Gardens at the Park

Our family spent last evening at a local park. M.'s company plays just-for-fun softball once a month, and he and the older boys join in the rousing game. Eli and I usually alternate between walking the trails enjoying the wildlife and watching the game. Last evening though we enjoyed a new activity - visiting the gardens on park property. There are beds of flowers and vegetables in the park that are planted and tended by local master gardeners. They do it, of course, because they enjoy it but also to educate the public. The plants, flowers, vegetables and fruits are marked and include some basic information. It was interesting to discover some things that I had never seen growing before and only read about. We enjoyed wandering around discovering the orange globes of pumpkins, okra (which I was surprised to see growing this far north), blackberries dripping off the vines, native ragwort, the lovely winterberry holly, and a beautiful monarch butterfly which we chased all around the gardens to get its' picture! E. plans on sharing some more of his photos of the lovely gardens on his blog tomorrow.


I was excited to see that these were elderberries which I have never seen before:


The smell of ripening grapes is JUST amazing. Eli took this photo.