A Day with a Friend

These massed plantings greet you at the long driveway entrance right off the highway.

As you pull in to the parking area, this is the view that greets you. It is only a partial view…..more to the left. You can barely see the mountains in the background……..so much haze and dampness. My heart rate has already increased in anticipation of all the flowers!

This is one of the many stone sculptures that greeted you as you walked into the indoor garden center. This was the smallest, at about 10 inches. Mighty cute.

The sound of water from this and the many fountains sets the tone for lowering my heart rate (not!). I love fountains….they add sound, movement, and structure to garden spaces.

I saw the baskets, then this one filled and ready for a picnic. I was hungry, and the Pringles were mighty tempting!

I did like this fountain and another in particular.

I admit it…..I put my hand under the dripping water, happy to let it flow through my fingers…….

These bird bath tops were gorgeous, and reasonable. I was tempted, but I already have 3 birdbaths in my gardens.

This was on the other side of the rack.

I was still being tempted, as I thought one would be beautiful displayed on an easel in the garden where you could enjoy the beautiful detail. They are almost 24 inches across.

This was a child sized rocker and beautifully crafted.

These hanging plants were 50% off and did not look tired at all……..They were so big! The herbs were also on sale and some basil found its way into my cart.

Pretty , yes ?

This is just one of the greenhouses……but first, lets take a peak outside.

Oh my. I decided to go outside….there was only a light mist. All the “globe” plants in front of the entrance shed are mums almost ready to bloom.

Pretty Crepe Myrtles, Mums and other plants tempting you at every turn.

And then I eyed what I was looking for…..the Cleome (the purple plant against the greenhouse) and I grabbed two of them for my cart. They were 50% off and a bargain at $7.50 each. They are big! And the sky opened up again!

Outside the first greenhouse, along the side, are these hanging containers along the entire length of the greenhouse.

All along the fence that surrounds the outside areas are flowers on the fences.

This particular hanging plant was about 5 feet tall.

See the weeping willow all the way at the end of the path? With all the rain this year it is just amazing.

After I got poured on, I decided to head back into the houseplant greenhouse where I got a Jade tree, know as the friendship tree, lucky plant, or money tree. I figured that just maybe I might win some lottery so I can purchase the Georgia Equestrian estate I featured last week. Of course, I still haven’t bought a ticket.

Here you really notice how foggy it is and the low clouds at the bottom of the mountain. And it is still raining.

So back inside, in greenhouse 3 I spotted this unique fountain. The water cascades down the glass inserts on all four sides. Very pretty.

My friend Kim needed a couple of pots for a couple of the plants she purchased, so when it stopped raining we headed back outside to the pottery area. Then we headed back inside to finish up and pay for our purchases. We pretty much filled up my van.

From the parking lot looking back as we were leaving was a cloud filled valley and some pasture cows and lone horse.

They seemed content to enjoy the cooler than expected temperatures….it was barely 80.

As we exited there was another huge hanging basket.

This home was next to the entrance and the entire length of its fence was covered in flowers.

This blue green Deodar Cedar provides a perfect backdrop for the blooming hydrangea. Its weeping form is spectacular.

A little further down the drive, a wider view.

Heading out to lunch.

I spotted these boulders. By now you know I am crazy for boulders in the garden. Love the moss……

Texture, color and profuse blooms packed into every bed lining the long driveway

The white pines add a lot to this planting area.

Aren’t the varigated color of some of  the leaves interesting?

The Crepe Myrtles are at their peak now.

Just before we exited onto the highway, I caught glimpse of this low rock wall they were building along the highway.

This was at the restaurant next to a planting of several birch trees. Love it.

Also at the restaurant, I noticed how they used larger rocks as mulch and edging. In front it looks like a dry stream bed.

Here a beautiful Japanese Maple, lirope and pale pink shrub rose really looked at their prime.