2008 Botanicla Garden Tour: Part 1

(Warning: a very picture heavy post)

So I have finished the baby sweater. This is the sweater for the first grandchild of a very good friend. Her daughter, this baby's mother, was a favorite babysitter for my girls when they were just wee ones. She lost her little girl last year so this baby was very nervously anticipated. I just received word that he was born last evening and is a happy, healthy baby boy. Yeah!!!

All this little guy needs is some cute buttons.
I would like to make a little jester hat or booties to go with this jacket but don't have much of the blue left. Maybe I will make some booties and just crochet a little edging.

Yarn: Mission Falls1824 Cotton
Needles: Addi Turbos size 4 circulars
Chest Measurement: 22"

Now I would like you to suspend reality for a moment and pretend this is the entrance to my garden...


Don't I just wish. I don't have the buckos to do this and if I were in charge it wouldn't be this amazing. (When I showed this to the Head of Maintenance he asked who would be plowing over those stones this winter. He is all in favor of our black asphalt, so I guess this won't be the view into my garden anytime soon.) This is just a little teaser to entice you to follow me on the 2008 Pittsburgh Botanical Garden Open Gardens Tour. It was an overcast day that threatened rain off and on but was actually a great day to see the gardens, not too hot, not too bright, and except for a few showers, just right. So let me lead you down the garden path.



All shades of blue and white. Blue petunias, catmint, balloon flower, must remember this.


This is their perennial garden. It is very long but obviously not very deep. If I were in charge (and they must thank God every day that I am not). This sucker would be about 12 feet deep and just stuffed with plant material. I would have put in lots of vertical elements and ruined the whole composition. The thing I like about this perennial border is that it is low and you can see the forest beyond. It would be quite manageable too. I could learn a lot from this garden. It was serene and lovely.


A really well done water feature. So many water features look plunked down from on high. I think this one works. I would love a little waterfall at our place so will keep this shot in mind when I win the lottery.



We also peeked in the windows. It was furnished in a contemporary style, very clean and modern, an interesting juxtaposition with such a traditional exterior. I loved it and could have moved right in, no one extended the invitation so we moved on.


The sight of this tree completely took my breathe away. A weeping Kutsura tree is a thing of great beauty. I have spent the last 3 days imagining where I could plant one here on the farm. Now you would think with 40 acres to play with this wouldn't take 3 days. But this is a special tree which deserves a lot of forethought. I'll let you know what I come up with.


This was the view behind us from the terrace. This garden was my absolute favorite. The people living in the house now did not make the garden but they are wonderful stewards to the vision of the previous owners. The previous owners purchased the home in the 80's and had all the trees on the property removed. Now this is a big deal because in this particular borough of Pittsburgh you are not allowed to cut down any trees without permission. They paid the fines, brought in yards of good soil and compost and designed an enchanting garden on a sloped, relatively small city lot.





The cutting or butterfly garden, not sure but it was lovely.






And this is my all time favorite water feature. Doesn't it make you just want to spend your afternoon watching the fish go by. This is incredibly peaceful,so large and on a sloped lot, amazing design. It is tucked in next to a retaining wall.

Does anyone have any idea what this plant is? It was growing with the hostas and hellebores in the shade. The new owner didn't know what it is and I would like to plant it in my woodland garden.



I think that is enough for now. Hope this has been as inspiring for you as it was for me. Now I am off to my sorry little patch.