Waterford, Connecticut
So… I decided to combine the west, box and rock gardens into one post because they pretty much flowed into one another. Please enjoy the pictures!
I don’t divide architecture, landscape and gardening; to me they are one.
~ Luis Barragán
(Designing Outside the Box: Landscape Seeing by Doing)
Should it not be remembered that in setting a garden we are painting a picture?
~ Beatrix Farrand
(Beatrix: The Gardening Life of Beatrix Jones Farrand, 1872-1959)
It therefore results that the enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it, tranquilizes it, and yet enlivens it, and thus, through the influence of the mind over the body, gives the effect of refreshing rest and reinvigoration to the whole system.
~ Frederick Law Olmsted
(America’s National Park System: The Critical Documents)
A wonderful, calming assortment. Great opening quote about how the totality is the design. The Olmsted quote is a fitting capper.
Thank you, Frank. I was happy to find the Luis Barragán quote because this place was such a delightful combination of all three elements…
What a charming place to visit. So calm with a good balance of nature and material objects. Of course the photo of the common grackle is perfect. Love his beady little eye.
Mr. Bright Eyes, that grackle. 🙂 It was a nice change of pace for me, one who sticks mostly to the woods and the seashore. The man-made objects did seem very much at home in this garden.
Haha…I laughed at “frog”. The photos are beautiful and illustrate the quotes perfectly. There’s something about a rock garden that really works for me.
Thank you, Anna. That frog made me smile, too, a bit of whimsy in the rock garden. I love rock gardens, too. I once brought some rocks to my little condo garden plot but I could never get them to look quite right…
What’s that periwinkle blue flower? It’s lovely … as are the buttercups and Johnny jump-ups! This looks like a great place for a visit; there’s something wonderfully calming about a garden.
I’m guessing the blue flower is some variety of violet? Apparently there are over 100 types of violet plants available to gardeners. Nothing was labeled here. Yes, I heartily agree, gardens are so calming, and refreshing, too.
oh the Grackle! what a handsome guy!
Mr. Bright Eyes! I love how the sunlight shows off his often hidden iridescence…
Beautiful quotes to go with the beautiful photos. Garden painting. <3
Thank you, Pam. I love the connection between setting a garden and painting a picture, too. 💙
A beautiful collection of sightings, Barbara, much enjoyed! 🤗
Thank you so much, Donna! 😊
I can see why you enjoyed your walk here so much – right up my alley too Barbara. Everything looked so fresh and inviting as Spring unfurls here quietly and you captured each of them beautifully.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Linda. 💙 It’s wonderful to have pictures from all the seasons, a collection of memories to look back on as the year rolls around. Summer approaches!!!
You’re so welcome Barbara … I enjoyed taking the walk with you. Yes, indeed … I enjoyed taking pictures of the same fork in the road, while standing at the same place for each of the four seasons. There was a crack in the asphalt, so I could ensure I stood at the same exact place. My favorite season is Fall, despite the impending Winter season, but Spring is a close second with all its Spring colors and the “awakening” after so many months of dormancy.
How handy to have that crack in the asphalt as a marker for taking the same shot of the seasons. You could probably detect changes once a month from there, too. I’m with you, autumn and spring — the light at those times of year is spectacular, not too much as in summer and not too little as in winter. Winter used to be my 2nd favorite but in recent years the cold bothers me too much to enjoy it so spring has moved up a notch in my book. 😉
I guess I tolerate Winter and like it more now since I don’t have issues getting to and from work. Many a time when I worked on site, I waited long periods of time for a bus to take me to work or home and the snowy weather made it later than normal (one time I didn’t get home until 10:00 p.m. and they let us out earlier due to the weather). I was at the Park today and thankfully they cut the grass after I left yesterday – the dandelions have gone to seed and the dandelions and grass was so high you could not see the geese at a distance if they were walking through them. It is perfect as I stood on the crack four seasons to take pictures … I should do a year of shots, though that may be too much.
Snow can definitely be the bane of working peoples’ existence in the winter! I used to love shoveling out around the car before Tim went to work, being a morning person I loved the fresh air and exhiliration of the exercise, but I got to go back inside afterwards and have a cup of hot cocoa while he drove off to work. Fortunately he loves driving and didn’t seem too bothered by it, so I guess it worked out for both of us. I didn’t enjoy it, though, when called upon to drive in the snow to go pick up one of the kids somewhere. 10:00 p.m. is awfully late! 🙁 What a nightmare! Glad the grass at the park got cut — now you can enjoy the wildlife and scenery. 🙂