Sunday, June 12, 2011

Mosaic Monday: The Garden Conservancy



On Saturday, I visited two gardens close to my home that were opened as part of the Garden Conservancy Open Days Program. This is a wonderful program that opens private gardens across the country for a small fee, gaining funds to use towards the preservation of "exceptional American gardens for the education and enjoyment of the public."

This is the first of the gardens I visited. It is set on a steep hillside, with a formal knot garden near the back of the house, a white-fenced potager, and beautiful naturalized plantings following the curve of the hill. The owner first became interested in gardening when she retired. She is now a Master Gardener, and active on the board of a local arboretum. Her garden is filled with beautiful plant combinations, using colors, textures and leaves to create wonderful vistas.

If you are interested in visiting gardens in your area, do check out the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program.

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.
That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

53 comments:

  1. I love visiting gardens. Such a joy to see everything green, growing ... that connection to nature that seems to make everything calm. ... nourishing! Lovely!

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  2. The gardens are beautiful. Thanks for taking us there.
    Sherry

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  3. Your pictures are beautiful and I love that it's not sunny. I wonder if the temps had cooled down by the time you took these as just the grayness makes it look cool. Very hot here too, but finally some rain has dropped the temps, BUT raised the humidity. Oh well!

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  4. What a lovely way to spend the day. These gardens are beautiful. Thanks for hosting, Mary! I hope you have a wonderful week!

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  5. "One is nearer to God in a garden than anywhere else on Earth."....and I believe it. These are beautiful photos.

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  6. Beautiful photos~ as lovely as they are, I can only imagine how gorgeous it must have been in person! Everything is so lush, green and looks so cool!

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  7. These are such gorgeous gardens! Such stunning shots of them.
    Have a great week, Mary!

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  8. Hi Mary
    These are the kind of gardens that just take your breath away. Your photos are stunning.
    Judith

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  9. What beautiful gardens - and they're private....wow!
    I'd love to have a knot garden. I've got a tray full of boxwood starts and a bit of a plan...
    Thank you for hosting this link-up. I enjoy it very much.

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  10. She didn't begin until she retired and now she's a master gardener? It's stories like that that make my spirits soar. Wow. Beautiful and so emerald green. Could be Ireland it's so green. Thanks for the beautiful pictures and mosaics.

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  11. Beautiful garden!! Thank you for the tour.

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  12. Oh how lovely! Thank you for taking us on a tour, Mary! You take wonderful pictures! :)

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  13. The gardens are so green and lush! They are very beautiful and I love the idea of open house days to help support such magnificence!

    ♥ Pat

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  14. I can't imagine taking care of such a beautiful place, Mary. I'm not a very disciplined gardener {or a plant waterer}

    :)

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  15. Your photos are so beautiful. Thank for the lovely tour.
    -Lynn

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  16. The gardens look quite beautiful. What a wonderful opportunity to visit them. V

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  17. REALLY beautiful gardens. What a wonderful garden tour. The picture of the bench with the blooming dogwood in the back is just fabulous! I would love to sit on that bench and just look around at everything...

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  18. We've been having those same cloudy and damp days here too but the garden greens really stand out in that weather. Lovely photos! Everything looks so lush.

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  19. I've created a new meme that posts questions on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Please come check it out: http://wtfweeklymeme.blogspot.com/

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  20. Wow, we just had a home garden showcase but it was just too hot for me to go. These photos are beautiful. It is cooler today maybe it will cool down next week. Blessings
    QMM

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  21. Goodness, I did a garden book post yesterday. Hop over for a look when you have time. Beautiful images you've taken here, Mary. My son is a professional commercial photographer so I know all the skill levels involved in this work. Sending love, and thank you's for creating this place to share with all of us. Marsha

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  22. Simply Beautiful! I will definitely check that link to see if there are any open gardens in my area! Thank you for the info, beautiful photos and mosaic monday!
    Have a great week!

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  23. Beautiful! I went on a local garden tour here in Utah last weekend also. It was a gorgeous two days and the gardens were breath taking!

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  24. beautiful, beautiful photos
    thank you, that I could have been a stroll

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  25. What beautiful gardens! You are so lucky to be able to visit them. Thanks for sharing!

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  26. I love to live vicariously in other people's gardens. This are great dreamy shots...

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  27. thankyou for sharing this magnificent garden with us, and thank you for again giving me the opportunity to share my corner of Australia with you.

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  28. We have thist program in Germany to. It is called: Offene Gartenpforte.
    It's nice to visit private gardens all around!
    Thanks for sharing!
    Markus

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  29. I would love to have this garden. I especially would love to have that dovecote! Thanks for sharing!!

    Robin

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  30. Hi Mary,

    I am so glad to be joining you this week. Stunning gardens with beautiful design elements. Thanks for sharing them with us and for hosting.

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  31. Hi Mary, I love to visit peoples personal gardens. In the UK we have the Yellow Book National Garden Scheme which sounds the same sort of thing. I am visiting Dipley Mill next Sunday that is open as part of the scheme, just have to hope the weather is better than it was yesterday! Thank you for taking us on your visit, wonderful gardens with great views. Jackie in Surrey.

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  32. Wonderful mosaic as always. I especially the mist in the trees! Have a wonderful week! Cath

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  33. Sadly, we do not have that program in Alabama. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous photos with us. They are truly inspiring. Thanks for hosting Mosaic Mondays!

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  34. I so enjoyed my garden tour with you today, your shots are stunning.
    The mist makes everything seem so ethereal and full of mystery.
    Thank you as always for hosting MM.

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  35. Such wonderful gardens, thanks for the virtual tour.

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  36. Visitin these gardens sounds like soul food. What a location this one has - wow! It gives me courage to think big - i.e. if she can learn, so can I. What I mean is, it's easy to think small perennials but, now, I'm also turning my thoughts towards, trying to think of form and shape and backdrop and where to put those rhododendrons and trees that I still have in pots.

    Mary, these photos have such a moody, reflective feel. It's a joy (as per usual) to visit.

    (Actually, I should change "as per usual" into one of those texting acronyms - I use it often with you. Next time, you'll know what APU means, right?;)

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  37. I've only been on a couple of garden walks and so enjoyed them. Thanks for hosting again!
    Jill

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  38. Such stunning pictures....makes me want my own lush garden right now:) Stop by for a new amazing giveaway, a gorgeous Kilim bench!
    www.theenchantedhome.blogspot.com

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  39. Our little local library just had a garden tour fundraiser on this past rainy Saturday...we didn't get to all of them but it was delightful to see the wonderful works of local gardeners....It also made me want to get out in my neglected yard and do a little work myself:)

    Gorgeous photos!

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  40. beautiful gardens and beautiful photos - it all looks so calm and peaceful...

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  41. These photos are so gorgeous Mary!!!


    Linking up with Mosaic Monday at The Gardening Life

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  42. Your garden shots are amazing!!! Love that top Clematis!!! I wish their blooms lasted longer!
    Have a beautiful week!

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  43. Good evening, Mary! Lovely gardenshots you are delivering this Monday!
    Have a nice week!
    Best wishes,
    AnnA

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  44. Beautiful, Mary! What lovely gardens you have in your area. And you have the best misty days to capture wonderful, gauzy images!

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  45. Thanks for hosting. Love you're garden. Richard at My Old Historic House

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  46. That woodland border in the mist is a lovely photo! Nancy

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  47. Hey Mary!
    No heat wave now, thank goodness -- we've got painters crawling all over the house.
    The wedding approaches!
    Eeek...
    Love your dreamy images ... so wonderful.
    Only you can make gardens look so lovely in the wet weather!
    Cass

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  48. What a beautiful idea to get people out there, looking. Sadly, the closest to me are hours and hours away. I love the photos in this post. What a gorgeous place.
    Oh, the weather broke and the coolness in the air this evening made me put on a light sweater. I love this!!

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  49. Hello Mary,

    I LoVe all the lush green beauty,
    thank you for sharing the beautiful photos !

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  50. Mary, these are beautiful. Wish I could sit and stay awhile in this lush green garden. It is so hot here in TX already that inside is the place to be.
    Thanks for hosting each week. ~ sarah

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  51. Mary this is stunning. Just beautiful

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  52. The photographs you included here are absolutely stunning! I could step into any one of them and be totally at peace with the world! I'm hoping to join your Mosaic Monday in the future. ;)

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. I love to hear what you have to say!