Gorgeous Gardens #AtoZChallenge #WordlessWednesday

 Who doesn’t like a beautiful flower or plant?

In my travels in the United States And Canada I’m always on the lookout for a beautiful garden, as I also blogged about last week in my "B" post for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. 

Here’s a selection. 

Golden Chalice Vine, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, Florida.  Open wide and say "Gorgeous".

Inga Vera vine, Harry Leu Gardens, Orlando, Florida.  

Morikami Garden, Delray Beach, Florida.

Display Garden, American Daylily Society, Cutler Botanic Gardens, Binghamton, New York. 

A whimsical garden also at Cutler Botanic Gardens, Binghamton, New York. This is right of I-81 and admission is free.

What was once a 150 acre estate owned by Samuel Untermyer is now a public park, Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers, New York is a public park and offers free admission.  I have blogged about Untermyer Gardens a number of times. This picture was taken in 2024.

Do you have any favorite gardens?

G Day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme: Beauty of our Land.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Disney Dunedin Delray Beach #AtoZChallenge

Today is D day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, and I bring you several locations from Florida, showing you some of the beauty of this southeast United States state.

Morikami Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida.

Another picture from Morikami Gardens, Delray Beach.

Delray Beach Wood storks.

Dunedin Dolphin.

Downtown Dunedin.
 

Disney (Springs) Dragon.

 

D Day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:   Beauty of Our Land. 

Zen and Morikami Gardens #AtoZChallenge

 Take a deep breath, participants in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Breathe in.  Breathe out.

We've reached the final letter, Z.

The word Zen has many meanings.  I understand that we in the United States don't always use the word "Zen" the way it is meant to be used but my understanding is that the word "Zen" comes from a " school of Mahayana Buddhism asserting that enlightenment can come through meditation and intuition rather than faith."

Perhaps, what better place to pause, sit, and meditate for a while is at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida, which I had the pleasure of visiting with my spouse in January of 2019.  

If you search on their site, you come up with several results of Zen, including a Zen Garden kit for your tabletop.  Maybe I'll buy one one day to help me escape from the world's troubles for a few minutes.

In the meantime, here are some photos from my visit.  Sit and relax a while.  Meditate if you are into that.

Let's go in.

Buddha.

Outdoor bonsai.  That's an art form in itself.  Morikami has a nice bonsai collection; some are hundreds of years old.  They are meticulously taken care of.

A little philosophy.

It was so relaxing watching water flow through this pipe.

I'm guessing this is a rhodedendron.

Lantern art.

Waterfall.

Finally, a stone formation.

I hope these photos brought you peace, which we need so much in these times.

My final post, for "Z" day in the 2024 Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme for 2024 was:  Gardens, History, Art and The Unexpected.

Pollinator Pleasing #AtoZChallenge

For today, let's visit a pollinator garden on the edge of downtown Binghamton, New York.

Why a pollinator garden?

Sometimes, alas, Nature's creatures need a little help from humans.  It's not because Nature's creatures are helpless, but, rather, because we change destroy the environments they need.  Hence, this Pollinator Friendly Garden fills an increasingly important need.  Even in a downtown.  No, especially in a downtown.

Let's take a look at this garden, which we visited during a music festival in September of 2023.

New England asters, a fall flower.

Salvia, and ornamental grass.

Goldenrod against a blue sky.

Zinnias.  In a normal year, I would have seen monarch butterflies, but I didn't see one.  Not one.

One last look.

It doesn't take much room to create a pollinator friendly garden.  Even if you have a small urban plot of land there may be something you can grow, including a lot of ornamental flowers:  alyssum, black-eyed Susan, cosmos, lavender, zinnias, and more.

 "P" day at the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme Gardens, History, Art and The Unexpected.

No Idea is Too Big or Too Small #WordlessWednesday

Some welcoming benches to sit and rest your feet at the Story Garden at the Binghamton, New York Discovery Center (a children's museum).

No idea is too big or too small.

Let Freedom Ring.

This is a homage to a local landmark.

See the little truck on top of the mailbox?

It's a 49 Chevy.  Here's the full size one.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for #WordlessWednesday.

The Human Sundial #ShadowshotSunday

 At the Storybook Garden in Binghamton, New York, there is a human sundial.

The concept is simple.  You stand on a grid of month named blocks on the block belonging to the month you are in and face a corner of the display.

(taken sometime in 2020)

Your shadow is supposed to point at a numbered block.  The number represents the time.  (there are two rows - the upper row is for standard time and the lower row is daylight saving time).

My spouse decided to test it out.  He stood on the block for October (today is October 1) around 1:53 pm.

It's hard to see but his head is touching the "2" block in the lower row.

It works!

Joining Magical Mystery Teacher for #ShadowshotSunday.

Happiness is a Library Tree #ThursdayTreeLove #4CLSroadtrip

"Library is a garden where knowledge trees are nurtured" - Swaran Singh Jaggi.

This summer, our Four County Library System came up with an idea.

There are 42 libraries in the system.  Urban libraries.  Small town libraries.  Libraries in historic buildings. They are spread out over four counties and it's quite an achievement to visit all 42.  Some people have done it. 

The idea:  visit as many of the libraries as you can between July 1 and September 2 and win some (small) prizes.  They called it the 4CLS Road Trip.

Despite my love of libraries, I had been to the grand total of four of these libraries before the road trip started.   But as of today, I am up to 18.  It doesn't sound like much, but those four counties (in New York State: Broome, Delaware, Otsego and Chenango) are spread out over a large area. 

Today, though, I am going to bring you to the Broome County Public Library. This is an urban downtown library. The population of downtown is varied:  office workers that aren't working remotely that day.  Students. Artists.  People living below the poverty line.  And others. This library serves them all.  But first, I need to mention the original library I remember and loved.

When I worked in downtown Binghamton  I was in easy walking distance of the old Binghamton Carnegie library, which opened in 1903 and closed in 2000.  By 1998, when I was visiting it several times a week on my lunch period, the building was in sad shape.  A new library was built several blocks away and opened (if my memory is correct) in October of 2000.

The current Broome County library, picture taken July 15, 2023

The Carnegie library was a treasure that stood empty until our local community college renovated the library and turned it into a culinary arts school.  

The old Carnegie Library on Exchange Street, Binghamton, New York 1903-2000

I took this picture of the outside of the building on July 5, 2020. I still miss this library, but love how, in this picture, it is framed by trees on the Broome County Courthouse property across the street.

I am not going to take you into the modern library itself today but I want to show you its little gem - its garden, full of trees and welcoming places to sit.  I ate many a lunch in the library garden when I worked downtown.

Even more trees make this an urban oasis.

This artwork is called "Books and Birds".

But what I love the most is the trees. They sheltered and delighted me on many warm/hot days.

I miss them, too.  Happiness, for me, is a library tree.

Joining Parul at Happiness and Food this second Thursday of the month for #ThursdayTreeLove.

Victory (Over Hate) #AtoZChallenge #WordlessWednesday

 In 2015, I blogged about an amazing man I had the privilege of meeting in March of 2015.  It's time to tell, as someone used to say, The Rest of the Story.

This is the story of Pearl Fryar, a man living in Bishopville, South Carolina.

During our meeting, Mr. Fryar told me his amazing story.

Mr. Fryar told us that he had come to Bishopville from the borough of Queens, in New York City, when his job transferred him to South Carolina around 1976.  He and his wife, both African-Americans, purchased a lot - really, a cornfield- in an all white neighborhood, in order to build a house.  To say that his new neighbors were not happy with people of color moving in might be an understatement.

They said African Americans couldn't keep up their yards. 

Mr. Fryar decided to prove them wrong - with love.  He took a short course in topiary. After his 12 hour shift at a local factory, Fryar would come home and work  on his topiary. It took over 20 year but Fryar eventually built a three acre topiary garden on his property stocked mainly with castoffs from a local nursery.

Pearl in his younger days.

Eventually, visitors from all over the world came to see this garden in the Pryor backyard. This is a garden that is truly a victory over hate.

In 2015, the entrance to the display.  The tree (a palmetto) and the moon are the state symbols of South Carolina.

Pearl Fryar's house.

This display was called "Hate Hurts".

More art.

Now, the rest of the story.

When I met Mr. Fryar in 2015, he was 75 years old.  At this writing, he is 83, and in declining health.  By 2020 he was unable to keep up the garden and it was declining, too.

Fortunately, help arrived.

A man, Mike Gibson, is working to preserve the work of Mr. Fryar.  

Others are helping, too.  Still others help with funding.

The three acre garden is still free.  Donations are accepted.  

Pearl Fryar is a national treasure.  I am blessed to have met him.

"V" Day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:  Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.

Joining Sandee and other bloggers each Wednesday for #WordlessWednesday.

Gardening Still Another Year

With aging comes changing.  That even rhymes!

My spouse and I (my spouse doing about 90% of the work) have community gardened in Binghamton, New York since the late 1980's except for a couple of years when there was no community garden.

As certain musicians said once "it's been a long, strange trip." 

We've tried some gardening on our small back yard, but it's too shady.  Our front yard - well, it's my flower garden and more sunny.  But we've only had limited success, partially thanks to groundhogs and the fact that our front yard isn't fenced.   So we've been community gardening all this time.

We started out with two inground plots.  Several years ago, he downsized to one plot. Then I qualified for a raised bed, in which we grow tomatoes, peppers, and some other crops.  Last year, deer did a number on our raised bed (more than the inground, for some reason we don't know.)  It was so discouraging, and my spouse came close to quitting.

Last year we faced a decision, with physical issues both of us have:  stop gardening, or go all raised beds.

The decision was made, and our application was accepted just yesterday.  This year we will have one inground plot AND two raised beds.

Our current community garden was taken over in 2020 by an organization called VINES (Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments).   

Their mission is worthwhile.  The organization itself, I have nothing but the utmost respect for.  Without them, we might not have a community garden at all.

VINES has put in more raised beds and they try to reserve them for those with physical disabilities or limitations that need them.  It's a bit humbling to realize that my spouse now can't do all the things he did 40 years ago.  The two raised beds will help, but we are behind on preparing for the season, because we didn't know if we would get the raised beds and ingrown plot spouse wanted.

We've already ordered onion plants, one of the main crops we grow (we buy plants from a grower in Texas, Dixondale Farms, we've done business with for years.  They specialize in onions and do them well.  Their customer service is first rate.  Onions grow well for us.

For seeds, we are using a combination of locally bought seeds and some seeds we may mail order. We haven't bought any, though, and now that we know we are going to have the plots this year, we have to get our seed act together.

Incidentally, if you garden, you may ask your local library if they have a seed "library". And no, you don't have to return the seeds at the end of three weeks.   Our local library offers this service (limit of six packets per person).  Seeds are getting so expensive.

So, another year, another garden.  We hope to do this as long as we can.

We aren't giving up yet.

The Story Garden #WordlessWednesday

 It's been almost two years since I've visited the Story Garden near the Discovery Center (a children's museum) in Binghamton, New York.

Today, for Wordless Wednesday, let's enjoy some pictures of the garden, taken May 26.

Welcome!  Now, you may be asking what a story garden is.

It's a garden for imaginative boys and girls.  Of course, it has some rules, such as "Look Out for Elves and Fairies."

Some mailboxes to leave letters addressed to story characters.

A turtle planter.

Late lilacs were still blooming.

There's more but I'll save it for another day.  If you are in the Binghamton, New York area, why not visit?  It's free, and open every day, dawn to dusk.  Your children, grandchildren, or the child in you will enjoy it.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.