Mother's Day at Tower Hill

These are photos from the Tower Hill Botanic Garden, taken by my friend Alexis Layton during our visit there on Mother's Day, 2007. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so there were quite a number of people there, many of them sunbathing on the Great Lawn.

At the end of the Great Lawn is a large pergola and a set of curved steps that lead down to a sunken Hidden Garden with a fountain.

The next set of pictures show some of the plantings in the borders enclosing the Great Lawn.

At the top end of the garden, you can walk a short trail past an interesting sunken fountain and up to the top of the hill for this wonderful view of Wachusett Reservoir and Wachusett Mountain.

The Systematic Garden, which arranges plants by botanical families, was not yet in full bloom, but had these lovely narcissus borders. The fountain in the Systematic Garden is called the "Primordial Pool" and is intended to illustrate the most primitive plants: algaes and mosses.

Below the Systematic Garden, there was a sweep of meadow filled with daffodils leading down to the Wildlife Pond.

On either side of the Wildlife Pond, there are woodland walks.

The wooded areas are dotted with interesting sculptural elements, like this decaying Greek temple. The figure in front is surrounded by clumps of trilliums.

More woodland features, including a "temple of peace".

These moss steps are intended to be a re-creation of the famous moss steps created by landscape architect Fletcher Steele in a private garden in the Worcester area. (I actually visited that garden once while the owner was still alive. I thought I had some non-digital photos from that trip, but I haven't been able to track them down, unfortunately.) The Tower Hill moss steps are a bit odd because they are located in the middle of the woodland and don't really lead anywhere.

And, finally, here's a picture of me that Alex managed to sneak in.