Kids' trip to Phipps Conservatory

Kids at Phipps Conservatory

We had a really fun trip to Phipps Conservatory with the kids last week. I called my friend and her three little ones to see if they would like to come play for the day with us, and they agreed. This was the first time we had been at Phipps together since the Spring Show years ago. Another friend was kind enough to come along to help us out.

Phipps has added on to their outdoor children's garden this year, making it easier for the kids to run and get their hands into real play. They were all excited to get to pot their own herb (yeah for more basil!), play with the log pieces and get wet, wet, wet! They were quite drippy by the end of the day. Bringing a change of clothing is advisable. And bringing it in with you makes it even easier because there are changing bathrooms outside by the kids garden.

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD Sept 2012

Pink Dahlia with Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' in our Front Walk Garden.

Welcome to Pennsylvania in September! My garden has definitely perked up for fall. We finally had a normal amount of rain for the month, which is the first month since last year. The plants are putting on new growth, looking greener and flowering a bit more. Here are some highlights from around our two-tenths of an acre at Gilmore Gardens.

Rest Easy by Andrew Peterson

Pink waterlily from Phipps Conservatory this summer.

Here is a great song that I have been listening to on the days when I am tired out from all of the demands of being a wife, mother and gardener... or even just tired out from reading my how-to garden journal post from the other day ;) 

Perhaps you might need to hear this song today too?

Ways to Use A Garden Journal

My Date Books turned Garden Journals from the past three years.

Do you have a garden journal? Journals are a great idea for furthering your garden education... but then there is the patient work of actually writing in them. Where to begin? How do you scramble to catch-up when you are behind?

One of my favorite garden authors, Rosemary Verey, said, 

"Take note as you go... Learn to build up your knowledge of plants, not only to be able to recognize them but to know what growing conditions they like or dislike, when they will flower, what their leaves will contribute before and after flowering, how they will relate to their neighbors.  This knowledge comes only with familiarity, observation and experience" (Rosemary Verey's Making of a Garden, page 17).

Phipps Conservatory at Summer's End

Tropical walk along the front of Phipps Conservatory with a view toward the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.

Last week, I was able to attend a garden design seminar with guest speaker Gordon Hayward at Phipps Conservatory. The first day was lecture in the Phipps Botany Hall, and the second day was a smaller setting at the nearby Phipps Garden Center.

I hope to share more of my favorite key points from Mr Hayward lectures soon. For today though, here are a few summery photos I snapped on the way around Phipps on the first day. Happy Labor Day!