A perfect garden road trip destination in Boyce, Virginia!
Mid-summer Garden Dreams
By the time July hits, most gardeners are usually second-guessing most of the ambitious plans they had last December when they ordered seeds. We are either up early weeding and watering those ambitions, or saying we WILL be up early…tomorrow. Sometimes, it is nice to take a step away from the work of a garden and take a daytrip, to a “botanical garden devoted to trees”: an arboretum. In this case, I live about equal distance to both Virginia’s State and the National arboretums. Lucky me!
Let’s face it: if large beautiful, bounteous gardens were easy and less work, EVERYONE would have one. That’s why summer is the time to take pictures and visit other gardens. That way, you can appreciate others’ hard work (and maybe get good advice from others about conserving water or fending off plant pests), and take pictures of gardens that inspire you, and your own gardens.
Mid-summer Garden Tips
I especially encourage you to take pictures of your own garden, in the early morning or at dusk. The light is best at those times, and more birds and happy insects are out and about. Not only will you appreciate your garden more at those times of day, but you’ll have photos to review in winter. This is helpful for several reasons, including making plans for next season, and just so you can appreciate what the garden actually looked like. In summer, it’s too easy to focus on all the work that needs to be done, but in winter, most of those weeds are gone by December!
How handy is it that your GPS navigator, and search engine to find gardens to travel to are also on your phone, which probably has a camera? You can snap shots of plantings, design, insects, birds, hardscapes and then identify all you see, on the same device. Gardening (in some ways, at least) has never been easier.
A Garden Further Afield
A garden I have wanted to see for a while is Blandy Experimental Farm, in Boyce, Virginia. Owned by the University of Virginia, since 1926. “Containing one of the most diverse collections of trees and woody shrubs in the eastern United States, Blandy Experimental Farm was designated the State Arboretum of Virginia in 1986.”
A 712-acre portion of Graham F. Blandy’s estate known as “the Tuleyries” was bequeathed for the education of “boys farming in the various branches.” Blandy is a town located near both the apple-centric city of Winchester (also in Virginia) and less than half an hour from the National Historical Park in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Both places have their many charms: historic buildings, cute downtowns, Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers to play on, and hiking along the Appalachian Trail.
Though it was almost 90 degrees and mid-day in July when I visited, there were many shady spots in the gardens and the few gardeners I met were happy to have visitors and answer my questions. We all were thankful for a day free of the recently ubiquitous wildfire smoke/smog that had filtered down from Canada this summer, which had prompted several air quality alerts.
As far as the eye can see
This particular Friday afternoon, I enjoyed the well-labelled herb gardens. They are bordered by many varieties of Lavender and located across from parking in front of the glass greenhouse. Someone has allowed the milkweed to come up in various places throughout the gardens, which I appreciated (as will many Monarch butterflies).
Just past the greenhouse and the more formal gardens are gorgeous picnic areas, cooling woods, an outdoor education pavilion, and a multi-acre meadow.
Plan your visit
There are movies here on the weekends, scientists doing plant-related research, and my few hours there was not enough to really soak in all the site has to offer. In my defense, it was almost 100 degrees, and I was headed to Washington D.C. (on a Friday afternoon) from there, so I had traffic to beat and the U.S. Botanical Gardens to see.
Anyway, what did I learn? If one is enroute to D.C., or Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, the State Arboretum is a great place to rest and refuel, and heading EAST on Route 66 on Friday afternoon is infinitely easier than the clogged western commuter route.
I had a delightful picnic under shade trees with amazing scents wafting by from the herb gardens. I stretched my legs in the fabulous meadow and enjoyed all the pollinators dancing from plant to plant, under the open sky. I learned more about another of UVA’s collection of beautiful properties and spoke with other gardeners, learning their best tips for the drought and air quality challenges that have been increasing in Virginia the past few years. And complimented them on the outstanding job they were doing, despite those challenges!