We took a couple of other pictures here on the plaza just for fun, and you can have a look at Fred hiding among the pumpkins here and another picture of the pumpkins here.

Pumpkins on Parade

Just about the entire border of the plaza area was lined in pumpkins and gourds, and I thought I'd walk along them an make a movie.

Jonsson Color Garden/Main Lawn

From the plaza, we went down a short flight of steps to the garden entry and the walkway that leads down into the Fern Dell. This is an area along an artificial stream that is constantly misted, thus allowing lush vegetation and ferns to grow even in summer. We cross a bridge and then come up to the south end of an area called the Main Lawn. From here, you can look across the southern end of White Rock Lake towards downtown Dallas (although you can see downtown better from the area on the hill above the bandshell). Here at the south end of the main lawn begins a long, curved walkway that completely encircles the lawn- which is one of the central foci of the gardens, and extremely busy in the Spring and Summer when the azaleas and other flowers are in full bloom. You can see a picture of me here at the south end of the main lawn here.

The four of us continued our walk around the main lawn heading north to come to the entrance to one of the newer areas of the Arboretum- the Woman's Garden.

A Woman's Garden

Here, we stopped to photograph two sculptures, and you can have a look at them here and here. Our path led us through the two levels of the Woman's Garden and then on a winding path up and down some steps.

The Boswell Family Garden

Coming up from the Woman's garden, we come to a long flight of steps that leads down into the Boswell Family Garden. Here, there is a rectangular lawn surrounded by a walkway and benches- some in sunlight and some shaded by the large magnolias nearby. It is indeed a quiet, contemplative place. The whimsical feature of the garden is the water feature and sculpture of two youngsters in a playful pose. (You can see the sculpture in the picture at left.)

I recall once years ago when Jeffie came to the garden with us that she and I got up on the sculpture and imitated the pose of the two bronze figures. You may have seen that picture already in this album.

The Lay Ornamental Garden

We walked back up to the Paseo, the main walkway through the Gardens, and back to the entrance to the Lay Ornamental Garden- just past the Camp House.

Just inside the entrance to this garden is an interesting fountain, actually more like a ribbed bowl with water flowing gently down the sides. It is in a grove of large crepe myrtles, and is a nice spot to sit and relax, shaded as it is. Here, Mario and I stopped to relax and chat while Steve and Fred caught up with us.

The Lay Ornamental Garden contains beautiful beds of all kinds of flowers and shrubs, many of which bloom at different times of the year, so there is always something to see. Fred took a couple of flower pictures today, and you can see them here and here.

The (Herman) Lay Ornamental Garden is a 2.2-acre Texas cottage garden, filled with hundreds of perennials and a dynamic falling water curtain set against native limestone walls (see picture above). Click the thumbnail images at right to see some additional views of the water curtain. Just below the limestone walls there is a lily pond that also contains small Koi. And just beside that is another water feature, this time a tiered waterfall, that falls into another pond that has much larger Koi. Lastly, there is a collection of of the year, so there is always something to see. Fred took a couple of flower pictures today, and you can see them bronze wildlife figures nestled throughout the garden, these donated by the Trammell Crow Family. Fred took some additional pictures of the lily pond and Koi ponds, and you can have a look at them by clicking on the thumbnails below:

The Fall Festival

Leaving the Lay Ornamental Garden, we walked back out to the circular walkway in front of the Camp House; this is the northern terminus of the Paseo- the main walkway through the Gardens. We walked along back south towards the entrance, took a detour through the test gardens so that Steve and Fred could have a look at what the Arboretum was experimenting with, and then wound around Toad Corner (the four water-spouting toads that you've seen before) and back to the Paseo. Walking a little further along, we came to the Fall Festival off to our left.

The theme for the Fall Festival is usually the beloved fairy tale Cinderella, due to the obvious pumpkin tie-in. Characters and story elements appear in various forms throughout the Festival. There are houses that appear to be built of pumpkins, there is an elegant pumpkin carriage, and one house that served as the venue for Cinderella's fifteen minutes of fame- when hers is the only foot delicate enough to fit into the glass slipper.

Take a look at some of these very well done and fanciful story elements as imagined in pumpkins and gourds by clicking on teh thumbnail images below. (One of the pictures takes us outside the Fall Festival to one of the permanent kid's structures that sit between the Fall Festival area and the entrance buildings.)

I borrowed Fred's camera to make a nice, long movie as I wandered around the Fall Festival looking at the pumpkins and gourds, walked through some of the structures and generally looked all around the area. Watch it with the player at right.

The afternoon at the Fall Festival at the Dallas Arboretum was enjoyable, as always.

You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.

	September 24 - October 1, 2011: A Trip to New England
	August 24-27, 2011: Prudence's Birthday in San Antonio
	Return to Index for 2011