Southern Illinois Sojourn

Well, it's taken me forever to get around to this, but we made it back from our trip to southern Illinois in one piece. And a fine time we had, too. We spent most of our time catching up with family and friends, which was lovely, but managed to fit in a few expeditions.

The weather was a surprise... it was near freezing when we left Boise, but they were having a bit of a heatwave in Illinois, with high temperatures around the 29 degrees C mark. Talk about your inappropriate clothing! We'd packed jeans and windcheaters, expecting temps in the low 20's. We actually ended up getting ourselves some cheapy shorts it was so warm. I even managed to get myself a bit sunburnt before I got smart and bought some sunscreen.

But back to a detail or two. On the morning of the first day, we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, which is just across the Mississippi River from Illinois. I love this place, and was wanting to see what it looked like in the very early spring, and in fact these are the only photos I'm going to post. They have acres and acres of magnificent gardens, many of which were first built 150 years ago. The Linnaeus Greenhouse is the oldest greenhouse west of the Mississippi, and here it is in all its glory:

They grow a variety of plants inside, but we were fortunate enough to be there when the camellias were blooming. Camellias are too tender to grow outdoors in Missouri (and Idaho, for that matter). It made me think of Aunty Gypsy, which of course made me smile.

I came to a bit of an understanding about gardens while we were there. I have always planted things first and worried about the hardscape later, but it really needs to be done the other way around. I'd read that one should think about the structure first, but I guess I didn't really completely understand it until I got to see the structures behind the plants before they burst into bloom.

Here's what I mean:

This garden wouldn't have worked at all if the plants came first. It's not an outdoor garden, by the way, it's all under glass and they call it the Temperate House for the types of plants they grow. In fact, beyond that rear wall is a selection of Australian natives... always good to see!

And just so I can FINALLY get this posted, following is a selection of my favourite photos from the gardens.

This is from a tropical garden that is housed inside an enormous dome called the Climatron in the garden - the dome has been in existence for 50 years now:

Here are some of the most amazing daffodils I've ever seen. I'm thinking about planting some in my garden if I can find them:

Here are a few photos of the Japanese Garden. It covers several acres, and is much more beautiful than these photos would have you believe. Lots of ideas here for dry country gardening, methinks (water notwithstanding, of course):

Every garden needs a sculpture or two. As you might imagine, this garden has hundreds:

They even have nifty taps! This one is from the Ottoman Garden:

And, finally, here's me... before the sunburn took hold:

If you're interested, the garden's website is www.mobot.org. It's well worth checking out.

All in all, we had a good time. Ate some proper eggs and chicken at Daniel's brother's place, feasted on Easter Sunday, played with our friends' kids... just as a family holiday should be.

Cheers!