The Met Cloisters

Fort Tryon Park, NY

The Cloisters perches quietly and demurely on the northern tip of Manhattan overlooking the Hudson River and the Pallisades of New Jersey. A gift of John D. Rockefeller, the Cloisters was constructed using architectural elements of five French monasteries from the 12th through the 15th centuries. It houses the medieval collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

At the heart of the museum is the Cuxa Cloister and Garden. A typical medieval garden, the Cuxa Garden is divided into quadrants with crossed paths and a fountain at the center. Smaller Seibert & Rice Artisan Rolled Rims planted with topiary sit along the low stone walls between the pink marble columns around the garden.

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The Bonnefont Herb Garden contains one of the most specialized plant collections in the world based on over 400 species known and used in the Middle Ages. Four Quince trees grow in beds in the center of the garden. Around it, plants are grouped and labeled according to medieval uses, such as cooking, medicine or magic. Tender plants are planted in Artisan Rolled Rim planters and come inside in the winter.