16 November 2009

Drooling over conifers

Today's post in a nutshell:
Going to Hidden Lake Gardens

 Has left me saying:
Oh my god CONIFERS!

Inspired by this post by Bert Craig on The Garden Professors blog, I decided to take a trip down to Hidden Lake Gardens -- it is in Tipton Michigan (aka The Middle of Nowhere) which turns out to be about an hour and a half south of here.

And it is spectacular. High on my list of all-time great public gardens I have visited. The lanscape is lovely rolling hills complete with lakes and gorgeous views, there is a marvelous conservatory with tropical, temperate, and arid rooms, but the really highlight is the conifer collection. Absolutely amazing. I came away with a whole list of names scribbled on a scrap of paper.. Lovely rare dwarf conifers I'm sure I'll never be able to afford on what we get paid in grad school, but a man can dream.

Anyway, enough words. On to some pictures:

Just a few of the wonderful colors, textures, and forms in the collection:

A view of the lake

 The cool conservatory that looks like an observatory:


Inside the conservatory:

If you are anywhere near southern Michigan, I highly recommend making a trip. I know I'll be back soon. Maybe this time with my bicycle so I can enjoy the lovely trails through the wooded hills around the lake.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh how beautiful, Joseph! The dwarf conifers are so pricey, but I love them too. We found some for sale recently at the University of Tennessee gardens for cheap. I bought two. Keep your eyes open for bargains! :-)
Frances

Joseph said...

I'll certainly keep my eyes open. What I really want to do is taking my propagating skills to the next level and learn to graft my own!