While we were in Lancaster we visited the Dawes Arboretum a few miles to the northeast. The arboretum was founded by Beman and Bertie Dawes in 1929. Their love of trees and nature inspired them to surround their country home with 2,000 acres including forests, wetlands and grasslands. Today the Arboretum "is a museum without walls with nearly 17,000 plants" in their collection.
Entry to the grounds was free. A small fee was required to tour the Daweswood House that is now a museum. There were more than 12 miles of hiking trails and a 4-mile auto tour on the grounds. Sam was welcome to hike along with us.
We started our tour with the Japanese Garden. It was certainly peaceful sitting on a bench in the garden with the dappled sunshine and the gentle breeze, but we had too much to see so we had to keep moving.
Acer palmatum "Wolff" Emperor Japanese maple
(Aceraceae maple family)
Across the field, we saw the Red Barn Reserve and the landscaped campus - not part of the grounds open to visitors. I think the area was used by the maintenance crews.
I have always found old farm implements abandoned in a field to be picturesque. Maybe there is some karmic message about the earth reclaiming the machinery that once was used to work the land or the inescapable march of time or something.
There was a whole grove dedicated to Magnolias. We were lucky enough to see most of them still in bloom. There were so many it was difficult to pick a favorite.
Magnolia Randy Magnolia
(Magnoliaceae Magnolia family)
Aronia arbutifolia Red Chokeberry
(Rosaceae, rose family)
The bushes below trailing off to infinity spell out "DAWES ARBORETUM". It was a good thing they had an observation tower or we would not have been able to recognize any letters.
I think the cypress tree below was aptly named - it reminded me of the exhaust trail behind a rocket headed into space.
Cupressus nootkatensis Moon Shot Nootka Cypress
(Cupressaceae cypress family)
Pinus bungeana Silver Ghost lacebark pine
(Pinaceae pine family)
We had absolutely perfect weather for our visit today. I don't know how it would be to visit this place other times of the year, but I suspect they have something special in every season. Definitely a place worth seeing.
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