A Trip to Ticondaroga

During a quiet moment at work on Thursday, I was looking online to see what events were happening at the weekend, and came across reviews for The National Botanical Garden, which opened last year. I initially assumed it was in DC, so was amazed to find the address was very local, about 15 minutes from work in Chantilly. I read the reviews, which were either very impressed or completely unimpressed, with little mediocre comments. Intrigued, I paid my $25 for a ticket the next day, planning to leave work a few minutes early.

Of course, Friday was another swelter of a day, with palpable humidity, and no breezes, but I stoically turned up at the address, and wondered whether it belonged to the farm I used to work at, over 20 years ago, selling Christmas trees. It was on the same road, and I vaguely remembered the owner talking about a dream he had of creating his own small kingdom. While I was working there, he was in the process of building a small 'mountain', by moving tonnes of earth, and this was often part of the discussions among the staff.

I pulled up in the carpark, next to another white SUV, and looking out of the window, I spotted a lady pulling on her hiking boots. "I know you!" I exclaimed. It was a fellow hiker from a Facebook group, whose entries I'd often read, and liked. I'd never met her before, but recognized her immediately. We chatted for a while, and then went our separate ways. She was limping a little and would be covering ground slower than myself, and I wanted to make sure I saw everything in the 2 hour window I had before the place closed.

As I had driven in, I'd seen these 2 modern sculptures. Because they were metal and shiny, they appealed to me, but I'm not really enthralled by modern works of art. The second one had a robin nesting in the middle of it, so I didn't get too close. There were other modern sculptures, including 2 huge, gaudy pots, but I didn't take many photos of these displays.

I really liked the chimes by the lake, they were massive, the hoop was about 7ft tall. Of course, being that size, I had to hear them chime, and slowly walked up, and very gently nudged the pipes. A lady behind me laughed as they boomed across the water, she'd been wanting to do the same thing. As I got to the other side of the red bridge, I felt a piercing sting on my left thigh and looked down to see a black wasp fly off. The pain was intense but I rubbed my leg until it dissipated, although it burned for a long while afterwards. I wasn't angry, more surprised to see this wasp, since there were very few native plants anywhere here, but there were plenty of 'weeds' so I assumed she'd been pollinating those. Apparently, only the female wasps sting.It was also possible I'd inadvertently come close to a nest. There was a wooden slatted bridge over to a small island with established bamboo filling the isle. Bamboo is a beautiful plant, but highly invasive, so growing it on an island seemed a great way to contain it. There were other similar islands in the lake.

There was a formal garden area, with concrete paths, rocks and more modern sculptures, yet sadly, very few native plants again. There were some ferns, imported plants, grasses, and plenty of liriope. I would find liriope everywhere I went. A hobbit town had been built, which had been a draw for me when I looked at the gardens online. I spent a while climbing up the steps to each home set in the hill and walking along the walls between them. The rock work was well very executed, and this 'village' must have taken years to construct. Beyond the hobbit homes was a huge castle being built, looking like it had come straight from a fairy tale book. The construction workers were busy while I was there, and I didn't envy them working in this heat.

A large cacti garden was just past Hobbit Town, and I was pleased to see a huge clump of Eastern Prickly Pear cacti, looking happy in the sunshine. There were numerous larger cacti, all looking very healthy, yet many of the prepared beds were empty. I hope they're in the process of being filled. 

A wild meadow area opened up after the cacti garden, and I was pleased to see so many native plants here, growing wild and rampant. A few bee houses were active, and insects were buzzing about merrily. This was my favorite part of the gardens. There were quite a few of the Victorian style lamps placed about the grounds, and out here in the meadow, they seemed a little out of place, but not in a bad way. I also noticed many of the large metal hoops, which were being used to train vines to grow up. I later found out that these were recycled conduit spools that had been used for data center construction. I would have liked one for my garden, but though resourceful I may be, I couldn't fathom out a way to strap one onto the top of Stanley. Shame...

After having been out so long in the blazing sun, and with the tiny no-see-um bugs constantly bothering me, I headed back to the formal garden area, where there was a large stone open barn, and where I hoped it would be cooler. A couple of people were at a table with laptops, and they asked me if I had any questions. I was amazed to recognize the gentleman, who upon me asking, confirmed he was the owner, and did also own the Christmas tree farm I had worked at so many years ago. His new wife, who sat with him, was responsible for the modern art sculptures, and we had a long chat about the garden and my old job. When I told him that I remembered him talking about the gardens, he told me to look up an article from 1993, published in the Washington Post, and here it is. His wife took a photo of us, and then directed me to the bamboo area, called Kyoto, my last part of the gardens to visit. They said it would be lovely and cool there. Peter told me that bamboo grows a foot a day for 75 days, and then stops growing. Also, their bamboo feeds the pandas and elephants at The National Zoo in DC.

As I walked up the slight incline to the bamboo groves, I noticed immediately that the temperature dropped dramatically in the shade. The humidity was still high, but with the small creek bubbling down the banks, its musical sound and the darkness created by the bamboo canopy, had a cooling calming effect. I spent a while there, surprised at myself for enjoying this area so much, while being surrounded by invasive plants, including a carpet of liriope, and Japanese stiltgrass.

As I walked back to the car, I couldn't decide whether this visit had been a success or not.There were certainly not enough plants for this to be a proper botanical garden, but it was obviously a work in progress, and certainly evident that a lot of work, and money, had already been committed to the grounds. The gardens were definitely interesting. I had had no idea of what I would find as I ventured around each corner, and it had been quite exciting, wondering what I would come across next. It was whimsically weird, and I always enjoy experiences that are different from the norm. It was also wonderful that so many acres were being saved from the ever growing destruction of farmland in this area. Homes and data centers are gobbling up this area at a frightening speed, so it was enjoyable to spend a couple of hours walking in a garden, where birds were happily trilling and tweeting, with draagonflies and bees, among many other insects, buzzing about their business. Even the wasp sting didn't seem so bad after all,( although a week later, it's still bothering me). The last photo is my favorite, one of the lakes as I drove out, so green and peaceful. I'll likely visit again in the future, since I'm often going to wonder what Peter has created next in his kingdom, and any sanctuary in suburbia has to be a blessing.

The garden's website is here.