Cheekwood Tree Houses

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As promised in a previous post - this post is about the “tree houses” at Cheekwood Garden and Art Museum in Nashville, TN. They are all sized in a way that children can climb up into them and were very popular. There were families and groups of summer-program children all around them so it was good that they were scattered throughout the garden. My favorite is a giant fish that has recycled CDs for scales!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a conch shell, a slide that was built with a ramp and sides with every non-walking or sliding space covered with plants,

 

 

 

 

 

a ship,

 

 

 

 

 

a traditional looking house among the trees , and

 

 

 

 

ball of yarn suspended over a pond (there was a walkway into it just out of the picture).

The excitement these structures evoked from children changed the tenor of the gardens!  It was a high energy place.

Longwood Gardens in May 2012

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Our visit to Longwood Gardens last week provided lots of images for blog posts. I’ve already posted one about the Catalpa Trees and Lilies and there are some other themed ones to come over the upcoming week or so. Today is a generic overview.

I always like the view down this shady pathway between the restaurant and the conservatory area. We almost always head to the conservatory right way since they only allow tripods (for photography) until noon so this is one of the welcoming views on the way.

And then comes the abundant richness of the conservatory. There are so many things to see - the children’s garden (even if you don’t have children), the plants that have been in the conservatory for a long time (like the Cherokee rose in the lower right), the bonsai display and then wonderful colors of other plants like nasturtiums and passion flowers.

Outdoors the tree houses are well established and truly in the trees this time of year. The tulip poplars are blooming as are iris, snapdragons, and jack-in-the-pulpits. The frogs were singing in the ponds….and one stayed still long enough for a photograph!

Previous Posts about Longwood Gardens: