Traveling from Virginia through Maryland and up the Pennsylvania Turnpike is absolutely beautiful countryside. I love seeing farmland with cattle dotted into the hilltops, and have a penchant for silo’s. You rarely see these towers used to store grain anymore, and wherever the structures were I’d take a snapshots.
Our beautiful nephew is being baptized this weekend so, we are in Pittsburgh, PA for a huge family gathering. This time together presents an opportunity for us to sightsee in and around the city.
In the Lunar Lawn the magnolia blooms were breathtaking, along with spring blooming azaleas and dogwoods. This garden was designed for entertaining on a grand scale.Foo Dog statue along the garden path.
Diana the Roman goddess of the hunt in the French Parterre garden, which are formal beds divided by paths.
This weekend was spent exploring the gardens on the Hillwood Estate in upper northwest Washington, and to see the varying gardens with greenhouses set on 25 acres that sit adjacent to Rock Creek Park are breathtakingly inspiring. For an entire day we were able to see what prominent landscape architects Umberto Innocenti and Richard Webel were able to do in capturing the vision of Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1950’s.
Their formal gardens extend from the house’s terraces and porches in a progression called “outdoor rooms”. Each area compliments the mansion’s interior spaces or design if you will so, as you stroll the grounds you see beauty all year long.
Stylish Heath 