Sunshine in the Garden : Garden Tours

Friday, August 26, 2016

Garden Tours - Part 1

In the past two days, we visited three gardens. On Wednesday we hit north Georgia, visiting Smith-Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw and Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground. On Thursday we spent almost the entire day at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. We wanted to be able contrast the garden, and its beautiful exhibits during the day with the new Chihuly Nights; the celebrated glass artist has a total of 20 works of glass that are now lit at night. Each garden tour will have a separate blog.

Smith-Gilbert Gardens

Smith-Gilbert Gardens, about 25 miles from Atlanta, was our first stop. Although the day started out cloudy with isolated showers, those had cleared by the time we arrived, giving the gardens a just watered appearance. In 1970 Dr. Robert Gilbert and Richard Smith bought the property from Steve Frey, who owned a warehouse that would later become the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. Dr. Gilbert and Mr. Smith went on to create a collector's garden with over 3000 species of plants, several noted works of sculpture, and an extensive bonsai collection. After Mr. Smith died in 2002, Mr. Gilbert sold the property to the City of Kennesaw through a bond referendum .There are numerous gardens here to enjoy even if its almost end of summer.

Succulent Garden

On the way to the parking lot, this small succulent garden is situated at the entrance to the Carriage House, creating substantial curb appeal before entering the grounds. A number of these succulents are in containers, placed directly in the ground - making for easy removal before winter. Unfortunately, this seemed a tease, as other then a few drought tolerant plants in the Rock Garden, there was not a significant collection or display of succulents.

Closer look at the front of the bed left side

right side

a closer detailed look

back view

Aloes and Agaves

The Bonsai Garden contained a large collection, which was very impressive. The oldest display was the 300 year old Pond Cypress. Unfortunately, I didn't get the names of all the Bonsai plants on display, as only some had tags, and some others were a bit difficult to photograph. That didn't take away from the beauty on display.

Pond Cypress

'Five Brothers'

Japanese White Pine

Japanese Black Pine

Our next stop was the Butterfly House. It was bright, colorful and had many interesting butterflies inside the enclosure. Many vibrant host plants for the butterflies were also contained in the enclosure. For me, the Coleus stood out - everywhere you look there were some Coleus.