Field Trip

Bailey, Maggie and I took a drive today to Bernheim Forest & Arboreteum in Claremont, KY -- about 20 miles south of Louisville. It is a terrific place with kind of a split personality -- part manicured looking lakes, gardens and collections of hollies and other types of shrubs -- all neatly labeled -- and part wilderness with miles of trails for hiking. We took in a bit of both. Leashed dogs are allowed, so Maggie was able to come with us, though she pulled so hard I thought she was going to choke. We hiked a 1.3 mile trail - a loop so we couldn't get lost - though it seemed like more since it was virtually straight up then nearly straight down. It was nice since we didn't see a single soul until we got back to the trail head -- very serene, lots of green filtered light. Bailey didn't complain (which was surprising since she fell a few times when we were on the downhill side)and I didn't have a stroke on the way up (also surprising the way my heart was pounding). We then drove down for a walk around the garden and lake. There was a nice Garden Gazebo -- all enclosed -- that reminded me of a view at Mt. Vernon -- must be the cupola -- and about 100 geese at the lake.




Not too much was in bloom, though I did find a few interesting plants and combinations. The first pic is a dwarf sage - I have a little sage collection myself, but I haven't seen that variety. The second is Stokes Aster and the third (the darker feathery foliage on the left) is Arkansas Amsonia and the last is a tall bellflower. Bailey was particulary impressed by all the tall grass in the Quiet Garden.

They have a great little visitor's center with an ice cream shop and interactive teaching displays. The building itself is a teaching tool with information about building structures that are more in tune with the environment. It has a planted, living roof to decrease run-off and to off-set the green space lost when the building was constructed. It operates with available-daylight-only lighting and they were busy constructing holding tanks for run-off water to use to flush toilets and other gray-water chores. The parking lot was even constructed so run-off was channeled through an area planted with mushrooms that break down the oil and other petroleum in the water into carbon dioxide (I think that is what it was -- well something good anyway).