Gardens fun while the weather holds!
Many of the gardens I love close at the end of October. Have you had a chance to enjoy some of the beauty of garden fun as summer wanes into fall? These past few weeks, I have been to a few that have been so beautiful. I will remember them long into the winter season.
Krider World’s Fair Garden
In Middlebury, Indiana, my sister, and mom and I all traveled to Elkhart County Indiana to play tourist and enjoy some garden fun. One thing I had missed on my previous visits was Krider World’s Fair Garden. This Indiana Historical Site is a beautiful oasis to those traveling along the Pumpkin Vine bike and walking trail.
Vernon Krider started a nursery on land gifted to him by his father. When the 1934 World’s Fair came to Chicago, he designed a display garden. When he returned home, he moved part of that exhibit to 2.4 acres across the street from the nursery headquarters, calling it, “Krider Word’s Fair Garden”.
Krider’s Nursery officially closed in 1990. At the height of their popularity, they became famous for their Thornless Roses, which Vernon Krider patented. These roses were used at Tricia Nixon’s wedding!
Today, the garden is a lovely stop with a few fun and unusual items like a welcoming Dutch windmill, fun toadstool with seats, a pond with Hebe, the goddess of youth and much more. Many items have been reconstructed over the years. The garden has a footpath that is easy to follow with several benches for sitting and reflecting.
Wellfield Botanical Garden
When I was in Elkhart, Indiana on a hosted trip earlier this summer we took a tour of the beautiful Wellfield Botanical Garden. This lovely place is expansive and great to tour. The garden is a wonderful combination of gardens and sculptures.
The Wellfield Botanic Garden is a success story. Eric Garton, executive director shared how this area was once a local public playground that needed a bit of assistance. When the Elkhart Rotary Club celebrated 100 years in 2005, they undertook raising funds for the master garden plan. Since then, in 2006, the project took off. With 13 active wells onsite, this is the water base for the city, so it is an important water source besides being a public garden. The garden is breathtakingly beautiful with a mix of art and landscaping, it is a great place to stretch your legs and get out in nature in the center of the city!
Anderson Japanese Gardens
The Anderson Japanese Gardens are beautiful. On a hosted trip, I visited with my sister Debbie. We went to Rockford to learn about the history of the Rockford Peaches for a story for Travel Awaits. While there, we stopped and this lovely garden that will close at the end of October.
This lovely place began after Rockford businessman John Andersen visited a Japanese garden in Portlland, Oregan. In 1978, he constructed the garden with the ongoing assistance of renowned Master Craftsman and designer Hoichi Kurisu. Then, in 1998, John and Linda Anderson donated the Gardens to the Rockford Rotary Charitable Association. Debbie and I had a wonderful time trekking through the paths and buildings and visiting with the volunteers.
Nicholas Conservatory & Garden
While in Rockford, Debbie and I also stopped at the Nicholas Conservatory & Garden, this is a lovely place with a wonderful display taking place called Delicate Forces. The display is in place until November. The display is, “a botanically-inspired, large-scale art exhibition by Skunk Control, a group of engineers, scientists, and educators from Australia. The exhibition features immersive art works that bring a sense of the wonder of nature through pieces uniquely created through science.”
While that is a long explanation, my sister said, “It reminds me of the Shrinky Dinks we used as kids.”
It is a lovely colorful display that lights up the lobby and gardens!
The garden offers beauty year-round. We were duly impressed!
These are just a few of the wonderful gardens around to enjoy garden fun as the fall season approaches! Get out while the weather holds and get the best of the end of summer.
