LATEST WALK AROUND GREEN SPRING GARDENS ON 4-15-22 - PART 1

We were at the gardens on April 14th.  It was a gorgeous day and far too good to stay inside.  

I also wanted to see the dogwoods while they were still blooming.  We are thinking of planting them to replace the two trees that we had to cut down.  The white ones are my favorite as they were the first kind I ever saw.  We drive out into the country and see them growing wild in amongst all the other trees.  It is a lovely sight.  

The pink ones are spectacular too and these were at the lower end of the garden.  

We have both in our neighborhood, which look stunning.  Our son and daughter-in-law mentioned them, how beautiful they looked, when heading over recently.  

But, I have a bee in my bonnet about the white and would like to plant those.  Dear Other Half doesn't have a strong opinion and would be happy with both.  Looking at these, however, well.....

We usually take the pathway next to the old house, but we wanted to go to the ponds today.  We walked the narrow road down the hill instead.

A kind person had found a pair of sunglasses and popped them on top of the sign where, hopefully, they will be found before their owner leaves the garden.  As you can see, the garden gates are closed at five.  We have in the past arrived at a later hour and was glad we read the sign.  You can still walk around, probably until it starts to get dark, and we have left our car on the other side of the gate.  It is only a short walk to the garden.  One time we wanted to go during that golden hour for photo taking, and remembering the sign, we parked beyond the gate.  We did not have a problem finding a spot as most people had left by then.

I did not think I would be seeing any more daffodils, but there were many on our way to the ponds.  

I have seen paler daffodils - narcissus? - but not the frilly kind.  The closest I could get to identifying these was Double Daffodils - Sir Winston Churchill.  

You can see if you agree at this link.  The website here has them for sale.

There are many benches throughout the garden, and we always make use of one that is right next to the water.  

Gregg is taking photos of the fish.

I am sitting on our favorite bench.  From where I am, it is a good place to watch for activity on the water.  I was hoping for birds but came across something very interesting.

A couple were on the edge peering down and then the gentleman exclaimed very loudly.  He turned round to where I was sitting, and said there were huge fish just under the surface, come and see!  His excitement and enthusiasm made me smile and as I recognized another nature lover, I walked over.  We chatted for a while and Gregg joined us.  The gentleman told me he thought they were American Carp.  I couldn't get a decent photo of the big ones but they were well over four-feet in length.

The smaller swam towards us and stayed in place for a while, opening and closing their mouths as they usually do.  It didn't take long to realize they were waiting for us to feed them.

I thanked the couple.  We have never seen fish this big before and we look into the water on every visit, checking out the much smaller ones.  These were a surprise.  The Great Blue Heron we occasionally see fishing will have a hard time picking one up for dinner.

We also got a decent photo of a Male Northern Cardinal, as curious about us as we were about him perhaps?

And I'm thinking this is a House sparrow.  What do you think?

And an American Robin.  Gregg took the bird photos.

We leave the pond and walk along the trail through the wood.  The bark of trees interests us both and Gregg also took the next photo.   On doing a little research (please let me know if you think it is something else), this is a River birch tree, also known as Water birch, Black birch and Swamp birch.  River birch is a strong but knotty wood.  It is sometimes used to make woodenware and furniture, but it is not usually used for commercial lumber.  Native Americans would boil the sap to make a sweetener and would even eat the inner bark when food was scarce.  It is also a food source for many wild birds and even deer.

One last photo taken by my Dear Other Half, and that is one of the creek.  There is a bridge we cross over before going up the hill.

I will end here as there are more photos to share.  I hope you have enjoyed Part 1.

Thank you for visiting today's blog post.  

May your day be a happy one.

FINISHING A WALK AROUND GREEN SPRING GARDENS

Looking across the large green as we make our way around the walking path, we see a family sitting on a blanket in the shade of the trees.  This would be a great place to bring a picnic, as I have seen people do several times on previous visits.

The gazebo is a very short walk from the Visitor Center where I saw this vase of pretty peonies.

The ground covering of small pansies were lovely,

as were the Trumpet Vines starting to cover this arbor.

We didn't see many birds to take photos of, but early in our walk we noticed that House Sparrows had taken up residence in the multi-story birdhouse high on the pole (left of the photo below).

Another small section of landscaped garden to enjoy...

and information on how to help our feathered friends.

Our bees are also mentioned.

I'm sure the frogs weren't left out.  I probably missed that sign.

By this time we are at the path that leads down to the ponds.  We leave the more manicured area and make our way down the hill.  The path here is gravel and a little uneven, so I always take extra care.  

I love this wooded area.  Everything is so lush and green.  Old trees are left to slowly decay, adding nutrients back into the soil.  They also give homes to countless species of wildlife.  

I read here that there are those who believe "the removal of dead material from forests can mean a loss of habitat for up to one fifth of the animals in the ecosystem."  Quite a sobering thought.  There is a lot of interesting information at this link regarding dead trees and how important they are.  Here is another link with more interesting information.

By this time we had walked down the gravel path, crossed over a small creek, turned left and headed towards the two ponds.  We stopped at the second one, sat on a bench under a shady tree, and enjoyed looking across the water.  Again there weren't many people here, but we noticed a family across the way, making use of another shady tree.  

A couple walked by with a small dog being transported in a pet carrier.  I was so curious about this carrier that I looked on Amazon when I got home, and found one here, which is very similar to the one this lady had. A cute little dog who seemed very comfortable and enjoying his ride.

We sat on the bench for a while after little dog and lady left, enjoying our surroundings very much.  It wasn't long before we saw a flash of red flying from one tree to another, almost above our heads.

A male Cardinal put on a performance.  I found a website where you can hear its call - at this link - if you click on their video.

It is always enjoyable to explore our local parks and gardens.  We have been to many of them and had some great walks.

Thank you for coming along with us on this one.  Enjoy your day.