Garden Touring.

 Here is my promised post on the highlights of the garden tours I did last week.  This garden is at the house where I hosted for four hours with my friend Ginny, who is a Master Gardner!

 

Thought this tree was amazing.

 The home owner who does the landscaping all on her own, had this awesome stone 'wall' along one side of her property, with lots of fun flowers and interesting ground covers.

 I liked the idea of floating roses in her birdbaths.

 

The plant in the middle is just a perennial geranium ... love the foliage.

 The next home had this bench, which I thought was interesting ... it says "For April who loves this garden from Alan who loves sitting beside her." And their anniversary date.

 

She also had a barnwood bird house with the origin of the wood engraved on a plaque.  Being a scrapbooker, I thought it was charming.

 How fun is this boxwood hedge 'basket' with an ivy handle.  I would love to see flowers planted inside.

 I was charming by her back patio, all set to entertain.

 The first two homes were large and relatively new.  This home was older and felt more organic and  established.  I loved it.

 It also had a potager ... or kitchen garden.  Seeing a bell jar used for it original purpose here was a first for me.

 The next house was very unusual, build on the edge of a ravine, on what was originally a tree farm, it was amazing.  The house was built of logs, from the tree farm, some 30 years ago.

 The owners had built this garden shed as a old mill, compete with a waterwheel, in the midst of a large pond.

 Thought this garden wall was a beauty.  Built of cinder block behind, and faced with stone, there is a long trough in the top between the two, in which ground cover is planted.

 This is the last garden I am sharing.  It was behind a huge modern house, with a pool, and all the amenities, but it also had this potager that I enjoyed...

 ... and I thought that the wonderful miniature, decorative hens wandering the yard added charm as well!

I visited another 3 or 4 gardens, one fitted with trains that ran through villages with miniature plantings, and another with a 8 story fountain in the middle, but I have shared my favorite features of the gardens I liked best.

 

And a special thanks to Ginny, who shared not only her free tickets, but her gardening knowledge as well.  Oh, and if you were wondering, she is taking a picture of a plant she is going to look up.

 

Hope you enjoyed the tour.