Monday, May 30, 2011

Albuquerque Botanical Garden Part II

Continuing my previous post about my visit to the Albuquerque Botanical Garden, next I walked through an area with a very beautiful and tasteful fountain.

(you can click on the photos to enlarge)

 

I have fallen head over heels in love with this beauty. Maybe because of its extraordinary craftsmanship and attention to detail in the way it is made. It reminded me of the old and beautiful fountains that you often find in Europe.


 

Here is another shot of the fountain from a different perspective. This photo also shows the intricate details of the statue much better.



In the same area was this beautiful group of irises planted, only giving a small taste of more iris beds to come. Irises seem to do exceptionally well in Albuquerque.



Close by the fountain was this charming wood bench flanked by two beautiful light blue glazed containers which pick up the very special color of the high desert sky of Albuquerque perfectly. I love, love, love these tall blue containers. They have such a positive impact on the garden and always provide color even in winter or when the garden is going through a phase were it is looking more dull. On a side note,  I was very surprised to see that many trees hadn't even leaved out in that area, yet.



Continuing to explore the extensive botanical garden I passed by this amazing bed of irises. The cool color scheme, white, blue, pale and dark lilac, was just up to my liking. I also noticed that by mounting the bed the planting looked much more interesting and the irises could be better appreciated than when they were just planted in a flat flower bed.



Going deeper into the garden you come by another more informal rose garden. Do you recognize the unusual climbing structures? I have never seen anything like this before and I have to admit that I didn't like them so much when they were still visible but, when the roses had made complete use of them they helped the climbing roses into a magnificent shape.




Same area shown from a little further away. There was a sign not seen in this photo apologizing that part of the rose garden was under construction, so I expect more roses to admire in the future.



The next garden was designed to resemble a heritage farm. The entry to that area was again planted with a gorgeous iris bed to the left.



To the right side of the path leading to the farm they were displaying old farm tools and you can see already the farm house in the background on the photo above.



Bed on the right side closer to the entry of the farm house garden.



Lovely arbor greeting you when you entered the farm house garden.



When you were exiting the farm house garden there was another beautiful arbor with climbing rose growing on it, which I believe is Zephirine Drouhin. If I could I would "beam" this arbor right into my own garden in San Diego.



Looking back at the arbor with the climbing rose and the farm house to the right . I love the rustic wine barrel plantings. They seemed to go so well with the farm setting.



Next I visited the Japanese Garden, which was a quite extensive area. I always like the simplicity and elegance of Japanese Gardens. The way they are planted they always calm me down immediately.



I was especially captivated by this lovely and very unusual peony.




Close-up of the peony flowers. This is one of the most beautiful and unusual peonies that I have ever seen.



The Japanese Garden was containing a quite large pond area with a waterfall. The whole area was just so beautifully designed.



I found another plant in this area quite appealing. I believe it to be some kind of Mock Orange, but I could be wrong. What ever it is is is quite lovely.




On my way back out I passed by another gorgeous iris bed in a completely different color scheme than the previous one.


One last glance back, bye dragon, I hope I come back to visit you, again.



One of the most beautiful roses that I saw on my visit to the Albuquerque Botanical Garden was actually not growing inside the garden but outside in the parking lot. What a gorgeous specimen that is. Unfortunately I have no clue what variety this might be. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Hope you enjoyed the tour through the Albuquerque Botanical Garden with me!

See you in the garden!

Christina

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for the tour, I enjoyed it very much. I love the Lutyens bench by the fountain with the pots on either side - I have to do that in my garden. The iris beds are beautiful and I especially loved the heritage farm views. Great post!

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  2. Thanks, Masha! I also would love to take some ideas that I got from visiting this botanical garden and make use of them in my own small space.

    Christina

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  3. Oh wow, I am absolutely amazed.

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  4. Stephanie, I feel the same the Albuquerque Botanical Garden is simply amazing!

    Christina

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  5. Christina, what a lovely pair of posts on the Botanic Gardens! Just a comment on the trees in the area with the Lutyens bench--we had a freak cold snap this February that killed a lot of trees. Some, like those crape myrtles, may still regrow from their roots. I'm just now beginning to see some with a few shoots of new greenery.

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  6. Stacy, thanks, I am glad that you like my two posts about the Albuquerque Botanical Garden. Wow, that explains why the trees were not leaved out. They didn't look dead to me though, so I hope they made it! I will check on them next time when I visit :-)!

    Christina

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  7. Christina - I had to look up your posts on the ABG. Isn't it funny that we only posted one photo the same (the waterfall in the Japanese garden). Well, I did post one on the climbing roses as they were trained so differently than I've ever seen done before. I, too, think this is an outstanding garden. I could imagine going there very often if I lived close by.

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  8. Holley, the Albuquerque Botanical Garden is so big and there are so many fascinating things to see that I am not at all surprised that we posted almost completely different photos from it. I am looking already forward to visiting it again when I am in Albuquerque next time!

    Christina

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