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We decided, with the better weather and the more advanced season in Iowa,
that we
could risk visiting another garden. So we visited the Lauritzen Botanical
Gardens just across the river in Omaha Nebraska. It was a weekend of
special events, a plant sale, a membership drive and a musical performance
featuring mime/dance artists dressed as vines and a rock garden. We caught
a glimpse but didn't watch the show - plants move too slowly. |
| Here the daffodils had
gone (we have had daffodils everywhere we've been since early February and
its now May!). But the tulips were in full bloom and made a brilliantly
coloured show. |  |
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We've never had a statue in any of our gardens, much less a bronze. There are
several here. This is in a small section acknowledging the founders and
supporters of this garden. I liked its simplicity and lack of Greek or Roman
overtones. |
| Colour was certainly the
name of the game with many of the formal beds which were just coming into
their own. This was one such bed with stripes in ornamental cabbages and purple
sprouting broccoli. Cabbages can be very colourful when young. |  |
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The other major splashes of colour, besides the tulips, came from the pansies which were
in mixed beds but absolutely at their peak and a mass of colour. |
| Gardens like this usually
have areas with a theme. This garden had not yet come into bloom but is
entitled the 'English Perennial Garden'. All of the plants are labelled and
most of the names were very familiar to us. However I was very struck by one
I had not found before called 'The obedient plant' (physostegia virginiana). I want some of those! |
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These had a colour that was quite different to most of the other flowers
around and so made an interesting contrast. This is 'Avens Geum 'Borisii'.
It is a member of the rose family. |
| The pink of this azalea
is much more the colour of the season. |  |
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There is a stream running through which provided much needed shade on what
turned out to be quite a hot day. This acer is planted alongside. I like
acers. |
| There are fish in this
pond but I bet they don't have any problem with marauding herons. |  |
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It didn't say there is a garden railway - honest - but I did get some
ribbing for its presence. This is quite a large layout with four circuits
each with its own train. Most of the building and design was done by the
same guy from Kansas whose work I've seen in other gardens. |
| All the structures are
built from natural materials and are very detailed. There is an early Union
Pacific diesel hauling passenger cars at the back. Elsewhere there are a
steam freight, another diesel freight and a small steam passenger branch. |  |
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Jan took this shot which shows the superelevation of the tracks very well
and that the G scale trains aren't overwhelmed by the plants. |
| There is a herb garden
with this centrepiece although the plants looked a bit sorry for thmselves
at this time of year. |  |
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They are about to start work on a six acre green field which will be the
Japanese garden. This gate is all that exists at the moment. It was a gift
to Omaha from its sister city in Japan. |
| The day we visited they
opened a new exhibit entitled 'Kids' Space'. There are perhaps eight
different settings. There is some shade on this one but I'm not sure what it
is meant to be, though all the pieces are designed to encourage kids'
imaginations. |  |
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This is entitled 'Flip-Flop'. Many of the panels open thus enabling the kids
to make this into whatever they want to. |
| This exhibit has four
cows on the four sides. They are wire frame models then covered with some
plant material. |  |
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We aren't sure if there is a face in this 8 ft high vase. Would you call
something that size a vase? |
| This is a Japanese peony
in a garden just behind the vase above. There are also American varieties
but they were not quite in flower yet.. |  |
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Back at the entrance is a pond with many koi swimming around in and out of
the rushes and other water plants. |
| Many of the trees are in
full bloom at the moment. Another few days and they will be over so we
really struck lucky - the redbuds had already gone over. |  |
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