~~~Joe's birthday trip to Longwood Gardens~~~

HI everyone! Well, yesterday was Joe's birthday and he decided he wanted to go to Longwood and walk around. It was a GORGEOUS day, just perfect weather. I took a few shots in the car on the way to try to get some of the color on the trees. Then a shot at the entrance.

 Here are some beautiful pink mums. They were alongside a bed of cactus with pink blooms.

 This sight was a SHOCK! We have never seen these beds empty! BUT, there is a reason.....

 They are planting tulips for next spring! The lady told us that they had planted 17,000 (yes that is THOUSAND) on Sat. and would be planting 8 to 10,000 yesterday!!! That is only a fraction of all the bulbs, there are over 100,000 bulbs planted every year!!!!!

 Then we moved on to Pierce's Woods. Joe loves this area.

 Some pretty color on these trees.

 I captured Mr. Squirrel I assume gathering some nuts for winter!!!

 I wanted SO bad to pick some of these hydrangeas, drying on the bush. I love the brown color!!!

 There is a beautiful pond here where the geese like to hang out.

 The kids that visit love to play here in this huge tree house!!!

 This is a beautiful weeping willow tree.

 We should do this too. We have deer that eat many of our bushes in the winter. I guess it is "natural pruning", LOL

 Huge waves of Pineapple sage!

 The roses are still blooming so beautifully.

 The grounds seemd to be in a state of "transition". This is the fountains and lights. They do fountain shows where the fountains are lit up and "dance" to music!!

 The bell tower. It was actually chiming as I snapped this picture.

 Here we are at one of Joe's favorite spots on the grounds.

 This is an amazing train set up. They change the display every year. It is set up in the Spring and stays til January, then it is all taken down and a totally new arrangement is set up next year!!!!

 It is amazing! And the mums etc. look SO pretty!

 This is MY favorite display in the Fall. HUGE pumpkins and LOTS of gourds.

 Can you guess what this one weighs????

 WOW!!! BUT, it isn't the biggest one!

 Does my butt make this pumpkin look fat????:):):)

 Finally we got to the conservatory. This is an amazing display that also changes for each season.

 COLORFUL croton.

 Wait til you see this!!!

 All these different mums are grafted onto ONE stem!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is ONE bush!!!! Each one is labeled.

 These are parasols that are hung from the ceiling of the conservatory.

 And, the water lilies are still blooming too!

 This one was huge, about 8-10 inches across!

 These are mum arches!!!!

 The base of the arches. The flowers are always displayed in such imaginative ways! Wouldn't it be nice to have an ARMY of people maintaining your gardens!

 AND, I spied something else: they have started to wrap the trees with Christmas lights!!!! The Christmas display is something to behold!!!!!

I hope you have enjoyed your tour of beautiful Longwood Gardens. After, we went to Chadds Ford Tavern for a late lunch/early dinner. We had some ham, cabbage and bean soup and roast beef sandwiches. I am going to try to make the soup, it was delicious. If I come up with a recipe,I will share it with you. XO, Pinky
I am joining Kim for Wow Us Wed. at http://www.savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/  Please visit her party to see some awesome things!!!!