Flower Mist Dwelling Place

During the 2013 Annual Soroptimist Garden Tour (an organization focused on supporting women), I was able to visit the garden of Stan Hobbs in Glenville. I read about his garden in the local newspaper. Its a woodland stroll garden with many Japanese features. I was surprised to discover that someone else in my town shared an interest in Japanese gardens and had created one on his property.

Website: http://www.soroptimistofschenectady.org/events.htm

"Flower, Mist Dwelling Place"

The garden turned out to be even better than the newspaper had described. Stan has put a lot of work into his garden and its Japanese esthetic is truly authentic. Walking through the garden I was inspired to consider some new types of plantings and incorporate some elements of what Stan has done into some of my future plans.

Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park

While visiting San Francisco, I had an opportunity to visit Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Tea garden. This garden is considered the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States. The garden contains many elements associated with Japanese gardens from this early period. There was also a wonderful tea house where we were able to get a tea and some snacks.

Website: http://japaneseteagardensf.com/

The Fells

I went to visit dartmouth College this weekend and while there took a trip to visit The Fells historic site and gardens once owned by John Milton Hay.

The Fells is located in New Hampshire, and is well worth a visit. The Old Garden (1909) was very nice, but the most spectacular site was the Clarence Hay Rock Garden (1930s) which had over 300 species of alpine plants in a variety of microclimates.

Website: https://thefells.org/

Hershey Gardens

For summer vacation, I headed off to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. While there, I visited the Hershey Gardens, a garden created in 1937 by Milton Hershey (yes, the chocolate guy). The gardens a bit touristy, but overall it has a very large collection of plants, especially the Rose Garden.

In the middle of the gardens, is what they refer to as a Japanese garden. It is not a traditional Japanese garden, but is comprised of many planting that one would find in Japanese gardens. There are few features, other than a Japanese lantern and some assorted stones. There is also a pond and some impressive mature maples that were about 75 years old.

Website: http://www.hersheygardens.org/