Here we are, on the eve of another Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. I’ll head out in a bit to see what is blooming in my garden, thinking about Elizabeth Lawrence, and her quote that inspired bloom day, “We can have blooms nearly every month of the year.”
I received an email the other day letting me know that Elizabeth Lawrence’s garden and five other gardens will be open for The Garden Conservancy Tour on September 25-26 in Charlotte, NC.
If it were just a little closer, I’d be tempted to drive down there for the tour.
When I read posts by other EL fans who have visited, including Dee from Red Dirt Ramblings, I study maps and calculate how far it is to drive from here.
It would take me 10 hours, give or take, to drive there, assuming I drove straight through.
But it appears to me on the map that I’d be driving close enough to a couple of garden bloggers, including Frances at Fairegarden and Christopher Outside Clyde that driving straight through would not be an option. It looks to be about a two day drive, stopping to see Frances and Christopher and their gardens along the way.
I probably won’t get down there for this particular tour, but one day I’ll see Elizabeth Lawrence’s garden and nearby Wing Haven, I’m sure of it.
“It is not enough to grow plants; really to know them one must get to know how they grow elsewhere. To learn this it is necessary to create a correspondence with other gardeners, and to cultivate it as diligently as the garden itself. From putting together the experiences of gardeners in different places, a conception of plants begins to form. Gardening, reading about gardening, and writing about gardening are all one; no one can garden alone.” Elizabeth Lawrence in the preface to her book The Little Bulbs.
Once you get to North Carolina, there's so much to see – Tony Avent's Juniper Level, the fabulous gardens at Duke and UNC, the JC Raulston Arboretum and one I would love to see, Nancy Goodwin's Montrose – 2 days may be 2 little 🙂
When I was in E. Lawrence's garden, I didn't really know about Wing Haven so I missed it. When you go, I'll go with you. We'll visit all of our friends in that part of North Carolina. Thanks for the link love and for the reminder about GBBD.
Oh, and I linked to the Garden Conservancy's website on my blog's links. I think those kind of tours are so important.~~Dee
Cyndy, Fortunately, I got to see all those other North Carolina gardens last September when I went to the Garden Writers Symposium in Raleigh. They were wonderful to see!
Dee, I'll hold you to it. I need to add some links for the Garden Conservancy, too.
Oh Carol, I was just there in late June… it was like an oven outside. My purpose was to do flowers for my son's wedding and I worked around the clock, with local growers and putting it all together. Wing Haven and Elizabeth's gardens were right around the block from where I was staying and working. A beautiful neighborhood. Though I got to see the outside, I was not able to go in, for the only day the gardens were open was Saturday… the day of the wedding. It was hard to be so close and yet not able to see them. Still I hope to go back. Maybe I will bump into you there. "…;no one can garden alone." I wonder what she would have thought of blogging? ;>)
We would love to have you all! Feel free to come anytime, the garden, and guest bedroom are open and ready. I'll just freshen the sheets, hang the towels and have fresh water and a chocolate on the pillow! 🙂
Frances
New reader here. I just wanted to say that your hoe collection rocks. Love it!
Hello Carol, Donna from Niagara Falls, here. I would like to participate in your Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Looks like fun. Here is my blog post.
http://gardenwalkgardentalk.com/
I hope this is all you need.
Thanks, Donna
Perhaps I should go to Wing Haven and the Elizabeth Lawrence garden. For me it looks likes a 2 and 1/2 hour drive I could turn into a 2 day, maybe 3 day road trip.
We were in that area in 2007, when we drove from Nebraska to the Outer Banks in North Carolina to see the ocean. I would love to go back. We did get to go on an old home and garden tour in Beaufort when we were there. We didn't make it to Charlotte, though.
I hope you get to go soon. Go spend some time at a beach! I wish I lived 10 hours from one.