A Quiz for the New Year

I love quizzes, crossword puzzles and any kind of mind-testing game. For years, they have been a feature of our family’s New Year celebrations. So as the final blog post of 2014, why not join in the fun?

I wish I had thought of the quiz idea myself but I am borrowing it — quite shamelessly — from an English blog called Parks and Gardens UK.  Parks and Gardens UK bills itself as the “leading on-line resource for historic parks and gardens providing freely accessible, accurate and inspiring information on UK parks, gardens and designed landscapes.”  Usually written by Dr David Marsh, the blog aims “to inspire, amuse or cajole you into finding out more!”

I came across this blog only recently and haven’t yet been cajoled into reading more than a few of the fascinating entries that have run throughout the blog’s first year. So let me confess, I failed their quiz with ease.

My quiz is much simpler but, like theirs, refers only to the past year of entries. I’d love to hear through the comment box below how many questions you could answer and whether you enjoyed the quiz itself. Would you like it to become an annual feature?

The quiz starts with ten photos that show places I’ve written about this year, then adds ten more that show plants. It ends with two bonus questions that are there just for the fun of it.

(Relax, no one is totting up the scores. And the answers appear at the end of the post.)

Where is this?

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10.

What is this?

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10.

Bonus Questions:

What is the name of this installation, and who is the artist?

1.

2. What does this sign refer to? Where is it located and who conceived and designed it?

Answers:

Where is this?

1. Anne Norton Sculpture Garden, Palm Beach, Florida, USA  2. Sezincote, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, England  3. North Hatley, Quebec, Canada  4. Villa Lante, Bagnaia, Viterbo, Italy  5. Glen Villa, North Hatley, Quebec  6. Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Capetown, South Africa  7. Il Bosco della Ragnaia, San Giovanni d’Asso, Tuscany, Italy  8. Reford Gardens, Metis, Quebec, Canada  9. Adkins Arboretum, Ridgely, Maryland, USA  10. Great Fosters, Egham, Surrey, England

What is this?

1. Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) 2. Mountain fleece (Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’ ) 3. Crown imperial fritillaria (Fritillaria imperialis ‘Vivaldi’)  4. Astilbe (Astilbe chinensis ‘Veronica Klose’) 5. The missing Lady Byng peony (Paeonia lactiflora ‘Lady Byng’)  6. King Protea (Protea cynaroides)  7. Jeffersonia (Jeffersonia diphylla)  8. Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)  9 Corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana ‘Red Baron’) 10. Magnolia (Magnolia ‘Susan’)

Bonus Questions:

1. In Tranit/En Route, Patterson Webster

2. Two Roads, by Patterson Webster. The sign appears where someone walking in the woods at Glen Villa has to choose between two paths. The words refers to the poem by Robert Frost.

Happy New Year!