I have to tell y’all something: I love me a good deal. And the best deal I’ve run into for quite some time has been my botanical garden member pass with its American Horticultural Society reciprocal agreement, permitting me (and a friend) entry into a whole bunch of other gardens (and some Frank Lloyd Wright houses, too) all over the US. So far I’ve taken friends to three botanical gardens and one Frank Lloyd Wright house. And the year isn’t even close to over.
On Friday, my friend Melanie and I went to Blithewold mansion and gardens in Bristol, Rhode Island. The mansion was closed for a private event (wedding, to which we weren’t invited, but that was okay– we weren’t dressed for it anyway), but our main interest was the gardens. And they didn’t disappoint. Here are some of the late-summer flowers:
The flowers and garden vegetables and all the flora were in their late summer profusion, a last hurrah before the fall.
There was also art, courtesy of artist Donna Dodson. We saw large-scale bamboo bird sculptures, one of which we could sit inside.
The gardens included flowers, big and small trees, vegetable and herb gardens, and of course water features (with a ceramic frog and lotus flowers).
The gardens were right on the water.
Of course, after all that strolling and photography and oohing and aahing, we needed some refreshment. So we went to a local seaside restaurant and found a bike path (to be explored next time).
End of summer is, for academics, an often-stressful time; we’re trying to finish projects we began months ago, as well as getting materials prepped for teaching in September. But taking a break for an August outing was exactly what was ordered. The work will still be there on Monday.
