Longwood Gardens

Mom and I were finally able to enjoy a nice day at Longwood Gardens. Our original trip was planned about a month ago, but we were experiencing 110 degree weather at that point and we just could not imagine enjoying a day outside in that temperature. So, yesterday we were not complaining with a humid, 80 degree day. Even the thunderstorm that rolled through in the evening didn't stop us from have a good time!

Here are a few pictures. I may have taken more photographs, but we were toward the end of the season for most of the perennials and the storm forced us to explore part of the gardens later in the evening.

The annual beds in the idea garden.

Blooming perennial

These sunflowers were gigantic.

Waterfall and Chime Tower.

The sky's starting to turn gray. At this point the weather turned much cooler - relief from the humidity was on its way!

A rainbow after the rain stopped.

We were able to duck inside for dinner for the majority of the storm.

Pretty unique!

This was one of the two treehouses at Longwood. They were really amazing!

When we visited the other one, it was well after dark and the lights illuminated it - very pretty.

These wisteria vines were amazing. The way the wrapped around the posts so tightly was kind of creepy. It reminded us of something from Harry Potter.

This is the green wall in the Conservatory. The wall was designed so that plants grew out of it. The funny thing was, that the hallway was lined in individual bathroom that were almost futuristic-looking. I'm not quite sure what they were trying to get out of this design. It was just weird.

I love how neatly these vines were growing.

The bonsai trees were quite amazing. I'm not that excited about bonsai, but some of these trees were over 100 year old!

All in all, it was a fun day! Mom and I had a few good laughs. We both learned about QR codes and QR readers. (And if you can believe it -- Mom is much more versatile on the iphone than I am) And although Melisa wasn't able to join as a originally planned, she was there in spirit. Mom and I both brought our ASPCA tote bags (gifts from Mel), which incidentally ended up coordinating with our outfits :)

I definitely learned a lot more about plants and planning a garden. I was able to see how my variety of hydrangea should be growing, and I also got to check out some fig trees and how they were pruned. Mom decided she loves the indigo plant and will be searching for some to add to her garden.