Back to Belmont, NC: A walk through the woods

I promised to revive my blogging habit after much encouragement from the wonderful people in the Mobile community. Many of them were shocked by my leaving and some of them were surprised to stumble upon my blog. I will miss all of them dearly and so, moving forward, this is for them and all of the other folks who I've had to part ways with along the path of life.

My customary 10-hour trip was extended to a three-day visit with friends/horticulturists I'll miss in Alabama. I followed a looped path from Anniston to Birmingham to Auburn on my way up. Stay tuned for the next post to hear about the roadtrip.

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The metallic whir of cicadas and katydids reverberates through the panes of glass in the backdoor. They hum the background track to a summer in Charlotte, North Carolina. The sound penetrates through your head despite your best efforts. I can even hear it echo from the days of my childhood. The symphony/cacophony ebbs and grows with the heat of the day and vibrates from the trees of the eastern deciduous forest. It doesn't sound like Mobile, Alabama anymore.

Looking up into the canopy of a Platanus occidentalis, Eastern Plain Tree

Well, life sometimes just takes a different turn than the one you'd like, and sometimes the best place to go in that moment when things are off-kilter is home. Ask anyone who knows me and they would either say North Carolina or Scotland is home to me. In this case, North Carolina is easier to drive to from Mobile.

A walk in the woods is the best remedy a frizzled mind and get a sense of place, so off we went, Sparky and myself, down the trail behind my friend's house.

The trees in the yard of our childhood had grown exponentially from my memory. Through my travels I now knew their scientific names: Betula nigra, the river birch, and Platanus occidentalis, eastern plain tree.

The woodland trail was just beyond the back gate. The canopy had grown lower to the ground so it was almost like going through a green curtain. Invasive mulberries guarded the edge of the forest and the beginning of a deep slope, which dropped down to a creek now choked with runoff from the construction upstream.

Once I'd ducked inside, my eye was immediate drawn upwards as the forest opened up like a cathedral, but instead of stone it was made of great arches of old beeches (Fagus americana), red oaks (Quercus ssp.) and tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera). I was happy to see the lack of invasive plants in the gully below and even more excited to see the colonies of paw paw trees (Asimina triloba) spreading around. There were even a couple colonies with trees old enough to have fruit on them!

Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis

I noticed herbaceous plants with bear claw-like leaves at the edge of the path as it curved around, and immediately recognized bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis. It created an impressive carpet down the steep hillside and my imagination took over as I saw it in full flower in the late winter, as if snow had fallen down the slope. Had this always been there?

Before the trail dropped down the hill, the umbrella-like whorls of Magnolia fraseri leaves rose above me and my heart soared. "Hello there!" I exclaimed. I couldn't help myself. I had never noticed any Magnolias, except the tulip poplars, growing in these woods. I saw a few more young saplings before Sparky had had enough and turned me around to go back.

~~~

My walk taught me something, even in a brief time. I had to let go of what I thought I knew of this North Carolina I had moved back to and experience it anew. Things had changed, times had changed. It was a brand new place compared to what it had been before.

Had I returned home after all? My friends and family are still here, so in them, yes. Everything else? We'll see.

City Hall, downtown Belmont, NC

Click here for more photos!

Trillium Travels: A Trip to Northern Florida

It seems my springtime traveling fate is intertwined with the flowering of Trillium....

What follows is a truly serendipitous, fortuitous story of when social media comes through:

Back in 2015, I joined Instagram on my way down to Mobile, Alabama where I would live with my grandparents and hopefully figure out what I was doing next. I ended up taking up a position at the Mobile Botanical Gardens, and I encountered plants I never had before. I used Instagram to post photos. That's when Michelle (@michellerecycles, @badassbotanist) commented on my plant identification requests and started following me. It wasn't too long until I posted a photo that Michelle had to ask Gil Nelson (@idigbiogil) to confirm an ID. From then on, we all stayed in touch about various and sundry plants.

Fast forward to December 2016 when I returned to the U.S. I got in touch with Gil to say hello, let him know I'd returned and that I'd love to come visit him sometime. He offered up the idea of a Trillium walk at the end of January or beginning of February. Yes, of course!!

And he made it happen!

I drove up Saturday, February 4 so I could stop by Torreya State Park, one of the few sites in the world where you can see Torreya taxifolia, Florida nutmeg, one of six living species of the genus and one of, if not THE most, critically endangered conifers in the U.S. I have seen it in the collection at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, but wanted to see it in-situ.

The park was way out in the middle of North Florida, but was well-worth the drive out.

The hilly country around the Apalachicola from the top of a hill.

First Trillium of the Trip! We suspected T. underwoodii.

Click here for more photos of Torreya State Park!

The path I took went down some steep gullies down to the river and I got to see some amazing hillsides of Rhapidophyllum hystrix, Dirca palustris, Trillium underwoodii, Hydrangea quercifolia, Persea palustris and Aesculus pavia. It was a beautiful palette of plants. I got lots of inspiration for a woodland garden.

I stopped by the Gregory House on the way out and had the great fortune of meeting Pam and Bill Anderson, who were a dynamo husband-wife team who've been instrumental in plant conservation at the park. Bill showed me the champion Rhus copallinum, which easily had a 10-inch caliper, while Pam went back to their home and retrieved four cutting-grown saplings of Torreya taxifolia. I look forward to seeing them again.


The next morning I met Gil, Michelle, Jill, and Annika for a day-long road trip to see the four species of Trillium native to Florida.

The group behind the Torreya taxifolia in the left of the screen.

Rumors said that Torreya used to be huge trees! This one is

just a baby.

Click here for more photos of the Trillium Hike!

Our first stop was Angus Gholsom Nature Park, where we saw more Trillium underwoodii, Erythronium americanum, our first Torreya taxifolia group, and Zephyranthes atamasca. Michelle exhibited her mad plant selfie skills with some Trillium and Zephyranthes....


The second stop was just on the other side of the neighborhood and featured Aesculus pavia, Trillium lancifolium, and a few new ephemerals, including an herbaceous Smilax and Cardamine concatenata.

The third stop was on a triangle of woodland just near the dam. They'd done a lot of clearing of invasive Elaeagnus, and the Trillium and more herbaceous Smilax were able to thrive. More plant selfies ensued!

The fourth stop was on the edge of the clear waters of the Apalachicola to see a little hillside of Aquilegia canadensis and Trillium maculatum.

The final stop was at Florida Caverns State Park. Gil led us through down a trail of limestone outcrops on the banks of the Chipola River. The park features an underground tour of some of the caverns, but we stayed above ground to see more plants. There was so much Polemnia laevigata, Sabal palmetto, Sabal minor, and more Rhapidophyllum hystrix.

September Pilgrimage to the Isle of Mull

Yikes.....this is way overdue!! So, back in September....

I really wanted to do some adventuring outside of Edinburgh before I started at university, and a pilgrimage to the Isle of Mull seemed most appropriate. I hadn't been since 2003 and I'd always remembered it fondly. I'd vowed to return and go hiking, and now was the time.

A quick four-hour train trip through the beautiful Scottish Highlands brought me to Oban, a popular European resort town, and where the CalMac ferry to Islands sets out from.

Duart Castle, the seat of the Clan McLean, as you approach Craignure on the Isle of Mull.

 Click HERE for more photos

From the train straight to the ferry for a beautiful, albeit windy, day scoping out the island and visiting Duart Castle, the seat of the Clan McLean, and my heritage. I took the bus from the ferry to the castle, but walked the three miles back so I could admire the scenery and see if I could find a hidden path up the mountain.

The next day I was on the morning ferry, but after missing the only bus and a miscalculation about a bike, I ended up just walking up the road out of Craignure to see how far I could get to Salen. Well, fate was looking out for me because I discovered a hiking trail at Scallastle, a Scottish Forestry Commission property. The weather wasn't great, with the clouds shrouding the mountain tops and shifting rain eventually drenching me through, but the views when the clouds would clear and the enchanting plants were well worth another trek in the rain.

It was an incredible, but sadly brief trip. But I'll be back soon!

Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh- the first glimpse

The first book I opened in the library at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh was:

“It is a piece of weakness and folly merely to value things because their distance from the place where we are born: thus men have traveled far enough in the search of foreign plants and animals, and yet continue strangers to those produced in their own natural climate.” – Martin Martin, 1698, A Late Voyage to the St. Kilda

The old, but poignantly relevant, quote struck a painful cord in my homesick heart. Second thoughts were rife in my mind as I tried to struggle with why I’d decided to travel so far from home.

And then I saw the familiar form of a Metasequoia glyptostroboides, dawn redwood, marking the entrance to the garden and my heart skipped. This was why I was there.

The menagerie of plants I saw in the Scottish Heath Garden, Rock Garden and the other areas I could reach in my brief breaks showed me I still had tons of plants to learn and that was why I was there. I had a purpose and I had time to devote myself to it.

Arthur’s Seat, the royal backdrop of Holyrood Park

One of the remedies for homesickness is hiking and Arthur’s Seat was calling. Holyrood Park is visible from most places in the city, even from the coast of Granton. I’d already resolved to hike it more than ten years ago when I first saw it. Finally, I had a chance to!

After running errands though the bustling streets of the Edinburgh Sunday, I was released to the base of the ancient volcanic hills. Some of them look like old slices of earth that were pushed up millions of years ago. They don’t seem that high, until you see the tiny people climbing all over them.

I assessed how and where I wanted to explore. People had made paths all up the sides of the hills, for better or for worse, besides the main path that lead around the sides of the hills. There was a steep path that quickly ascended the top that was perfect to get to walk along the rim of the rocks and see the city sooner.

It was rigorous, but every brief break was full of breathtaking views of the city. The higher I went the more I could see in the horizon. When I reached the top, I realized I hadn’t reached the top I thought I had. There was a larger mountain, the actual Arthur’s Seat, beyond. A golden valley stretched down below me, so vast the people were even smaller. I saw more hills beyond and more to explore. Yes!

The plants were mostly grasses and flowering herbs on the first hill. Only when I got to the base of Arthur’s Seat did I see trees, and even then they weren’t very tall. Gorse and other shrubs dominated, really. When I rounded the northeastern side of the Seat there were patches of heather all over. Ahh!

I chose another steep path to the top of Arthur’s Sear through a patch of heather. The air smelled like honey and the fuzzy white-bottomed bumblebees were hard at work. Both the climb and the views were dramatic and a couple times I had to remind myself to stop to look at the plants because the way down was straight to the bottom. I took a few breaks to take in the views of the valley below and the land beyond. I was taken aback each time I tried to understand how wide the valley was below. It was like nothing I’d ever seen; so beautiful.

I clambered over the last few rocks and found a path to the top of the mount. The rocks were smooth and slippery from the thousands of people who’d walked over them. I found a seat on the edge looking to the north so I could see over the city to the Highlands. The cold wind ripped over the top, but I was still happy to be on top of the world. I was really here.

I am really here.

Mobile Botanical Gardens: Week of April 13

Lots going on at the garden, despite the astronomical amount of rain and thunderstorms we got this week. The Rhododendron Garden is full of azaleas in various stages of flowering in all different different colors of whites, pinks, purples and reds. It really is quite amazing to walk through and observe.

Here's a photographic snippet of how things are going in the garden:

Trillium Expedition to Northern Alabama with Christopher

So...remember last year I went to Washington, D.C. for the APGA Plant Collections Symposium. Well, that trip made this trip possible. I met both Christopher Elenstar, a horticulturist at Brookside Gardens in Maryland, and Carol Lambden, the special projects manager at Huntsville Botanical Garden, during the symposium and it was then these plans were hatched. Serendipity at its finest.

This is probably one of my favorite vignettes at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens: Sanguinaria canadensis, bloodroot; Trillium cuneatum, sweet betsy; Thalictrum thalictroides; and Xanthorhiza simplicissima, yellowroot.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and we were still getting the logistics ironed out, but the trip was still on! Whew.
I started the long drive up Interstate 65 the overcast morning of April 2, IDing plants as I drove (and man, there were some impressive Cornus florida and a handful of Chionanthus virginicus). The weather held off for me until I got to Birmingham, when a thunderstorm of epic proportions chased me to the airport where Christopher was just about to land....(and yes, his pilot landed in the middle of the thunderstorm).

We started our epic journey with pizza. No! Who has time for food when there are awesome plants waiting to be found?!

Dodecatheon meadia, shooting-star, Primulaceae. Click for more photos.

Nope, food first. But afterward, we were off to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for a botanical primer of North Alabama plants (which are more akin to those in Maryland and the North Carolina mountains than those in southern Alabama). We pointed ourselves in the direction of the native wildflower garden and we were off. Neither of us were expecting the intricate detail of the floral and botanical offerings we witness therein. We recognized most, some only to genus, and then there were others we eagerly sought the tag for.



We closed down the Birmingham Botanical Garden (and killed our cameras) and then made the drive to Huntsville to stay the night.

~~~

The next morning we got up to an overcast, humid morning, but our stop for breakfast made it all better. Christopher made an excellent find with the Mason Dixon Bakery. It was a great way to start the day!

We headed over to the Huntsville Botanical Garden first thing to meet up with Carol for a tour of the garden and the Trillium collection they are hoping to get NAPCC certified. It was a happy reunion and Christopher and I were quickly whisked off in a 6-seater golf cart with Harold Howard, the Trillium man.

Trillium pusilum, Melantiaceae. Click for more photos of the nursery.

Again, we were immediately in awe of what we'd signed up for. Harold gave us a two-hour tour of their native nursery area that was full of Trillium, native azaleas, Hexastylis, Asarum and a myriad of every other native flowering herb you could imagine. He picked up seed flats, trays, and pots; lifted leaves and pointed out flowers. There seemed no end to the experimentation and learning and discovery that was going on back there. I was so impressed with the volunteer support they have and their support of wild-collecting and rescuing of native plants. Whoa!


We were whisked off to the actual outplanted Trillium collection and the native wildflower area as soon as we could pry ourselves away from the nursery. Just countless "one more Trillium"s later, Carol, Christopher and I had gotten the crash course of a lifetime in the 28 species of Trillium Huntsville had. I was furiously taking notes and pictures and asking questions, and time flew by until my body reminded me it was lunchtime.

Trillium in the Woodland Garden at Huntsville Botanical Garden. Click for more photos.

Carol drove us through the rest of the garden, including the clever children's garden and butterfly house. Sadly it was a little early for the butterflies, but I guess I'll just have to see them on my next visit!

As if the morning-long tour wasn't enough, Christopher and I made out like bandits with Trillium flexipes, Asarum and Hexastylis, as well as several different native azaleas (which is exactly why I keep plastic in the back of my car)!

After a tasty lunch from the garden cafe and a wonderful discussion about what we learned that day, we made our way to Monte Sano State Park, the mountain that loomed over Huntsville, to hunt for wild Trillium. The southeastern side of the mountain was a sheltered valley and looked promising after appraising the nice $3 map we got with our entrance fee.

Shades of spring in the canopy of the forest at Monte Sano. Click for more photos.

The overlook we parked at presented a beautiful view of the valley below and allowed us to feel the breath of spring coming up from it. We started on the Sinks Trail, slowly making our way to the trailhead down the hillside. At first it wasn't looking promising as the understory seemed empty, but as well looked closer the ephemerals of all sorts came into focus. And the Trillium appeared in great swaths. Score.

A ring of Jeffersonia diphylla, Cardamine concatenata, and an unknown herb.

As we made our way further into the valley, a more stunning diversity of plants dotted the landscape. We'd barely made it halfway the hillside when we came to a limestone shelf and Christopher saw the first patch of Jeffersonia diphylla, a rather curious mono-generic member of the Berberidaceae, barberry family. Suddenly there were several clumps and then the whole hillside was dotted with them. It was mind-blowing to see so many in one spot. There were other plants there too, Heuchera villosa growing out of the cracks in the rock and Hepatica nobilis doing its thing. Unreal.

We had to keep moving, though the going was slow. Every five feet was a new plant, a new photo we had to take. Everywhere I looked there was something astounding about the landscape: the contour of the hill, the way the light lit up the emerging leaves on the trees, the towering trees, the stream we came upon. Everything. It was all as if we'd stepped into a fantasy world you only read about in botanical fairy tales.

Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells, Boraginaceae

Our cameras started dying as we came upon a valley of Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells. What started as a random patch of the beautiful, true-blue flowers and a carpet of Sanguinaria canadensis, bloodroot, opened up into an almost acre blanket of the Mertensia in full bloom. We stared in awe as we tried to understand the scale of the scene we were seeing. A closer look showed more Sanguinaria, ferns and even a few Trillium flexipes in the mix. I went into the valley for a scale picture and then Christopher and I spent at least 20 minutes just taking in everything.

But I could hear thunder whispering in the distance and I could tell there was a warning in the air, so it was time to move on. The sun had disappeared behind the mountain towering over us and we had to make it out of the park before sundown. Time to move.

We booked it up the hill and down an adjoining trail back to our car. We got a few more photos out of our phones, playing hopscotch with each other as we tried to hurry down the path while also taking photos. Just as we were starting the final ascent, the thunder cracked above us and the rain came in a gentle, steady stream. We made it back to the car just a little damp.

But the view as we drove back down the mountain was incredible. The sun was setting, emerging from the clouds clearing the horizon. There was another dark warning coming on the western horizon, but for the moment we could enjoy the beautiful sunset, a few more healthy clumps of Trillium cuneatum and some Mason Dixon Gluten-free cupcakes.

~~~

An ocean of Mertenisa virginica in the morning sun. Click for more photos of the morning.

I'm not one for early rises....but this trip was a special occasion. We had a lot to fit into such a small amount of time. We rose just as the sun was coming over Monte Sano State Park and we were ready
for a follow-up trek to see some more of what we missed. It was surprisingly chilly that morning, in the mid-40s by the time we got to the top of the mountain. With out hand firmly buried in our pockets, we descended into the valley as the sun was lighting the mountain side. It seemed spring had taken a queue from the sunshine and a deeper haze of green lit the canopy around us. It was a brisk jaunt and very successful.

We'd started our morning with a minimal breakfast, so it was off to another lovely gluten-free place! We fueled up and then we were off to our final stop: Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge.

It was still chilly in Decatur and it seemed the Saturday morning was prohibitive to many hikers. We stopped in the visitor's center to get our bearings and found out there really weren't many hiking trails. It makes sense, since it is a wildlife refuge, not a human recreation area. We found some trails though and so it was out to the Cypress Trail.

Clear morning path through the cypress swamp. Click for more photos.

It started as a beautiful walk on a boardwalk through the understory of a drove of Taxodium distichum. They were some of the largest I'd ever seen (and Christopher was wonderful enough to volunteer later to be my human yardstick so I could really show how large they were). After we left the boardwalk, however, there was a lot of evidence of invasive species. Ligustrum sinensis had taken over most of the understory and was working on choking out the overstory. It was a sad sight to see after such a beautiful stand of bald cypress. It was heartening to see their efforts to control the Phyllostachys though! Keep it up, USFWS!

Although not robust, these native azaleas made up for it in stature and the breadth of their colonies.

Our next and final stop was just across the road at a peninsula extending out into the Tennessee River. Our first impressions were full of more invasive species, including an Ilex cornuta, Chinese holly (which is a good argument again selling 'Carissa' hollies!!), which I took the liberty of taking out with my hand saw. It was hard to see any native shrubs and herbs through the thicket. There was a healthy overstory of pines, hickories and oaks though. A very interesting diversity of trees, which we'd hardly paid attention to the couple days before.

But finally, as we moved farther away from the trailhead, we started to see more natives than invasives, and then the invasives faded out almost completely. What came into view was a rich understory of native herbs and native azaleas. We saw at least three species of native deciduous azaleas: Rhododendron periclymenoides, R. alabamense and R. canescens. Just like with our experiences with the Trillium the days before, we saw one thicket of azaleas and then we'd look closer and see more and more. I was also heartened by the few healthy Cornus florida I saw as well.

~~~

And all of that was 50 hours curb to curb. Overall, it was an amazing adventure that turning into more than a pilgrimage for Trillium. It was an intensive field course in woodland ephemerals and the simple beauty in natural vignettes. It inspired me to bring more natural elements into the landscape and proves Mother Nature has better taste than I do.

Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Mt. Cuba Center and Longwood Gardens

Woods Path, Mt. Cuba Center

The morning was frigid. Armed with ski gloves, I followed Barb to work, winding down the narrow roads of the Brandywine Valley. We came to the elaborate gate of Mt. Cuba Center, previously the Copeland's Estate and quickly climbed the hill of the approach to the house. A quick glance out the right side revealed a vista across the rolling hills in the Valley and to the left a rock garden in the retaining wall! We parked our cars and Barb led me through a tunnel of Rhododendrons and leaning Oxydendrum arboretum. She said she loved parking there because in the spring the Trillium are beautiful. Sadly, the morning was a cold grey and the Rhododendrons' leaves were looking forlorn in the biting cold.

Barb led me across the sweeping brick front of the du Pont-Copeland's beautiful home and went in the front door! Immediately the wealth of the previous inhabitants was evident: elegant wallpaper, hand-carved staircase and crown moulding, rich carpets and beautiful furniture. Every detail was closely tended to. I was reminded briefly of walking into the Biltmore Estate. After meeting several people, Barb led me into the basement where the plant records department was and then took me for a tour of the three story house. I think my jaw was on the floor the entire time. Just wow. And everyone was so welcoming too.

Yet again, once the house tour was done, we decided to head outside to see the gardens. The winter time is not the best time to see a garden at its best, but that doesn't mean a garden shouldn't be seen. Barb decided to check some areas while we were out there, so we bundled up and headed out. We walked through the formal garden and Barb told me about the upcoming renovations, then through the Trial Garden. If you don't see anything else (well, except the Trilliums), the Trial Gardens are worth the trip. Mt. Cuba Center is on the cutting edge of trialing natives and they have an impressive garden to do it in.

The cold slowed us down and we tried to keep moving, but I couldn't help but stop and look closer. Barb led me down the west slope path to the ponds, where we met one of the area gardeners, who stopped to talk with us a bit. We continued on and came to the area that Barb needed to check. Flags were spread throughout the area, and if you looked even closer, so were metal tags. Almost invisible reminders there were plants dormant there. I took the moment to look around me and take in the cathedral-like atmosphere of the Liriodendron tulipifera towering above the lake, and tried to imagine what the garden would look like in the spring, summer, fall when all of the plants would be active, growing in a great chorus in this great church.

The cold got the best of both of us and we made our way back up to the house; around the ponds, through the meadow, the dogwood path and trillium garden, and then up the woods path. I was most impressed even just seeing the bones of the garden and I can't wait to see the gardens in the full glory of spring.

We took a moment to warm ourselves and then we were out again, this time in a golf cart for a tour of the farther-flung areas of the gardens. Barb took me by several areas, until we ended up at the greenhouse facilities. One of the wonderful ladies there gave us both a tour of the facilities and we both learned a lot. There were the challenges of having to both use and maintain aging facilities, but the facilities themselves were interesting for their historical value. You could easily imagine what the cold storage rooms looked like full of bulbs for forcing and what the benches would look like with plants, immaculately manicured and full of flowers, ready to go up to the house. Facilities for the sake of surrounding yourself with beauty and perfection. What an incredible idea.

~~~

After such a wonderful tour and stimulating discussion over lunch afterwards, I was sad to leave the ladies at Mt. Cuba, but I was off for a tour of the curious boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) collection with the boxwood curator at Longwood Gardens. I eventually made it to the production area of Longwood after getting terribly lost. Again. Barrett was so nice though and was very patient with how late I was.

Once I was there I asked him tons of questions and we eventually made it out to the plots. Much like the Hort Field Lab at N.C. State, the production area was like an in-ground nursery, and the Buxus I'd come to see were planted out in rows, Round-up circles around them and metal tags identifying where they'd come from. Come to find out the Buxus sempervirens out there were cuttings taken from wild plants with desirable traits from countries around the Black Sea, from Albania to Azerbaijan (check out this map to see them!). There were dwarf forms, variegation of every kind (viral, chimeric or otherwise), dark green, light green, open forms, tight forms. A good sampling of the genetic diversity of the species. It was hard to tell they were all the same species sometimes.

So, why does Longwood have these specimens? There are many reasons, and historical value and breeding are the main ones. Longwood Gardens has released many cultivars into the horticultural trade, two of which are boxwoods: 'Longwood' and 'Belleville'. There may be more breeding in the future, so keep your eyes peeled for new releases and between now and then you can see them at the gardens.

 

Okay, okay. So boxwoods may not necessarily be the most stimulating topic, but Barrett had also planned for us to check out the Christmas display. It was obvious in the extravagant trees and decorations in the Conservatories there was every attention to detail, and stunning lights displayed in the giant trees outside were captivating even to adults. There was something new to see at each glance. The stroll through the Conservatories that evening will always stay with me.

Handmade steampunk Cardinal looking proud. The theme of the Christmas was birds.