Beauty and the Trees

Near where I live we have the most glorious place called the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It is part of the University of Minnesota and it is over 1,000 acres of glorious beauty. I have taken the kids (and anyone else who will go) there many times in the last 5 years. It has trails, a 3 mile drive, several large ponds and gardens, gardens, gardens. Even if you aren't into gardening you can still appreciate these amazing gardens: Iris Garden, Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Lilac Walk, Kitchen Garden and Hosta glade to name just a few.

I took the kids there last weekend for a few hours. At the entrance gate we waited behind another car and put all the windows down. There was a nice breeze, blessed quiet and an amazing fresh smell, not quite pungent with flowers but just an overall sense of sweetness. I said out loud to the kids "I love this place!" and they replied in kind, "I love it too."

We had a picnic lunch underneath the most beautiful Oak tree. Each year the Arboretum has a summer exhibition and this year's theme is TREEology. There are juried art exhibits usually involving flowers or trees, or just built into the existing gardens. By this particular Oak the artist had placed 100 gazing balls of various sizes. It was to symbolize the 10,000 acorns that fall in order to grow 1 Oak tree. One of the other pieces of art was a room created entirely out of tree branches, many still growing (willow). Very cool.

My favorite is the Home Demo gardens, especially the vegetables. That's where I got the idea to grow cucumbers, melons and squash on trellises (they hold up the melons with little pantyhose hammocks!). And vine beans grow around corn stalks like the Native Americans used to do. It's also where they have apples trees that grow against walls. It says that in England they grow (or grew?) apple trees that way against brick walls to conserve space and take advantage of the heat.

A favorite of the kids is probably the various waterfalls and the Koi pond. We went with the idea of looking for frogs but since frogs seemed to be laying low that day the fish were the next best things.

My favorite that day was the rose garden. Next to the Oak we had lunch under, the rose garden has over 100 varieties of garden and shrub roses. They are absolutely incredible. A feast for the eyes and nose. Enjoy!