Brookside Gardens

(4-17-10)

I think one of the many powerful benefits of being an intern or student at Longwood Gardens is the lifelong connections you make. The people that you work with are a huge example. But what about the other students? They’re a huge part of it too. You make personal bonds that, I personally believe, will be professional bonds in later years.

(Past and Present Longwood Interns – awesome friends! :))

I’m still an intern here at Longwood, and I’ve already been experiencing this (you don’t even have to leave before it starts to impact you!) Just recently, another current intern and myself decided to meet an old intern who lives farther south. We decided to meet in the middle. And for me, botanic gardens are a the destination; so we decided on Brookside Gardens! Although, I should be fair and mention that I only had to drive 2 1/2 hours while our friend had to drive almost double that! So it wasn’t exactly in the middle, but she said she didn’t mind :)

(There are beautiful framed views all throughout the garden. Here is one of the first you will see.)

Okay, on to the garden! If I could only say one thing about this garden, it would be this: “It may seem small, but it sure is fantastic!”

For an example of size, the three of us walked the whole garden in under an hour (we stopped for photos and everything.) We ended up spending about 2 hours there total; we ended up going back to some of the places we especially liked.

(Water, water everywhere! Happiness.)

Any garden that has as much water as Brookside Gardens is an automatic ‘fantastic’ in my book! I absolutely love water, especially when its natural (whether it IS natural or simply was created to LOOK natural is not so important to me. It’s actually more impressive if it’s not natural but I can’t tell :)) I felt that no matter where I was standing in the garden I could see water. Whether it was a pond, river, fountain, a small hardscape water feature, etc. Heaven :)

(The reflections on the water were stunning from multiple angles seen from the meandering pathways.)

Another thing I loved about Brookside; the flow. The whole properly was inviting because it drew you around with leisurely flowing paths and meandering flower beds. There were always surprises around the bends as well. It wasn’t only the paths that carried this natural flow, but the plantings and the hardscape as well. For a girl who’s heart is taken by sharp angles, geometric patterns, and strong lines; don’t take it lightly that I fell in love with the gardens’ design. I certainly don’t :)

(Beautifully flowing pathways are everywhere in the garden!)

(Beautiful curvilinear forms within beds)

(Just another ‘flow’ photo :))

The last thing that stood out the most to me at Brookside was their beautiful wisteria displays. The different varieties, colors, and forms were just breathtaking! And they smelled really good too :)

(Just one of the many places where wisteria was the highlight)

(Most of the wisteria smelled fantastic!)

And lets not forget about the little things! If you follow my blog or know me personally, you know that I’m a lover of ‘the details’. So here are a few of my favorite little details from the day’s garden visit.

(Cornus florida halfway hidden in the shadows)

(A beautiful Arisaema sikokianum tucked away under the tree’s)

(I just couldn’t resist this birdsnest!)