Visit to the CBG III: Rediscovering Childhood

The Hershey Children's Garden is a magical place, and it is open to children of all ages--as the docent was quick to reassure us when we inquired whether "we adults" were allowed to enter. That may have been true, but there were many features (like this vine-covered arch that Amy was nice enough to pose beside, to give a sense of scale) that were strictly designed for the smaller set.

I'm glad that I didn't have to miss the opportunity to visit this wonderland... and I'm also glad that there weren't too many people in the garden that day. The kids may have understood, but their parents would likely have rolled their eyes at our exclamations of delight as we explored this little paradise.

A small station at the entrance to the garden shows several cut flowers in small bottles, which children are supposed to look at, remember, and then find in the garden as they explore. A sundial in the patio floor there allows you to stand in the center and use your own shadow to determine the time--and all birthdays are listed around the outside of the sundial. (The docent said that the kids just love to walk around and find their birthdays here.) There is even a maze in the garden... an entrance to what looks like a stand of arborvitae reveals itself as you walk past. The path winds you into the center of the stand, and then winds you back out near the exit.

The huge treehouse at one end of the garden beckoned us first. It spanned a change in elevation, so you could walk up a hill to enter through the back door of the second floor, or you could start at the bottom and climb the stairs. We chose the former, and on the way up the hill we passed an educational station about water gardens. The trough full of water and plants included these instructions: "We are water hyacinths. We float on top of the water. Pick us up and look at our roots." Who could resist obeying? Not me!

The treehouse was fun, with a potted "root beer plant," benches to sit on and books to read. As we exited the stairs, we were drawn toward the pond garden with wooden walkways at its base. Several children were crouched near the water's edge, squealing with delight as they pointed out the golden koi navigating around waterlilies and cattails. I didn't quite feel right about taking pictures of someone else's children, but I did get a picture of someone else enjoying the wooden pathways--just before we got too close and caused him to jump back in.

Next we discovered the kids' version of the kitchen garden. Lots of herbs, veggies, and instructional signs here... along with a kid-sized garden shed that had the loveliest door I've seen in a while. The plantings here were meant to entrance kids by attracting butterflies, introducing them to new scents and flavors, and providing a general sense of awe.

We were pretty entranced ourselves--especially after the docent told us that we were welcome to eat any ripe berries that we could find. Those, apparently, are for children of all ages, too, but we only managed to spot one inky beauty. Since I have my own blackberry bush at home, I allowed Amy to enjoy the whole thing in spite of her offer to "go halves."

The garden is not just about enjoyment, however. There are learning opportunities around every corner. A vermicomposter sat near the spot where kid-sized stepping stones embedded with everything from marbles to tooth-marked Legos were set out to dry. It had been part of that day's activities for those children who joined the educational lesson series there. Elsewhere, a 3-compartment composting station explained the stages of making "black gold," (yes, their sign really said that!) from Beginning to Working to Finished.

In case you couldn't tell, this was one of my favorite places at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. All children (of all ages) should have the opportunity to experience such a fantastic place! After our visit here, we needed to take a quick break to sit down and enjoy some refreshment at the garden cafe. Time to recharge between wonderlands: The glasshouse, showcasing the spiny desert of Madagascar and the cloud forest of Costa Rica, is up next.

Visit to the CBG I: Herb, Rose, Woodland and Japanese Gardens

This spring, I had planned to visit the Cleveland Botanical Garden for their (somewhat horitculturally) famous Flower Show... until my part-time job at a local garden center and a sick puppy changed my plans. I was bummed to miss both the show and a chance to meet fellow blogger and "blackswamp girl" Kylee, but I resolved to visit the garden--and Kylee, separately--at some point this summer. (For more on the 2007 CBG Flower Show, you can read Kylee's excellent review at her blog, Our Little Acre.)

They did not need me at the garden center today and my boyfriend was planning to head off to the woods with some work friends to experience the dubious "sport" known as paintballing. So it was a perfect day for my friend Amy and I to visit the Garden, and I so enjoyed my visit that I thought I would conduct a little virtual tour here on my blog. You can click on any of the pictures in this post to see the images in more detail.

As we walked through the entrance, we noticed the gorgeous containers. The pot simply planted with phormium and echeveria was my favorite, but the multiple pots of dahlias with 'Red Threads' alternanthera were nice, too. Amy liked the huge potted pines that looked like bonsai on steroids, but I didn't get any pictures that do them justice. Although we parked on a nearby street, I appreciated that the entire drive down from the entrance to the underground parking lot was surrounded by beautiful plantings. Nice attention to detail there.

Following the map, we decided to hit the Western Reserve Herb Society garden first and work our way around. I admit to being a little disappointed overall by the herb garden. The paving--which included lots of millstones set into the paths--was beautiful, and who can resist wrought iron gates set decoratively into crabapple hedges? A few other plants like purple basil, tree peonies and 'Helene von Stein' lamb's ears were standouts here as well... but for the most part I wanted to cut things back and give everything a fresh coat of mulch. I'm sure that high expectations played into my disappointment, as I love herbs and count on them as real workhorses in terms of garden interest.

On the flip side, I assumed that the Mary Ann Sears Swetland rose garden would be past its prime to the point of being ugly. After all, we were not visiting during the magical rose month of June! The beds where just roses came up out of the soil, mulched and pruned but unaccompanied by other perennials, definitely lived down to my expectations. The lovely center bed that included catmint, lavender and dichondra surrounding an octagonal fountain was very nice, however, and the non-climbing version of 'Iceberg' also caught my eye.

As I took the picture above, my eyes were drawn to the dramatic red rose covering the arch at the far end of the garden. I kept my cool while Amy and I walked around the center bed toward this beauty... but involuntarily let out a girly little squeal when the tag at its feet confirmed my suspicions: A Dortmund!!!

Exiting the rose garden brought us to a fork in the road. I let Amy choose, and she thought a bit of shade would be nice so we headed to the Japanese and Woodland gardens. The Woodland garden was fun, mixing unusual shade lovers like Kirengeshoma (yellow wax bells, which I believe come from China) and horsetail rush with dainty little natives like jewelweed. I couldn't keep track of the number of different hostas they had, and quickly decided that I definitely need a gold variegated comfrey somewhere in my yard.

The Japanese garden was wonderful as well, but it was a challenge to take good pictures there today. The CBG holds weddings on site, and there were dozens of white folding guest chairs set up inside the best section. The first picture shows the focal point of the bowl-shaped area where the wedding was (to be?) held--I was standing at the what I assume is the "I do" spot, at the top of the main aisle, while I snapped the shot. Behind me was the large wisteria arbor you see in the second shot, taken from the top of the other side of the "bowl." Can you see the thick tree trunk at the right of the second picture, just beyond the arbor? That was one of two Dawn Redwoods that we found at the garden. I didn't even know we could grow them here!

The edge of the woodland garden blended seamlessly into the themed garden area. These are largely the same show gardens that I would have seen had I made it to the Flower Show in May, but I did notice a few differences between the earlier pictures that Kylee posted and the ones I took today. But this post is getting a little long, even for me--and it's no secret that concise writing is not my forte, so that's saying something.

I have a lot to say about the theme gardens and ideas gained from them, the wonderful place that is the Hershey Children's Garden, and the amazing world condensed inside the glasshouse. Each of them is going to get its own post at some point, and soon. For now, though, the paintball warrior is back and we are both in the mood for "big food," so we are off to forage...