Dawes Arboretum

Today's venture to Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio is perhaps the closest we have been to finding a local comparison to the Jardin du Luxembourg in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. We love the trails, but, the Arboretum is something special and much more likely to have general comparisons to the gardens of France. A Japanese Garden wedding was being held and, although we didn't see it, I don't know how it could have been any less than beautiful. The tree varieties are far too many to list, but, they are trimmed and pruned with great care…with the exception of one section that is noted to be left to it's natural development on one side while being cared for by man on the other. What I found most pleasing would be hard to decide although I could boil it down to the hillside covered in hundreds of different evergreens OR the walk of uncommon and unusual trees. I saw an Empress Tree which evidently dies from the cold very easily, but, grows back as quickly as it dies.

Dawes is definitely a sampling of the Jardin's du Paris. I can't wait to go back when the leaves begin to change in just a few weeks.~C.






























THE HILL OF EVERGREENS!!

I'm in total agreement that as far as a park goes this is the closest to Paris that we have seen. there is something about the controlled wildness of the gardens that is very amazing. We couldn't have had a better day either, nice a cool, sunny with lots of blue sky. We didn't really follow a trail to speak of but did most of the oak trail and probably about 5 miles or so. We really didn't run into too many people which was nice and it was dog friendly which is always a bonus. Winnie got a workout. There was a cool cemetery on the grounds as well. I have to say that I would recommend this for general wandering aimlessly and if you are looking to find trees to plant they have a great number that are labeled, So if you are looking for specific style of tree this is a good place to start .... Truly a hidden treasure

~s