Tue 6 Oct 2009
From Gardens that Bake to Gardens That Shake – Part I
Posted by jbross under Desert Gardening, Miscellaneous Adventures
[2] Comments
Written by Jeff
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It was indeed a great escape although we didn’t know it at the time. We left for Minnesota for a few days to visit family and friends and get in a bit of hiking. While we were gone, temperatures in the Cave Creek area of Arizona set new records for heat. We, however, were hiking along the shores of Lake Superior where temperatures were in the very cool fifties and forties and wind-chill added even more to the coldness.
As we arrived, we were thanked for bringing the rain which is quite amusing. We had less than three inches of rain in our desert since January where rain is scarce to begin with and we were being given credit for the rain showers that scattered across Minnesota for three of the five days we were there. Ironic! (Minnesota needed the rain as they were in the midst of a summer drought.)
Nevertheless, we were not to be deterred. What do gardeners do on vacation? They visit gardens. This was the first time in 2.5 years that we were in gardens of the northern climes and we were glad to see some old floral friends and new discoveries.
We began our garden adventure at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, but it was a rainy, nasty day. The flowers were still beautiful, but the rain turned this into a drive-thru experience which is not the best for examining gardens. Here is a picture of one of their fall displays near the entrance.
One of the Arboretum’s Fall Displays
All was not lost on this day however as we found this unique bottle tree (not to be confused with the popular bottle brush plant) in the parking lot of Surdyk’s Liquor store.
We began another day at the farmers market where a variety of bouquets were available for purchase.
Sunflowers,
dahlias
and a variety of mixes (some with these prickly ball-type plants that research revealed was a native of southeast Africa and is in the milkweed family; Asclepias physocarpa, commonly called Balloon Plant). Read more about this unusual puff of prickly green at Wikipedia.
There were also large varieties of gourds, squash and peppers to feast one’s eyes upon.
The quilts, artistically arranged, fit in well among the flowers!
To be continued ….
Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post
October 6th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Lovely pic. Thanks for visiting.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Yes, this was one of the highlights of our trip. More pictures to follow in future posts!
PS – We had a very nice breakfast there as well!
[ Jeff ]