Dumbarton Oaks

our Memorial Day plans origionally included a trip to PA to see Longwood gardens but we canceled them in favor of a little r~n~r at home. to satifsy my garden itch i invited my mom to come along with me on Sunday to Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown. this is one of those places i've been meaning to visit forever! WOW was it worth it.

we had the most perfect weather, not hot, not cold, no clouds.

there were no crowds! i'm not sure if this was because it was a holiday weekend but i really don't care why the locals and tourists were not flocking to this garden~i hate crowds, i love gardens, more for me!


here we found Pan in a little hiden corner.

we timed the visit just right for the end of the peony blooms and the peak of the roses.

i have no idea what this thorny bramble bush is but these spikes were large (4-6") and the bushes were 8-12' tall.

although there are numerous "rooms" to the garden each with a different theme the overall feel was very Italian in style. this makes sense since the garden was bequeathed to Harvard mainly for Byzantine, garden and landscape studies (as well as other areas of study).

Red Maple Replacment Tree

Here is the little gem of a Red Maple tree that we planted this past Sunday to replace our fallen American Plum tree. We (my husband) dug it from a neighbor and had it back in the ground within 30 min. Best of all it is a beauty and it was FREE!

I spent the better part of the day planting our seasonal flower pots, hanging baskets and various other treasures throughout the garden. Among them were herbs, some very cool dye plants (Wode and Japanese Indigo) and much to my husband's dismay, Stinging Nettle. It was a green thumb day!

Goodbye American Plum Tree~Sad Arbor Day

Arbor Day was officially on April 25th but this weekend I spent several hours on Sunday at the Mo. Co. Arbor Day events at the County Extension office giving tours of the Demo gardens there. I woke up on Sunday prepared to go to Yoga and then volunteer, then I looked out our back windows and sadly discovered our tree had come down! We didn't plant this American Plum but it seemed healthy enough despite a wicked drought last year (I did water the tree). The roots just came right up out of the ground in the heavy winds and the tree came over without breaking a branch. I asked my husband not to get the saw out just yet and I consulted with an Arborist on Sunday and it was as I thought, not a tree that could be saved. I said my good bye's, thanked the tree for it's shade and wildlife refuge. I picked out a tiny Eastern Redbud that I planted on Sunday and will replace this beautiful Plum with a beautiful Red Maple soon. I'm so glad I took lots of photo's of this beauty while in bloom this spring.