A walk through Berkshire Botanical Garden on a bright and sunny July day was not just about the colors, fragrances, and textures of the beautiful flowers (coming soon in another post), it was a peaceful stroll in a sort of emerald and rainbow wonderland. Just as inspiring to me as the flowers, was the collection of sitting spots. Throughout the garden there was a collection of benches. Most of them in cool shady spots, I found myself wishing I had my journal with me. They were the perfect spots to observe and write. Had I been there on a different day with a different purpose, I think I would have stopped at every single one of them and written for at least a few minutes, anything that came to my mind. My sister and I were not on a writing journey this summer day, so I found myself instead, taking a snapshot of each one. Now I can take a little journey through the garden again.
Walk with me, through the opening splashes of color in the Botanical Garden, down a winding path through an emerald green field of velvety soft grass. Along the way, the New Wave Garden and the rustic garden shed surrounded by floral blooms sit in a small valley. Straight ahead a small garden fountain, and to the right, a wide canopy of of congregating trees shading this lacy iron bench. Noticeably cooler here, there is respite from the slowly intensifying heat of the summer sun. What would I write about here? The crisp air of the Berkshires, the sound of the fountain's trickling water, the contradiction of this bench's dainty design and strong metal frame. I wish I could sit longer.
Further down to the right of the fountain, I stop here at this wooden bench once again welcoming the shade. The tree not quite as mature and standing alone, allows just enough warmth from the sun peeking through the more sparsely grown leaves. This bench is different. Clean lines, polished wood, it was a gift to the Garden from the a furniture maker. Three incarnations of a tree here: the bench, the stump with the dedication placard, and the guardian tree. This bench faces away from the fountain. Imagine all the writing I could do here. I would first face out, then gradually move in every direction to make observations throughout the Garden. I can even look back at the last bench, behind me.
Once around the back of the fountain and its stream the Garden took us back up hill. Along the path, green is everywhere. I counted four different kinds of trees within one eyeshot. And then we arrived here, at this primitive-looking branch bench, surrounded by beautiful potted flowers and plants. I wanted to sit and write about the bright green, leafy plants "pouring" out of the pots on both sides. I decided to call them cliff divers. They looked like they were leaping over the edges of the pots.
As we walked back toward the front of the Garden, tucked back to the side of the Lily Border Path was this incredibly inviting circle of shade. The only thing missing from this lounge area was a servant holding grapes. The slate stone ledge raised it up under a tree whose canopy was almost perfectly round. And the bench, oh the bench could handle be called a bench. It was more like a lounge. It was the perfect place to reflect back on the downhill path of the Lily Border, in full bloom.
Back toward the New Wave Garden, there was a path leading to the edibles. Under this gazebo bench area, you could already smell the garden on the other side. Herbs, rosemary, basil, and others I can't even remember. There was a man sitting at the top who was impressed by my sister's knowledge of the plants. She responded she was only reading the signs around the garden! I guess he wasn't feeling it. He waited there for his companion to wake her way around and come back up to meet him.
While my sister snapped some photos and looked in detail at some more of the herbs, I made my way up toward the top of the hill by way of a side path. There I found another beautiful primitive looking bench made mostly from raw branches. The shade here, as you can see, was phenomenal. By now I was getting a little bit warm and found just the right spot for relief. This bench looked over the entire herb garden. I probably could have been inspired to write something food related here.
When we got to the front of the garden we were about to cross the street to the other side, and we noticed there was another area to the side of the garden center building. Here there was a Swedish inspired garden with a statue of a young woman standing as though she was bathing in falling water. There was able and white striped bench I forgot to photograph, and a tiny bath to the back side of the building. This picnic table was there under two shady trees grown together in a canopy. I thought this would be where my writing group would start our day if we came here for a writing marathon.
Once we peeked at the side garden, we proceeded across the street to the rest of the Garden. Here we would find the vegetable garden and a children's garden with a wishing tree. This bench faced directly across the threshold to the children's garden. On this day, there were no children in there. But I imagine sitting on this bench long enough, there would be some joyous children frolicking there to write about.
I'm not sure why I was inspired by the sitting areas, benches in particular, but so be it. Berkshire Botanical Garden was wonderful. Few places are as alive as a botanical garden. Buzzing bees, chirping birds, vegetation, flowers, and people there to take it all in. I sure would like to go back some time.
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