Monday, July 23, 2007

Garden Tour ~ Summer 2007

"Today you are granted access to specially chosen concealed city gardens, Pittsfield's hidden heart" reads the first page of my paper "passport." Last Sat. we joined, once again, the annual Garden Tour. You receive a passport that maps out 8 different gardens across town for a self-guided & leisurly (something not typically in my vocab) tour. Each garden holds a special flavor of its own, reflecting the handiwork that transformed an ordinary yard into an enchanted dwelling place, as well as the artistic nature & vast details of our Great Creator.
The 3 Garden Gals:
Meredith & Sissy Hamilton, myself



My Lovely Lady's Hat



A Cascading Window Box



A really cool shot Meredith took. You would not believe how long it took us to finally capture this! The gardner had these little mirror circles hanging from her bushes & we caught my reflection with Meredith's amazing camera (& photography skills)




"The House with the Swing"
This backyard was like a true haven! She said they come out here in the evening, throw something delicious on the grill and enjoy the rest of their day relaxing.
I could have stayed there the rest of the day!



a sweet little birdhouse...



...occupied by a sweet little birdie.



a picturesque pond that ran along their property


and a grand old tree...

that I had to climb!
"If Anne [of Green Gables] can ride a horse in a skirt, then you can certainly climb a tree in one!!!"




Meredith posing...really just trying NOT to fall off!



And the highlight of our day, THE SWING!
This swing was too tempting to not try! So we all got a "swing" at it & thankfully we all stayed dry!


Meredith was our pioneer!



It's all or nothing at this point!!



they call me JANE!


and we even got Sissy to give it a try!





SHAKER VILLAGE chosing the RIGHT path!


FLOWER GARDENS:

sweet stone path



vibrant annuals: sweet potato plant (green) & impatients(pinks)




this was one serious vegetable garden!


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

QUIZ TIME: can you guess the flower???
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


6.[see comments in a couple of days for answers]


C H I L L I N '

after a wonderful day of touring some fabulous gardens around town!


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Erin,
It looks like you all had fun at the garden tour! It is such a wonderful, relaxing thing to do on a sunny, warm, summer, Saturday afternnon. I wish I was there with you all. You guys are too much, swinging on swings!!! It is fun to relive chilhood fun, well except for Mere. The flowers are: 1. Foxglove 2. The pic was blank, so I am guessing a new kind of invisible flower?? 3. HollyHocks 4. Hydrangea 5. I believe Clematis 6. The beautiful Delphinium
Noreen

Anonymous said...

Erin,
Went back to your blog and pic #2 was shown. So I guess that is hens and chicks. Noreen

Anonymous said...

It looks like you had a lovely day! :) What fun.

cranny + b said...

I am SO Jealous!! Looks like you had a marvelous time--I think I'm going to mark my calendar for next year and come join you;) !!

Unknown said...

Erin,
Beautiful pictures! I also love to garden...haven't had much time of the past few years because of the boys. Well here are my answers to your quiz:
1. Foxglove- AKA Digitalis(a while bad in nursing school I learned that this is poisonous so plant in an area where the boys can't get to it. The medication Digoxin used for patients with irregular heart rhythms contains a small amount of this flower).
2. Hen and Chicks-a succulent
3. Hollyhock-from my experience it is a biennial plant.
4. Snowball bush
5. Clematis- it likes shade and sun combined. It grows best with the lower parts(close to the root) in the shade and the top(flowers , upper leaves) in the sun.
Delphinium-can be tricked into reblooming by cutting blooms as soon as they dry up.

Matt & Nicki said...

These pictures are beautiful--looks like you had a fun and relaxing day!

Loraena Tuttle said...

Beautiful! Looks like so much fun! I love looking at gardens. Too bad my thumb is rather blackish.

carissa said...

Many random thoughts as I read your post: Gorgeous place to be and so peaceful. Great shirt on you...I tried that same one on at JCPenney's and it didn't look good on me :)
Way to go doing all that fun stuff in a skirt........there's a blog about a lady who encourages others to do all in a skirt: she took pics of her cleaning her microwave, vacuuming etc. I think you should send her your pics of JANE :)
I love the portrait you found of "my twins"...very awesome. Thanks for thinking of me.
I hope you have a great day today. Now you know how "random" my thoughts really are... :)

Leah (Parrish) Millan said...

I love your hat!! You heart-shaped-faced-people can pull off a good hat :) Those gardens are so beautiful! Looks like you had fun. We are back and slowly getting back in gear -- so I should get a little better at keeping in touch :) Love ya! Leah

Erin Neiner said...

Thank You all for joining us on the tour!! Noreen & Diana (the only 2 that actually submitted answers) were BOTH correct!!! CONGRATS!!!

Noreen: we certainly missed you this year!! :( It would have been fun to see you try out the rope swing!

Diana: WOW, I am impressed! I didn't know you had such a great flower knowledge! I'll keep you in mind if I have any questions. There actually were some plants I loved but had never seen before. Thanks for the tip about the foxglove. I didn't know they were dangerous!

S&s: :) OF COURSE, you may come!!! Then maybe we could go to NYC together!!!

random thinker (i.e. carissa): too funny about the shirt. it really didn't fit me perfect either, but i loved the colors and it was on super clearance & couldn't pass it up. good taste!! :)

Leah: welcome back!! well, we heart-shape faced people have to have something wearable, since we are quite limited with hair styles!! Too bad hats are not the everyday fashion!

Everyone Else: (this is getting a bit long, but I didn't want to leave anyone out!) THANK YOU for visiting my blog. And for taking the time to leave a comment!! :)

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