2017 Garden Bloggers Fling - Day 1

2017 Garden Bloggers Fling • Washington DC
This was the first year I flung. It was held in my Capital Region, Washington DC, so why not? Most of the public gardens were places I had previously visited, although maybe not at this time of year, nor recently. The private gardens were places I would never have the opportunity to experience and am very appreciative.

I took some some photos -- not many -- of things I found interesting. My posts will include mostly photos and few words. I used the cell phone camera and left the SLR at home, not looking forward to lugging it around all day. None of the trips took us into Alexandria, so I hope some of the attendees had the opportunity to venture down into Old Town if they stayed a bit longer and dared to immerse themselves in something besides gardens.

First stop was Hillwood Museum and Gardens. I have never visited a men's room with so many fresh cut flowers (sorry - there are no photos.) I previously visited here (not the men's room) in 2010 and posted photos of the orchids [posted 2010.05.13].

There were a handful of formal gardens around the formal estate house.

Rose garden

Many decorative arts like the zodiac around the light globe.

I spied a tacky lamp post along the paths -- shame.

The Japanese hillside garden was my favorite with running water, lily pond, statuary, bridge and stepping stones. You can tell since I took more photos of it than anywhere else at Hillwood.







Platycodon never looked this good and neat in my garden.

Extensive cutting garden (for the men's room?)

Orchids in the greenhouse were grouped at the entrance to be seen from the outside as an enticement.

Replica of a Russian dacha with loose interpretations like onion domes on the roof chimney, and American eagle snow guards (or are those vultures?)