Gardening on the Moon ( GOTM )

Written by Jeff

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Our trip to visit family and friends in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota was going by so quickly. The one stop that I wanted to make was the sculpture garden in Minneapolis. The Spoonbridge and Cherry has appeared on covers of travel guides and other magazines and I wanted to see it and to have my own picture. It did not disappoint! (I was surprised to see that the cherry stem was actually a fountain in full force on this day!)

Before entering the outdoor gardens, we took a quick stroll through the greenhouse and the Standing Glass Fish, which I originally thought was a whale, was beautiful. It was well-placed in a raised indoor pond and was very well-suited to the sculpture.

I must admit that I am usually a sucker for a bit of whimsy in the garden and this sculpture of a Hare On a Bell was quite fascinating even with the addition of the grasshopper which couldn’t resist getting into the photo (top left of bell).

Of course the gardens were quite impressive as well…

We also visited the Como Park Zoo with a relatively new conservatory and rain forest. If you get a chance to visit, take advantage of it. On the outside of the conservatory, they had several lily pad ponds. I liked the giant lily pads the best.

Of course we couldn’t resist riding the Cafesjian’s Carousel saved and restored by donations and now faithfully serving the children of the area.

We ended this day with a family dinner at a local Mexican cantina (as though we can’t get enough in the Phoenix area).

Related Links:

Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

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.

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.

The quilts, artistically arranged, fit in well among the flowers!

To be continued ….

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post