The "A Few Lancaster Treasures: Part I" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a few of my favorite Lancaster Facebook pages and found a few locations and people whom I had never heard about before.  As I opened one post on "Remember When.....in Lancaster, PA,"  I found a few old color postcards that displayed scenes in what was known as Barrose Terrace in Lancaster.  I'm not sure if the postcards were reproductions of color photograph or hand-tinted black and white photographs.  The postcards were amazing and of a place in Lancaster that I never knew existed.  The postcards belonged to Cynthia Douts Roth and she posted them on the Facebook page.  She also wrote that she had never heard of the place and did some research so she could write about the postcards she was posting.  The garden was built by Ulysses Grant Barr who was also one of the organizers of Lancaster's Media Heights Golf Club.  The garden was located just past the golf club where Mr. Barr resided.  He was employed by the local hardware store of Reiley Bros. & Raub for sixty years.  In 1928 workmen began to blast rock to form the different levels of the flower garden.  It took four years to complete the entire garden.  Flowers and shrubs of all kinds filled the levels of the garden.  Mr. Barr was said to have planted 32,000 evergreens around his home.  In 1933 fountains and lights were added.  Ms. Roth said that her grandfather helped with the planting and fountains.  The heyday of the garden was from 1928 to 1940 when four gardeners were on duty to keep the gardens in shape.  It then became too expensive to continue with the operation of the gardens.  I was born in the mid-1940s, but have no recollection of visiting the gardens during my lifetime.  Never even heard my parents talk about the gardens.  I'm sure they must have been beautiful judging from the post cards that were posted to the Facebook page.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "It's A Beautiful Day In The Garden" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Rain early morning and then sun the rest of the day.  When you have quite a few days such as that, it means the spring and summer flowers will be open for all to view.  And, it has been just that way around our home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  My wife, Carol, has filled the flower beds and large flower pots with flowers that make the days come alive with color and happiness.  I have used my iPhone to document the flowers that have come open so far around the house.  Hope you enjoy them today just as I have enjoyed then on a daily basis.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Check out our two furry friends who happened upon our rear deck about 2 years ago and have been with us ever since.  

Leaf from one of the Banana Plants

Coleus plant leaves

Impatiens

Our backyard pond we built about 15 years ago.

Carnations 

Hibiscus

Cactus

Coleus

Marigolds

Caladium

Nasterium

Caladium

Hosta

Lantana

Petunias

Hens & Chickens

Coladium

Daisies

Snickerdoodle

The Gray Lady

The Gray Lady

Our Sweethearts curled up together.

Watching their Mom working in the garden. 

The Gray Lady showing off her belly.

Snickerdoodle showing off one of his favorite boxes.

The "The Sun Always Shines In The Arboretum" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Temperatures were in the low 70s and the sun was drifting in and out of the puffy white clouds.  Perfect day for a visit to the Penn State University Arboretum.  Carol and I are guests for the weekend with our friends Jere and Sue who live in State College, Pennsylvania.  Yesterday we visited the Grange Fair in nearby Centre County and today we are headed to the Arboretum at Penn State.  We have visited a few times before, but you never get tired of looking at all the beautiful plants and trees as well as fruits and vegetables that are grown at the Arboretum.  

Sign telling you about the nearby Mount Nittany.

The Arboretum is being built on a 370-acre parcel of land immedia- tely adjacent to the University Park campus of The Pennsyl- vania University in State College.  When it is fully developed  the Arboretum will include 29.5 acres of botanical gardens in the H.O. Smith Botanical Gardens and more than 340 acres of environmentally sensitive landscape and restored woodlands.  A visit to the garden is free of charge, but you can make a donation if you care to do so.  The master plan for the arboretum was developed from 1996-1999 and $10 million was needed to begin construction of Phase 1 of the H.O Smith Botanical Gardens which was completed in the fall of 2009.  

The Overlook Pavilion where you can enter the Arboretum.

The Childhood Gate's Children's Garden was completed in 2014 and has many native Pennsylvania plants and is a microcosm of the regional landscape.  I parked the car and we entered the arboretum near the beautiful Overlook Pavilion.  Wasn't long before I lost the others as I searched for a variety of flowers and trees to take photographs of to share with you.  The following are a selection from the eleven different gardens that are part of the Arboretum.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This plant is known as Arnold Promise or Witch Hazel.  Click on images to enlarge.

Neat view of two people heading toward one of the water fountains. 

One of my favorite trees, the Paper Birch.
This tree looked as if it was winking at me!

Water Lily

This plant is known as the Rattlesnake Master.

This photograph was taken while looking into a kaleidoscope.  The flower is a straw flower.

The kaleidoscope that I used for the photograph above.

Straw flowers.

One of the many fruits that are grown in the gardens.  This is the Gold Rush Apple.

In person this looks exactly as it is named; Amaranthus Dreadlocks.

The bees loved all the sunflowers in the gardens.

This is the Joel N. Myers Sundial.  Really neat to try to tell
the time of day by using the sundial.  If you see the shadow to the
left of the large rock you will see it looks as if it is pointed at
the first rock.  That would make it 11:00 am.  The exact time we were there.

This is the Limber Pine tree.

The leaves of the Overlap Oak.  Ever hear of this variety?  I never did and I taught wood shop at one time.

The Maidenhair Tree. 

This is the Bismarck Palm.

The Fragrant Snowbell plant.  It did have a sweet odor, to me.

These two lovely flowers are Carol and Sue.

Another bee favorite, the Shrub Rose.

This plant, the Arkansas Blue-Star, is very soft to the touch.

The Sago Palm.  I have actually heard of the Sego Palm in the past.

Who wouldn't love the Snowdrop Anemone?

The pretty yellow flower with the most unusual name of Whorled Tickseed was a
good way to end my photographic session at the Penn State University Arboretum.