Last weekend I had the chance to visit the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond VA with friends JH, JS & DD. Appreciation to to DD for making this possible... congrats to JS for becoming a master gardener (I only aspire!)... and thanks to JH for sharing the FIRST FUN DAY of her retirement at the garden.
I've seen it listed as one of the top 10 botanical gardens in the US and have wanted to visit it for years. Some photos of from the day.
The main conservatory.
I've never thought of Crepe Myrtles as trees - more as shrubs - but this garden had a lot that were pruned as large trees. The bark and architecture is really beautiful in this form.
The treehouse by the lake. It's located beside the children's garden.
A few images from the children's garden and learning center. The little boy at the long house was very busy sweeping the front steps.
The view of the lake from inside the tree house. The wooden designs on the windows were beautiful.
A couple interesting pine cones
Plenty of pretty flowers were blooming. We missed the main rose flowering but there were still a few procrastinators. We were all taken with the blue flowers in the bottom row - a Sea Holly "Blue Glitter".
They've planted well for the pollinators. The hydrangea on the right was covered - but they were too busy to notice us. Lots of Stokes asters (left) - the ones in my garden in WV have just begun but they were were going big at the Lewis Ginter.
Some favorites from inside the conservatory. I can never resist a blooming cactus.
The "red hot pokers" were interesting. DD remembered seeing these while hiking in Ethiopia a few years ago. Check out this link to them growing in the wild.
Like all special gardens, the sight lines are well designed.
If I lived a little closer, I'd become a member of the garden and adopt this bench.
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