I am daydreaming of Pergolas....and other things!

I guess you can say I have had apartment fever! I have been daydreaming about what the new house will look like, what gardens I'm going to put in and where and one thing I have been thinking about is a pergola over the patio we are going to have created in the Spring! I went on my old favorite friend, pinterest.com and here is a pergola I feel in love with: (all photos via pinterest.com)

Isn't this gorgeous!!

Here is another gorgeous one! I found some other interesting things I might want to try at the new house too:

What a wonderful way to cover your downspouts!!

This garage arbor is just beautiful and the new house will have some stone on it too!

I have always loved rain chains. This copper flower cup is just beautiful!

I might have to put this water fountain somewhere in the backyard. The birds would probably love it too! I love daydreaming and these are some beautiful things to daydream about! Enjoy your day!!

Wing Haven Gardens Part II

As promised here is the second part of the photos I took at Wing Haven Gardens yesterday:

There were really beautiful snowball bushes at Wing Haven. This is just one bush-just gorgeous!

This is the fountain pool at the end of the walk through Wing Haven.

Japanese Painted Fern

Blue Hydrangea blossom-gorgeous!

I named this the "blue hydrangea walkway".

These blue hydrangea blossoms are near the house.

There is a beautiful herb garden and it was lined with boxwood. They must have just trimmed them because they were just perfect! There was a sun dial on a pedestal in the middle of the garden.

This is a closeup of the boxwood lined path herb garden.

Pink Lily blooming at Wing Haven.

Purple and blue hydrangea blossoms.

Alot of the water spigots throughout the garden had cast shapes on them. This is a little quail.

Cast Dog water spigot.

Pinkish Purple Hydrangea blossoms

Snowball blossoms

I love snowball blossoms and I had to take a closeup of one of the blossoms.

I just love the sunshine shining on this mossy brick pathway.

I love white iron benches and this one was gorgeous. If you look to the left side of the photo you can catch a glimpse of the beautiful exit gate.

These beautiful white roses were in the rose garden at Wing Haven.

As I was walking along one of the paths I looked up and saw this really knotted old tree. Just fascinating!

We were leaving one of the garden "rooms" and I looked up and saw this beautiful white wooden gate and the beautiful brick wall. Wing Haven Gardens recently added the Elizabeth Lawrence House right down the street from Wing Haven Gardens. Elizabeth Lawrence was the first woman to graduate North Carolina State University's Land Architecture program. In 1948 Elizabeth started building a house and garden in Charlotte. She used her garden as a living laboratory. Here are a few pictures from her garden.

Blue Scabiosa

I don't know what this plant is, but I think it is really pretty!

There was a waterlily pond at the Elizabeth Lawrence House. It is all so pretty.

Gold fish in the lily pond.

There was an orange amaryllis growing in the garden. I thought it was just gorgeous!

Cast Dogwood Blossom on water spigot.

This is a relief that was hanging in the garden of the Holy Mother and Babe.

There were stone pillars with flower pots on them in the back part of the garden, just beautiful.

The waterlilies were just gorgeous in the pond.

I love this photo of the waterlily I took! I love the waxy look of the leaves and the grace and beauty of the lily itself. Well that is it for tonight! John and I had such a wonderful visit to both Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Santuary and the Elizabeth Lawrence House. If you are ever in Charlotte, you should make time to visit these beautiful santuaries! I'm so glad we did!

Wing Haven Gardens (Part I)

John and I were talking last night and we decided we didn't want to sit at home today. We kept looking on line for things we could do. John remembered there was a garden called Wing Haven Gardens in the Myers Park section of Charlotte. We heard about this garden when we moved here in 2004. My Mom saw an article in Country Living magazine about this garden. I have always loved gardening and birds, so Wing Haven it was today! Wing Haven was created in 1927 by a couple named Elizabeth and Edwin Clarkson. This was their house and yard. The gardens are now 3 acres of beauty! There are tons of birds and little wildlife like chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits scampering all around the property. John arrived and talked to one of the volunteer ladies inside the house for a little while and then she directed us to an outbuilding to watch a movie about the Clarkson's and how the property evolved. The entire garden is encompassed by a brick wall, which makes a great back drop for the plants and fountains. Here are a few pictures of our beautiful day (tomorrow I will post some more):

I love the entrance gate to Wing Haven!

One of the many brick pathways through the gardens.

This lion fountain was so pretty. I love fountains!

Closeup of the lion fountain.

St. Francis of Assisi statue.

This is such a lovely bench in the arbor. There is also a sunken birdbath, which is really lovely!

This babbling brook had such a lovely sound, I wish you could hear it!

There were benches of all different kinds throughout the gardens. This one is made from brick. Alot of the walls in the garden had this open air brick pattern too!

There was a little niche cut out in the woods and there was this lovely birdbath in there. I love all kinds of antique birdbaths!

I love this long pathway through the woods. There are so many brick pathways through the gardens. The movie we watched before entering the garden said there is so many bricks in the wall, garden paths, etc. that 3 houses could be built from them!!

St. Francis of Assisi Fountain.

Holy Mother statue.

This was one of many of the lovely roses in the rose garden. I love the color of this rose!

Here is a little chipmunk with his little cheeks all full of birdseed. They have little trays of birdseed for all the creatures in the garden!

All throughout the garden set in the brick pathways are white marble with poems, sayings, etc. etched in them. This is one saying by Christina Rosetti. Tomorrow I will post some more pictures of Wing Haven Garden for you to see. There is so much beauty here in this 3 acres of ground. I am so glad John and I visited there today!!