Just after the last post I stopped at Whole Foods in Philadelphia and they are selling Fig Trees! Gotta get one!
Archive for July, 2010
Bartram’s Garden
Went to Bartram’s Garden. Very hot but a nice breeze, took two tours, one of the grounds and one of the house.
I didn’t know Fig trees would grow in Philadelphia!.
Born in 1699, John Bartram became America’s first great botanist and with his son William identified and cultivated over 200 new plant species. In 1765 King George III appointed John as Royal Botanist, a position he held until his death in 1777.
July 2010 storm damage of Historic 1790’s Yellowwood Tree.
Research has shown that this tree planted by John Bartram, has been damaged in previous storms and hopefully will recover.
Many plants are direct descendents of ones he cultivated, including one of his most well known, the Franklinia, (Franklinia alatamaha), he named it after his friend, Benjamin Franklin.
Storm King Art Center
On our way back from Connecticut, we visited Storm King. Located in the Hudson Valley, 50 miles north of the George Washington Bridge, this art center consists of 500 acres of rolling New York hills and fields containing over a hundred post WWII works by renowned artists.
It was a very hot muggy day when we visited and I had not done my homework as it was a spur of the moment visit. But, via a wonderful orientation tour followed by one of the tram tours which stop at various points allowing you to get on and off at will, we received one of the best sculptural experiences imaginable!
We have many works by these artists in Philadelphia, but to see so many all together, one after the other and more just around the bend . . . A garden of Art
Alexander Calder’s Five Swords and Mark Di Suvero’s Pyramidian
Andy Goldsworthy’s Storm King Wall and Alexander Lieberman’s Adonia
Isamu Noguchi’s Momo Taro and Kenneth Snelson’s Free Ride Home