery lead to the different terraced levels that have been incorporated into the garden through the skillful use of elevation. Palms are a major component with royal palms (Roystonea elata) currently dominating the scene. The owners have planted them in a naturalistic style distilling a feeling for the landscape into the structure of the garden.
The silhouettes of these palms enhance the many different vistas fully appreciated from above. From the top, the eye is led down the central vista to focus on the more free-flowing spaces that are to be found in the lower part of the garden such as the small natural pond and the lavish beds and borders along the perimeter wall. Farther away from the house, the formal elements are translated into softer, more rounded forms of clipped shrubs and meticulously sheared ground covers.
The sound of flowing water comes from a contemporary fountain, which features a cascade of water trickling over a series of vats. Traveler’s palms (Ravenala madagascariensis) and date palms dominate the top end of this water feature, while Bromeliads and bright red ornamental gingers contribute colorful accents. The repeated groupings of Heliconias and Philodendrons create a harmonious look.
A small gravel-paved courtyard in the house displays a collection of exotic ornamentals such as Bromeliads, Anthuriums and Philodendrons, along with some ferns. Annabelle Lu Ym, the lady of the house, known around here as the “constant gardener” loves to have potted plants that can be moved easily around the garden to maintain interest and variety.
The garden’s structure with its steep central planted vistas going up the hillside, and its pattern of paths that rise, pause, join and intersect until they reach the house from where one can look out at magnificent views of the surrounding countryside is a distinct expression of the combination of yin and yang : Areas of dense shade are worked with areas of light and energy together creating a harmonious whole.
White Cattleyas decorate one side of the spacious lanai.
A striking Dracaena arborea dominates a corner of the indoor court garden that is tightly planted with Bromeliads, Anthuriums and Philodendrons.
Giant pavers in leaf patterns provide a whimsical touch adjacent the house.
Potted ornamental plants such as ferns, palms and Bromeliads are used skillfully to make movable displays for the indoor plantings.
An ornamental pond adjoining the house mirrors the sky and surrounding greenery.
A statue of Buddha casts a meditative spell over a pond of tropical water lilies.
Wide steps softened by tightly clipped shrubs and ground covers lead to different terraced levels in this garden.
A cascade of water trickles down a series of vats that has been designed as a fountain.
The silhouettes of palms enhance the many different vistas fully appreciated from the top of the property.
Plumbago auriculata weaves through the borders in great sweeps. Known as Cape or Blue Plumbago, the species is native to South Africa.
Royal palms, Roystonea elata, underplanted with boxed Duranta and plumbago line the driveway. Native to the Caribbean islands, and the adjacent coasts of Florida, Central and South America, they are commonly found in Asia nowadays.
VICKY HERRERA’S GARDEN
Tagaytay City, Cavite
A panoramic view of the garden overlooking the majestic Taal volcano and lake.
A stone bench nestles against plantings of colorful Impatiens and wildly fragrant, native sanggumay orchids, Dendrobium anosmum. Somewhat surprisingly, the orchid’s scientific name translates as “without scent,” which is a bit of a misnomer as this plant has a strong perfume.
Perched on the side of a hill in scenic Tagaytay, the garden of Vicky Herrera looks out onto one of the most magical views in the Philippines, that of Taal volcano and its lake. One would think this would pose a serious challenge to anyone intent on creating a garden here: it’s not just the views the owner had to contend with but also the ferocious winds that sweep off Taal Lake and Laguna de Bay. Herrera met the challenge by designing a garden of mostly colorful and sweet-scented perennials that thrive in rich volcanic soil and hardy annuals that tolerate the wind. She believes that the soft and airy growth habits of annual species make for natural plantings when combined with perennials.
Today, the garden’s bold and wild color palette frames and enhances the mostly quiet and tranquil panorama. After more than 20 years, the once bare hillside is now home to many colorful and healthy plants. Evergreen shrubs and pine trees form the backbone of the design, and these are reinforced by the contour of the lawns and exuberantly planted borders. In July, orange and red Impatiens is planted in groups of ten or 20 in the borders. Fast growing, they soon compete with the equally vigorous Lantana camara in yellow and pink. Petunias, Cosmos and Hibiscus, along with brightly flowering Salvias, contribute to the explosion of color.
Everywhere, flowering plants drift and flow, fall and climb over each other in an unorchestrated ballet with the wind. A daring colorist, Herrera is fearless about combining brilliant hues and prefers reds and oranges to soft pastels. She encourages the unlikely combinations of red Salvia, orange Impatiens, dark pink Azalea and yellow daisies, which she contrasts with blue ginger and feathery Cleomes (spider flowers). The strong, dark colors are used to strengthen the borders. Since this is, in large part, a naturalistic garden, plants are allowed to reseed themselves and choose their own places in the planting scheme.
Around the back, the garden is divided into two levels. Encircled by loose waves of Salvia splendens, the first level slopes to a mossy embankment profuse with a dazzling display of yellow, pink and white Lantana to reveal a secret nook with stone paved benches and a pergola cloaked with the owner’s prized Jade vine now in flower. This hidden enclosure provides another spot from which to admire the view. On the second level there is a wooden gazebo that provides shelter from the elements. Except for a magnificent grouping of Medinilla and a tree fern here and there, Herrera has resisted the temptation to plant the more exotic and ornamental plants that have become fashionable in many tropical gardens.