2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Bellingrath Gardens, The Wrapup Post

Well, my dear readers, you can certainly tell by the number of posts I have had to publish on the Bellingrath Gardens that John, Donna, Man and I had a wonderul day.  It started out a bit rough,

• Man thought we had discount tickets, but a search of Tana and Big Butt failed to produce them. 
• The weather was supposed to be sunny and warm, it started out extremely foggy and just a little coolish. 
• We had intended to ride the Fort Morgan ferry to Dauphin Island and drive back in the evening via Mobile.  The ferry sign (30 minutes FROM the ferry, saves you from driving all the way down to Fort Morgan if there is no ferry service) stated it was CLOSED, so we reversed the trip driving plans. 
• I had the Baby HP tablet computer, wanted to use Streets & Trips and the GPS, so I grabbed her and tried to start her up with the button (vs the little remote I use most of the time).  Baby refused to start with the lid up.  Despite several tries, she was having none of it.  So, I say to Man, with that snide black humor tone of voice, wonder if she will boot up with her lid closed.  Guess what, she did.  Surprised us.

By now, Man and I and our sick humor had kicked in, that and the early hour.  So, we started a chant that lasted a good part of the day:  Tickets, no tickets.  Fog, no fog.  Ferry, no ferry.  Lid, no lid.  Giggles and more giggles.  Maybe I should say, giggles, no giggles.  Cept, we were laughing all the way.  Laughter is such a great way to start off the day, don't you think?

Now, to share with you some photos that did not appear in my other posts, I hope you enjoy them.

Above, isn't this enchanting?  Water, plants, stonework,

and if you look in the far lower right corner, a gold fish!

This un-identified little beauty, we believe is a bulb,

was in the gardens along the walk ways

that are replanted several times a year.

Man and I on the board walk in the Oriental-American garden.

Mirror Lake as viewed through the branches of a live oak.

Above,  a view of a greenhouse.  The structure through which we are viewing is a bridge (we believe it is used for maintenance vehicles?)  This has a lot of features I just love, stone, wraught iron, greenhouses, ivy growing up the columns, a bench. 

Fade out.

Above, Man and I at the end of our wonderful day, walking through a stand of Bamboo, tired, fulfilled, with so many wonderful photos and memories.  (Thanks to Donna for this photo.)  We may look like we are fading out, but the day will remain focused for some time.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence
.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Bellingrath Gardens, The Flowers

When one takes well over 300 photos of flowers, gardens, wrought iron, buildings, ponds, and more flowers, it is a bit hard to decide which are the best of the best photos. Donna and I had a GRAND time taking photos. We laughed and took more photos.  We walked 4 feet and took more photos.  We compared flowers, "ooo, this is a good one, did you see this one, oh, wait till you see this one, oh, yes, I think THIS photo is going to be great."  It was so much fun touring the gardens with someone who obviously loves her flowers and taking photos of them as much as I do.

So, without further delay, to represent the fabulous flowers of the Bellingrath Gardens, I chose the following.  (Yes, there may be duplicates, I could not help myself!  LOL)

Tossing in a gate for good measure:

Floating in a pond:

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

*When I reviewed all blog posts in late 2018, early 2019, I found many broken links, including a slide show that was here.  I no longer remember which flower photos I had in that slide show, so, I reviewed the photos of the gardens and picked what are now pleasing to me and included them.

.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Bellingrath Gardens, The Oriental-American Garden

Tucked away in a corner, accessible by a single entrance, is the Oriental-American Garden of Bellingrath. It is a garden filled with reflections and peace.  Since it is also Wordless Wednesday, for the most part, I shall  let the photos speak for themselves, they do so much better than Moi.

Above: Isn't this a great walk, right over/through the pond.

My favorite, below, you can walk over the bridge,

waterfall behind, great stone work.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Bellingrath Gardens, Surprises of the Ecological Walk

The Ecological Walkway, otherwise known as the Bayou Walkway, is 1600 feet of a board walkway built over a bayou.  Honestly, by the time we reached this area, I was, well, - - - tired!  I even suggested/asked John, Donna and Man, "well, do you want to walk this or go back to the formal gardens?"  John said, lets walk, so we did.  Little did I know what surprises were to be found.

Our view on entering the walkway,

pond cypress, and the far end of the walkway.

Cypress knees, have their own unique beauty.

See what I mean about surprises? 

Donna spied this beautiful fungi/mushrooms.

We thought they looked akin to sea shells.

My attraction to fences continues.

Almost at the end of our stroll around the walkway we find

this beautiul titi in full bloom. Donna knew the name, thanks.

You can read more about the Ecological Walk at the Belligrath Gardens website.

So, even though I was not initially interested in walking the 1600 feet of boardwalk, which looked rather boring and gray (after all those flowers), I was so glad I went along with John' suggestion, other wise I would have missed all these wonderful surprises.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Bellingrath Gardens, Wraught Iron Delights

I love wrought iron and gates.  Both abound in the south, providing a multitude of photo opportunities.  For those that visit Reflections frequently, you already know my inability to walk by a chair, bench or gate without looking twice for a photo op.  At Bellingrath, I took between 30 and 40 photos just of wrought iron and gates.  Ya, I know, too many for you to look at, and too many for me to edit and post.  So, here is a collage of a few of them and a few flowers as well, courtesy of http://www.photovisi.com/. 

One of my favorite pieces and photos of the wrought iron is this beautiful planter filled with Easter Lilies.  I could not convince Man, John and Donna to help me sneak this piece out the gate!  I mean, how much could this thing have weighed???  Guessing, it was about 3 feet long, 8 inches wide and about 12 inches or more tall.  If we had tossed the planting medium and the lilies out, I still think we could have managed.  Well, maybe not!  LOL

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Bellingrath Gardens, The Buildings

The buildings of Bellingrath are not old, in the scheme of things, built in the 1930's era.  They are quite charming tho, lots of that neat wrought iron, and brick.  Tastefully done.

Above:  This is the courtyard of the main house,

the house is built totally around it.

We did a house tour, very enjoyable, great docent to guide us.  No photos allowed inside.  The collections of silver and table settings were UNREAL!  The kitchen and bathrooms were so interesting, ah, yes, pink and green baths, straight from the World Fair exposition (I believe they said it was the 1933 fair in Chicago).  OK, they were old, but, I liked them, retro. 

Mrs. Bellingrath collected porcelain figurines.  The collection is extensive and amazing.  The pieces were in such great shape, I did not see any chips or bungs.  House was full of interesting artifacts, all the furnishings are ORIGINAL.  Have to say, it is one of the few house tours we have done that had ALL original.  I liked that.

You can learn more about the estate at their web site, including some photos of the interior of the home.

Future posts will highlight the wrought iron, the flowers, the oriental gardens and the 1600 foot long ecological boardwalk.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Bellingrath Gardens, A Preview

Camellia flower floating in one of the garden features of the Fountain Plaza.  Apparently fed by a very active artesian spring, this taming of Mother Nature is amazing.

Calling these magnificent water features a garden pond, would be an understatement, to say the least.  There are square configurations, natural ponds, ponds with water falls.  Totally delightful.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
.