A quiet garden path dappled in morning light invites guests to climb and explore.

Although much of the U. S. (especially in the South) is blanketed with snow this week, many of us are dreaming of gardens lush and lovely.  Last spring, in Knoxville, one homeowner opened his garden during the Dogwood Arts Festival garden tour.  It was a chance for those of us who love flora and fauna to stroll quiet pathways and imagine ourselves indulging in nature’s beauty as we paused for a few moments of silence.

Beautiful spring garden in Knoxville, Tennessee offers a silent respite.

A weathered garden bench invites visitors to sit a spell and enjoy the quiet.

More photos reflecting a sense of calm can be seen here: Weekly Photo Challenge: Silence. 

Flemish Brick exterior combines with English cottage design elements at home of Dr. Jimmy Milan who has added extensive gardens to the estate.

This week’s WordPress Daily Post photo challenge began with a quote from Wendell Berry:  “The Earth is what we all have in common” and ended with a request for writers to share their vision of glorious Mother Earth.  Well, even though we all have earth in common, it seems to us that some people just magically do more with their little plot of earth than others.

Beautiful stonework entrance to the home of Dr. Jimmy Milan of Knoxville.

Case in point:  one of the Open Gardens in the 2016 Dogwood Arts Festival belonging to Dr. Jimmy Milan in the Holston Hills neighborhood of Knoxville, Tennessee. Inspired by Dr. Milan’s trips to Great Britain and Ireland, the garden provides a respite for guests with its stone walkways, boxwood hedges, lush foliage of hostas and ferns beneath the dogwood trees, and an outdoor room for entertaining.

Pathways lined with shrubbery and groundcover add interest to the landscape design of Dr. Jimmy Milan.

Statuary and concrete planters define areas of Dr. Milan’s garden.

A moss-covered bench forms the backdrop for this restful setting.

An outdoor room offers comfortable seating, space for grilling in the gardens of Dr. Jimmy Milan.

Yes, we all do have earth in common.  But some just seem to have the knack of making their piece of Mother Earth quite heavenly!

For more entries in Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth, click here.

The stately wooded gardens of Dr. Alan Solomon

(We are re-publishing this post from 2015 since Dr. Solomon’s garden will be open for touring as a Dogwood Arts Featured Garden again this year, 2017.  For more information on times and location, click here.)

Perhaps one of the most magnificent areas in the Knoxville area, Dr. Alan Solomon’s gardens opens up a forest of greenery in an elegant fairyland setting.  More than 20 acres have been developed by Dr. Solomon who had little horticultural and landscaping experience prior to purchasing the land in 1971.  Now, with the addition of hundreds of wildflowers, coniferous and deciduous trees, and native plantings combined with over 700 tons of rock forming streams and waterfalls, the garden is a blend of natural and planned landscaping in a lush secret garden setting. It’s no wonder that this Knoxville treasure, Dr. Solomon’s garden, has been included in the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens,

As we arrived on the designated Dogwood Arts Featured Gardens visitation days, Dr. Solomon greeted each guest in the parking lot.  And then in his soft-spoken voice, he directed the soon-to-be-amazed visitors to areas of interest, pointing the way on a carefully marked map he had designed. As we walked the property, tall trees formed archways through which we could look down and discover new areas.  Waterfalls added sound to the otherwise quiet surroundings. And all our senses were restored by the peacefulness and natural beauty.

But there was also humor to be found in this stillness.  Life-size frogs kept watchful eyes over the comings and goings of visitors or busied themselves with needed repairs.

The pinnacle of our tour, however, was the sight of Dr. Solomon’s home.  Named GATOP (God’s Answer to Our Prayers), the vast hillside property and the craftsman-style home afford the owners a spectacular view from the front lawn.  Artwork blends in — enhancing the view and offering new textures and forms to complement carefully planned areas.

Lovely craftsman-style home of Dr. Alan Solomon blends in with its surroundings.

Tall sculpture strategically placed to capture the view from the front lawn of Dr. Solomon’s home.

With its elegant twists and turns, this sculpture on the front lawn leads the eye beyond to a glimpse of Knoxville from the front lawn of Dr. Solomon’s home.

A tiny frog perches on the porch of Dr. Alan Solomon’s home with the gardens in the background

It’s not hard to find solace here.  But it’s also not difficult to see that the work of Dr. Solomon and many others have improved on the natural “good bones” of the land.  In some places, we couldn’t decide if gardens were built around art or art was placed in a planned garden. We had no idea what came first. Nor did it matter.  The whole was prettier than the sum of its parts.

Carefully placed sculpture enhances the natural beauty of Dr. Solomon’s gardens

After thanking Dr. Solomon for the opportunity to walk through the garden areas and stand quietly on his front porch, we asked if we could get a picture.  The camera-shy garden enthusiast allowed us to snap him at play with the dogs who have traversed the land so often right alongside him.  A beautiful day.  In a beautiful setting. We felt grateful to have been there.

Dr. Alan Solomon with his faithful companions

For more information on the Open Gardens and Featured Gardens during Dogwood Arts Festival 2015, click here.

For all of the posts on this year’s festival, click here.

This concludes our series on Dogwood Arts Festival 2015.  We hope you enjoyed touring Knoxville at one of the prettiest times of the year.  Please make plans to come see us in 2016 — the dogwoods and the arts and the gardens will be right here!

Bert and Rusha Sams

The welcoming view of the grounds at the home of Tom Boyd and Sandi Burdick in South Knoxville.

A naturally occurring creek runs through the acreage surrounding the home, but Tom and Sandi have created ponds, added bridges and waterfalls, and manicured the grounds to provide a view that you would never know was here if you hadn’t visited them.  Tom also introduced guests to his dog who seems right at home among the hostas!

Checking out the guests from the comfort of Sandi’s garden!

According to Tom, Sandi is the mastermind behind the gardens on either side of the house.  Notable for the curved beds and meandering stream, Sandi’s gardens offer a variety of perennials and hostas in various stages of bloom and maturity. Featured in Fine Gardening magazine, the waterfall garden was also used as the cover.  (Source: Dogwood Arts Featured Gardens)

A waterfall at the top of the hillside and the various textures of the hostas add interest to this garden to the right of the main house of Tom Boyd and Sandi Burdick.

You could almost hear the quiet, the peacefulness of this garden.  In hushed tones, guests wandered around slowly, pointing out various plants and reading the markers Sandi had added for easy identification. Surprises such as little houses and joyful statues could be found tucked among the plantings.

In another area near the waterfall garden, Oriental sculptures blended in with the towering shoots of bamboo and ornamental grasses.

To me, the most appealing aspects of this garden are the many native plants neatly clumped and secured for growing in their designated spaces.  It’s that master’s touch so evident in gardens where the gardener stakes out curved beds, forms intentional pathways, and makes places for everything with everything in its place.  Neat.  Tidy.  Yet natural and free-flowing.  Beauty at every turn.

Beautiful pathway with plantings by Sandi Burdick

An area of perennials, iris and birdhouses

Stone pathway leading to another garden area at the home of Tom Boyd and Sandi Burdick

At the end of the tour, Sandi posed with Suzie Hall whose South Knoxville garden had been open for a couple of weeks as one of the designated Open Gardens of the Dogwood Arts Festival.  Rusha, insisted Suzie, you have to come see my garden, too.  It’s just up the street from here.  And today’s the last day it’s open.  Well, what else but YES could I say to an invitation like that?

Gardeners Sandi Burdick and Suzie Hall of South Knoxville

So look for the next post as we continue our garden tour through some of Knoxville’s finest! Or just scroll back through these lovely images from the peaceful gardens of Tom Boyd and Sandi Burdick.  We all need a respite now and then.

The happy garden of Sandi Burdick

For more information: 2015 Dogwood Arts Featured Gardens

To see the previous post — Lane Hays’s Garden: Dogwood Arts Featured Gardens 2015 — click here.

Greeting visitors at the entrance to Lane Hays’s garden were Dogwood Arts Featured Gardens volunteers.

Although it’s been several years since we last visited the lovely gardens of Lane Hays, we relished the thought of spending quiet time roaming this extensive lakeside property artfully enhanced by Lane’s vision and creativity.  Set on the banks of Fort Loudon Lake in Knoxville, the gardens were begun in 1992 using natural elements of a marble quarry located on the property.  Now, the additions of a cottage garden, rose garden, moon garden, and newly added waterfall features in the back of the property make this a Southern showplace.

From the front of the house, the lake beckons.  Visitors to the property catch glimpses of the water from the planted gardens as well as pathways to the house.  And the walks along the way offer the peacefulness and serenity that typify Lane’s property in both the front and back of her home.

Cottage Garden

Featuring a variety of perennials and annuals in raised beds, the garden has a looseness about it even with careful planning.  Stepping stones, garden statuary, and birdhouses stand among the flowers bordered by picket fencing.  Pebble pathways lead you through the garden with many of the perennials identified by markers.

Rose Garden and Moon Garden

Although only one solitary rose showed its colors for the tour, Lane assured us that by Mother’s Day the fragrance of many varieties of roses will fill the air.  Notable about this garden created in 1996: labels for each variety and an arrangement of plantings that invites leisurely strolling. Also waiting for later spring to show its creamy blossoms was the west-facing moon garden, planted only with white flowers in order to catch the light of the moon as it casts a soft glow on the blooms.

Back Property

Lane led us through the old ornamental iron gate to the back of the extensive property where we were greeted by a stone frog (bought at auction, Lane said) dipping a fishing line into the pond. After walking the pathways we remembered from a previous visit, Lane gave us a tour of the “new” area just completed within the last year.  She’s added a stone bridge, re-positioned massive boulders, and created a formidable waterfall over a previously hidden rock face.  Quite the work of art.

Lane Hays’s backyard garden makes an indelible impression:  deep woods, native and acquired trees, shade-loving plants, and rushing waterfalls.  A respite for anyone touring the gardens that day.

Cathy Greenberg and Lane Hays enjoying the Dogwood Arts Featured Garden event

But then all of Lane’s gardens are impressive.  So glad she was open!

For more information:  Dogwood Arts 2015 Featured Open Gardens

Formal garden on tour during the Dogwood Arts Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee

Sometimes you just take a look at dogwoods, tulips, and flowering shrubs.  Sometimes you take pictures.  And sometimes you just sit and reflect.

Reflecting pool and statuary in one of the Open Gardens, Knoxville, Tennessee

During this cold winter weather, we’re longing for a bit of serenity.  We’d love to sit in someone else’s garden and ponder what it would be like to look out at the view of the moment in a serene setting.

View of Lake Loudon from one of the Open Gardens, Knoxville, Tennessee

For more entries in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Serenity, click here.

A millstone found in a Knoxville garden becomes a focal point for two criss-cross pathways.

During Knoxville’s Open Gardens day, a Dogwood Arts Festival event, local homeowners voluntarily push open their gates and let those of us in love with flora and fauna roam the grounds freely.

One formal garden held something quite unique — seventeen antique millstones — integrated in various ways throughout the beautifully manicured grounds. According to the homeowner, most of the millstones were discovered onsite as old vines and overgrown shrubbery were cleared to restore the gardens to their original glory.   What a find!

Three old millstones form a pathway in a lovely, traditional Knoxville garden.

For more interpretations of the Word a Week Photo Challenge: Hole, click here.

Each day, we post three photos on one of the color themes required by the challenge:  blue, yellow, white, green and red.  At the end of the week, we’ll take your suggestions and select one of each color to submit.  Please vote by leaving a message in the Comments section at the bottom of this post or on Facebook.  And thanks to all of you who have done so!

If you’ve missed the first two, here are links to those posts:

BLUE: http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/09/22/help-us-decide-capture-the-colour-2013-blue/

YELLOW: http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2013/09/23/help-us-decide-capture-the-colour-2013-yellow/

TODAY’S VOTE: WHITE

And here are today’s entries for the category WHITE.  (There are FOUR this time — we had a hard time deciding!)

1. Stonecutter in Nepal

When we joined a team from Knoxville to build stone and mud houses in Nepal for Habitat for Humanity International, we met several men busy at work planning the foundation, finding the right stones, digging the mud for the mortar, and cutting the cornerstones.  This stonecutter remained quietly aloof for about three days as he wasn’t sure what to make of us.  But as I “talked” to him using facial expressions and hand gestures, he warmed up to me and even allowed me to hand him suitable stones.  When he nodded that I could finally take his picture, I didn’t hesitate.  This photo, of a stonecutter dressed in white, remains one of my prize takeaways from the experience.

2. Southern Magnolia in Full Bloom

Sometimes the best pictures can be found in your own backyard.  This creamy white magnolia blossom showing off its ever-increasing shades of brown as it reaches maturity just begged to be photographed.

3. Terra Cotta Warriors Facing the Light of Day

In Xian, China, unearthed Terra Cotta Warriors are housed in an enormous windowed structure resembling an airport hangar. When we visited, natural morning light was just beginning to stream into the room, changing the stoic, stone gray figures to white sentinels ready for visitors in awe of this amazing archaeological find.

4. Reconstruction

At the site of the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is  an area called “the hospital” where shards are put together like an enormous 3-D puzzle.  As pieces form warriors or horses, the reconstructions (like this one standing in the white light) may be able to stand on their own, as if they are waiting for someone to find the final pieces to make them whole again.

P. S. Please leave us a comment below and vote for your favorite!  Check back tomorrow for our GREEN entries.  Thanks!

Rusha and Bert Sams

A welcome respite from the afternoon sun and long walks through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City awaited us on our first full day in Beijing.  We were headed to the Summer Palace, a peaceful, expansive park complete with lakes, bridges, temples, walkways, and artwork. On the bus, our guide asked us if we would like to walk the Long Corridor, a walkway defined by hand-decorated beams and over 14,000 scenic paintings over the length of about two miles.  We hesitated, waiting to see if we were the only ones who might prefer a boat ride to a walk and found that we weren’t alone: no one chose the stroll!

So, when we arrived at the Summer Palace, we were greeted by a welcome sight:  a dragon boat to float us slowly across the placid Kumming Lake while we sat back and admired the idyllic scene of Qing Dynasty buildings and the people of China enjoying their summertime leisure activities.

Originally designed as a summer retreat from the confines of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace was transformed between 1736 to 1795 to its current layout.  However, it was the Empress Dowager Cixi who had the complex rebuilt after the destruction by French and English troops in 1860 and then again in 1902 after the Boxer Rebellion exacted even more damage.

Pictured below, Longevity Hill with its octagonal, four-eaved Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha dominates the landscape with accompanying religious buildings, gardens, and shops. The Long Corridor stretches along the shore beneath.

A view of Longevity Hill from the dragon boat

We strolled the grounds, purchased some items in a tucked-away antique shop, and watched as people enjoyed the breezes from the arched bridges and gathering areas.

One of the beautifully painted arched bridges at the Summer Palace

A painting of the Marble Boat, also known as the Boat of Purity and Ease, covers the structure currently undergoing renovation.  One of the extravagances of the Empress Dowager Cixi who used funds originally intended to improve the navy to build it, the boat was never meant to serve as a boat at all.  The Marble Boat, made of wood painted to look like marble, may be representative of an idea proposed by Wei Zeng: “the waters that float the boat can also swallow it” meaning that the people who support the emperor can also overturn him.  As a symbol of stability, the Marble Boat stands firm at the Summer Palace.

While undergoing renovation, this painting of the Marble Boat covers the actual structure.

Not all visitors were roaming the grounds or riding nonchalantly in the colorful dragon boats.  Some were using the quiet time under the trees for other activities.  We were amused with this family checking emails, playing with apps, and using technology —  just as we do in America!

Just one of many family activities at the Summer Palace!

The Summer Palace covers 716 acres, but even the small portion we saw — Kumming Lake and Suzhou Street — were well worth the visit.  No wonder it’s a star destination for locals and visitors alike.

If you want to learn more about our travels in China on a Viking River Cruise from Beijing to Shanghai, go to the top of this page and click on China in the green bar.  We hope you enjoy seeing this beautiful land through our eyes.

For more information:

Beijing & Shanghai (2011). Eyewitness Travel. New York: DK Publishing

“Marble Boat.” Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Boat

Viking River Cruise: Imperial Jewels of China: http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/rivercruises/china-yangtze-beijing-shanghai-2013/itinerary.aspx

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Even with occasional downpours threatening the festival at the UT Ag campus, Blooms Days 2013 (May 11 & 12, 2013) at the UT Gardens blossomed forth with colorful flowers, eager volunteers, and guests in the hundreds admiring, strolling, photographing, and buying. The event has become a rite of spring!

And I was there, along with all those flower lovers, finding seven (really more) things to do at Blooms Days! Here are my top seven springy things to do.

1. Grab a Garden Shot

You couldn’t help but surround yourself with pretty flowers from purple pansies to pitcher plants. The folks at HGTV Gardens were on hand to share tips for how to ensure good growth and how to combine plants by color for shade or sun.

Neatly mulched beds in full bloom sported markers that helped even the flower-challenged among us identify selections by name.

Casual strolling through the gardens would eventually land you at the koi ponds with their beautifully landscaped stone steps and splashy waterfalls.  It was a favorite place for family photos as most wanted to gather under the arched entrance or near the ponds.

Under the tents, local gardeners arranged their best offerings in photo-shoot-worthy style.  Like this grouping of pink flowers tucked nicely inside a weather-worn cart from Sunlight Gardens.

2. Picture a Bonsai

The Knoxville Bonsai Society set up award-winning specimens inside one building where black backdrops showed off carefully pruned greenery.  By training tender new shoots around copper wires, bonsai enthusiasts coax plants we normally see in much larger versions into miniature “trees” complete with trunks, greenery — even blooming branches.  Amazing!

Who would have imagined a ponderosa pine could follow this graceful form?

Or a normally aggressive wisteria would control its shape so artfully?  (Really?)

3.  Inspect an Insect

Bearing larger-than-life stylized drawings of ladybugs and butterflies, this white tent drew me in.  It was buggy all right.  Laid out on tables and pinned up on wall displays, insects as big as your hand were everywhere. If you had ever wanted to see the stuff of nightmares (OK, some people love these guys!) up close and personal, this was your chance.

4. Drag Home a Dragon

Vendors brought their best — from iron sculptures of garden dragons to cute clay teapots on garden stakes.  In several designated areas of the gardens, you had your choice of take-home presents for garden lovers — rare plants, herbs, baskets, totes, concrete planters, photography, etc.  High quality.  Creative.  And fun to touch and see!

These plantings in old pots appealed to me since I love both antiques and flowers — and together is even better.

5. Line Up for Food

The hungry among us found something other than the typical sandwiches and hot dogs served at most festivals.  The offerings this year came from Asian-inspired chefs, food trucks, and local cooks.  Sometimes the portions were huge like the meatloaf sandwich served at the Savory and Sweet truck.  (Enough for two, said James Newburn, Assistant Director of the UT Gardens.  And he was right.)

So I opted for a smaller but quite tasty pizza pie from Dale’s Fried Pies.  It helped that a former student, Mickey Johnson (talking to Dale below), treated me and paid the bill!  As he said when he placed the order: This is thanks for all that grammar you made me learn!!! (Nice to see those assignments I gave paying off!)

More good news:  Owner Dale Mackey says she’s getting a food truck for Dale’s Fried Pies soon! Yeah!

6. Photograph an Author

You could even meet an author at Blooms Days!  Jean Leigh Claudette was on hand with her new book The Classified Files of Sweet William Farm, the story of a secret-agent raccoon named JD.  Ms. Claudette was hamming it up a bit, drawing attention to her young reader’s book set on a Tennessee farm. These may not be night-vision goggles like JD would wear, but they sure brought a smile to those who passed by her booth!

7.  Hug a Volunteer

And what would Blooms Days be without all those volunteers giving advice on which plants to buy, where to plant, how much water to give ’em, etc.?  They were a big help to me as well as persuasive, too!  I got talked into buying sedum to use as ground cover in one of my beds and a mixed pot of primarily pink non-stop (They promised, right?) blooming petunias for a sunny spot on my patio.

Two volunteers grabbed me just as I was leaving — Candace Eagle, president of the Knox County Master Gardeners, and Fran Scheidt, curator of the Elmore Holly Collection at the UT Arboretum — and thanked me for coming.

And so it was.  Another glorious East Tennessee day in my favorite garden spot — the UT Gardens, which has now been named the State Botanical Gardens of Tennessee. (Thanks, Gov. Haslam!)

If you missed this year’s Blooms Days, you missed a good time in a lovely setting.  Hope to see you next year!

The University of Tennessee Gardens

252 Ellington Plant Sciences Building

2431 Joe Johnson Drive

Knoxville, TN 37996

utgardens@utk.edu

Mentioned in this post:

HGTV Gardens: http://www.hgtvgardens.com

Sunlight Gardens: 174 Golden Lane, Andersonville, TN 37705; 865.494.8237; http://www.sunlightgardens.com

Dale’s Fried Pies: 865.236.1590; http://www.dalesfriedpies.com

Savory and Sweet Food Truck: http://savoryandsweettruck.com; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Savory-and-Sweet-Truck/283598151693769

The Classified Files of Sweet William Farm: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Classified-Files-of-Sweet-William-Farm-JDs-Adventures-Begin/268268469967649