It's great to have time to visit The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Gardens while in Pasadena and surrounds. Even if you aren't an art afficionado, the gardens are beautifully maintained and interesting, it's a great destination if you have time for a walk around the grounds. I normally head for either the Japanese or Chinese Garden, walking through the Rose Garden on the way.
This visit I also took some shots of the grape and wisteria arbors as inspiration for John's pergola project at Struan Farm. It's about to go up, then I'm meant to plant something that will stretch overhead.
It was a nice respite from the heat to sit in the shade under this wisteria arbor above, knitting, overlooking the Japanese Garden.
I also met a docent stationed near the herb garden with information on natural dyes, and learned that that the bark and branches of the Cotinus/Smoke Tree we recently planted at Struan Farm can be used to make a natural dye!
Hi Karen. As usual, beautiful pictures. The second photo, of the arbor, looks very much like the one we had when I was about 5. Us kids used to make ourselves sick on the grapes that grew there. I hadn't remembered that in a long time. Love your blog!
Kris
Posted by: Kris | 07/04/2012 at 01:21 PM