world reviewer
Kent Ross
Kent has been travelling since he was born, joining his father, Graham Ross, on the inaugural Canadian tour in 1985. Since then he has escorted tours to Canada, China, Hawaii and local Wildflower Safaris to Fraser Island and The Outback.
He is passionate about the natural environment and brings a wonderful mix of experience and enthusiasm to his tours. His personal travels have taken him to 29 countries including the 2000 Garden Festival in Graz, Austria.
Kent plays a key management role in Ross Garden Tour Company.
Kent Ross's activity
- 25 Feb 2008
Kent Ross reviewed Villa d’Este at Tivoli in Rome, Italy
Some enterprising film producer should stage a new production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at Villa D’este, for the garden is already full of magic and strange happenings. A series of terraces and intersecting paths demand the visitor explor…"
Kent Ross reviewed Sissinghurst Castle Gardens in South East England, United Kingdom
The most imitated part of English poet and novelist, Vita Sackville-West’s widely admired garden is the White Garden, which dominated much of 1980s garden design, but there is much more to Sissinghurst than this. The success of the garden is the partner…"
Kent Ross reviewed Keukenhof Gardens in The Netherlands
Keukenhof means ‘kitchen’ gardens but don’t be led astray, there is nothing domestic about the scale of this enterprise which sees seven million bulbs planted annually, including one thousand different tulip varieties. As the showcase of the immense Dut…"
Kent Ross reviewed Hidcote Manor Garden in Birmingham, United Kingdom
The idea of the garden room bordered by an eye-catching combination of plants was pioneered here by American-born British soldier and garden creator, Lawrence Johnston, who moved to Hidcote in 1907. The red borders, which date from 1913 are said to be t…"
Kent Ross reviewed Great Dixter Gardens in South East England, United Kingdom
The late gardener and author Christopher Lloyd was an exuberant and opinionated character and his garden is just as colourful and unpredictable. The garden dates from 1910 when Edward Lutyens, who is often deemed the greatest British architect of the 20…"
Kent Ross reviewed Monet's Gardens in North East France, France
Claude Monet’s inspirational garden is essentially two separate gardens. The Flower Garden is designed around the Grand Allee leading to the house and is a seasonally changing tapestry of colour that stretches from the ground into the sky via trellises …"
- 24 Feb 2008
Kent Ross reviewed Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada
You have to admire the vision of Jennie Butchart who saw the potential for beauty in the disused quarry close by the house she shared with her husband, cement baron Robert Butchart. The quarry became a sunken garden, the Butcharts added a Japanese style …"
Kent Ross reviewed The Garden of the Alhambra in Andalucia, Spain
The scrollwork on the arches, and the intricacies of the tiling around the walls, spell out opulence and extravagance, but the garden courtyards of this ancient Moorish palace show an appealingly modern restraint. It’s the simplicity of the planting, com…"
- 05 Feb 2008
Kent Ross reviewed Chateau de Versailles Gardens in Paris, France
Outraged that his own finance controller had created a grander garden at Vaux-le-Vicomte than anything the king himself owned, Louis XIV commissioned Château de Versailles, a palace surrounded by a park that became the epitome of the French baroque gard…"
- 15 Nov 2007
Kent Ross reviewed Saiho-ji Moss Garden in Osaka, Japan
Saiho-ji, Kyoto, Japan Kyoto’s famous moss garden can only be visited by applying in writing, many months in advance. Those lucky enough to gain entry walk paths past lush moss, which is lit with a shimmering tracery of light falling through the trees o…"
