gardens – The Adventures of Shadow and Wilma

Today Wilma and I adventured to the Codman Estate also referred to as
“the Grange”. This historic home was built in 1740 and owned by five generations of the Codman family before becoming a historic home. The Estate is approximately sixteen acres and includes the home, and gardens. Tours of the home are available, however currently are on hold due to COVID.

We had a historic adventure to the Codman Estate. We took a local walk before heading over to explore this historic home. We parked and began down a dirt road, before arriving at the Home. The Home had a grand entrance with several stairs leading us to the substantial mansion. There was not much to see but the Home was well maintained, and attractive. We wandered around the home soon finding the Italian garden, a fountain-pond filled with gorgeous water lilies, flowers, and several statues. We sauntered through the garden. I loved the European style, and especially appreciated the tiger lilies and water lilies. As we got near the pond there was a massive frog panic, quite humorous. Poor Wilma wanted to go in the water but it looked a little unhealthy for sipping so I did venture too close. We took our time admiring this little garden even laying out in the grass. Just perfect!

From there we explored some nearby trails, although it was unclear if they were related to the Estate. After walking on one for a couple minutes I located a sign for the Bay Circuit. Therefore we decided to turn around as Wilma appeared hot and we had already obtained our walk on this warm summer day.

Our last part of the adventure was completing our loop around the home and relaxing in the green, soft, shady grass! As I mentioned Wilma seemed quite warm I thought this was the perfect way to end our Adventure. We were able to cool down and before heading home. Lounging in the grass was by far Wilma’s highlight of the adventure (haha)! So glad we could visit the Codman Estate today, a nice surprise (Rating: 4).

Today Shadow, Wilma and I Adventured to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, in the area of Boston, Massachusetts. The Arnold Arboretum was established in 1872, and encompasses 281 acres of land. The Arboretum maintains a record system of which all plants on the ground are tracked, while research is ongoing. The Arboretum is free and open to the public, offering outreach enrichment to people of all ages.

We had a splendid Adventure to the Arnold Arboretum. So fun to find a local Arboretum that both allows and welcomes dogs. We spent about three hours exploring the trails, paths, and roads throughout the park. The gates were closed to cars, which was a huge plus. We begin our journey heading toward the Fog x Hill, containing a “fog sculpture” made up of pure water vapor. Little did I know at the time that this was a man made feature, so quite magical at fog appeared to have taken over the trail. I tried to capture this on film, but we arrived close to the location when the fog was almost dispersed. Still a fun and unique “show” that captivated our attention.

Next we headed toward the Leventritt Shrub and Vine Garden, walking along a trail through the woods, along a scenic wooden fence. On arrival to this Garden the area opened up and we headed toward the Garden. Our ear was drawn to peaceful Asian music and the dance of two performing their cultural art. The music was relaxing, calm, and appealing to the ear. We watched the couple perform for a bit, snapped a quick video and headed on through the scenic garden. Most of the flowers were past their bloom, but I was able to catch a couple beautiful buds on film.

After leaving the Shrub and Vine Garden we traversed various trails and areas throughout the park, including: the beautiful Conifer trail, The Bradley Rosaceous Collection, the ponds, and many additional pathways. Although it was definitely off season for this beautiful park, there were still gorgeous scenery throughout. Most of the time you could not even tell you were in the city, instead feeling one with nature. We definitely will have to come back to the Arnold Arboretum in the high season seasons of bloom. So glad we were able to enjoy the Arnold Arboretum today (Rating: 4).