Virtual Vacation: Botanical Gardens

There are four posts below (I would apologize, but it's my blog and I'm really not sorry) that cover our trip to Hershey Gardens. I saw this listed in a Triple A book and thought it looked like a fun place to go. I'd never before been to a botanical garden, so I was absolutely fascinated. I don't know how this one stacks up to other gardens around the country, but I have to say I was impressed with the variety and the beauty of the place!

Just to give you an idea...the site says the gardens cover 23 acres, and here are the types of areas they offered: a rose garden, an Italian rose garden, the children's garden, the butterfly house, the oak grove, a Japanese garden, ornamental grasses, an arboretum, a conifer collection, another rose garden, an herb garden, a perennial garden, a memorial garden, the square and fan gardens, and a garden dedicated to a former director of the Hershey Gardens.

We spent over two hours in the Gardens and loved every minute of it.

Here is one of the best "overall" views we got - and this still probably only covered an itty bitty part of it. We didn't have the greatest weather day, but it didn't matter.

I am going to make a sign like this...

...for when my yard looks like this. :)

Amber took this picture and it just cracked me up. No, this bird was not responsible for the mess under it, but it sure looks like it, doesn't it? :) I think in my scrapbook, I'll caption this, "Some days are just like this."

They had many weeping trees (you'll see a whole post on one of them below) but this was one of the more unusual ones.

If you've read my blog for very long, you know I l-o-v-e roses. To be in a garden with three whole areas designated for roses...well, I was in heaven.

Hey Skyepuppy - are you proud(ish) of this one? I remembered to do an angle shot with my camera. This was back in the tree part of the garden, and it was absolutely tranquil back there. I loved it...could have stayed for hours more!

I was pretty proud of this picture, too. There were a number of ponds and fountains around the garden.

I'm normally not a big fan of sculpture, but this one was good. I think I liked the incorporation of color. I don't recall seeing color on a sculpture like this before.

The only kind of bluegrass I can stand. :)

Amber..."attacked" by one of the weeping trees.

We took this picture for Amber's mom, who loves yellow roses.

The only two disappointing things were the lack of activity in the butterfly garden (more on that in a post below) and the non-existence of Swan Lake. This is the lake, which the sign says they drain a few times a year for cleaning and such. This was one of those times. We took a picture anyway...just imagine your own swans, I guess. In the background, up on the hill, was a hotel where we did NOT stay. It was one of the uber-expensive ones.

Below are more posts about specific parts of the garden. I promise promise promise the next posting session will be about chocolate!!