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Saturday, July 25, 2015

American Fork Steel Days Garden Tour- Day 1

"Look mom!"
We just got back from a reunion and vacation in "Happy Valley" (aka Utah County), and while we were there, we discovered that American Fork was celebrating their annual "Steel Days," complete with a garden tour.  That meant that some of the finest gardeners in the city had opened their personal gardens for public viewing pleasure, and that they would be available to answer our questions.  I was not about to pass up that opportunity!  I wish we had something similar to that where we live.

So, as soon as I read about it, I gathered my girls and my mother-in-law, and we were on our way to one of the homes.
 I armed 10-year-old Tame Dame #2 with a phone camera, and she snapped plenty of lovely snapshots for our blog.  Most of the photos you will see are ones that she took.
"Lily" with the lilies!
 Come!  Explore the gardens with us!  There's lots to see!
 I snapped a few pictures as well, but I really can't distinguish between who took what, so you get to see it all. 


This earns two thumbs up!
 The first 2 homes we visited had well manicured lawns, beautiful borders, and blossoming beds.   All was neat and orderly, and not one weed!









Who spilled the flowers?


Pretty waterfall!

Did you notice this rock? Go find it in the picture above!

Fun!




Gorgeous!


What is this?

Looks like they're filled with water. Wow!



Pretty lilies!

 This next home had lots of walking paths with an abundance of foliage and blooms lining them.  It was a great example of how to xeriscape.
WOW!!!




Such lovely flowers!
 They also had a wonderfully organized veggie patch out back with some fun varieties of veg that I don't see very often.

Hi puppy!

Can you spot the purple peppers?



Colorful! I wish I had rainbow chard!

Puppy came out and would dig in the garden.  The owners had to keep scolding him.

They had a phenomenal view of the Mount Timpanogos temple from their front yard.

 I loved that there was variety in the styles of gardens we viewed.  There was one in particular that left a lasting impression on me.  It's sorta jungle-y and quirky and has a secret garden feel with a surprise at every turn. 

Oh my!


Wowzers!!!



Hello, hello, hello!!!




Beautiful!!!!!

Amazing!!!!!





Hi you fluffy chicken!




This is an interesting seed pod!



And this is interesting grass!



On our way to a few more homes, we were stopped and cut off to the road we wanted to go down.  They had shut it down for their car show.  So, we parked, pulled out some lawn chairs (doesn't everyone carry a few of those in their trunk?) and watched the show for a bit.






We saw so much beauty that day, and we saw more on Day 2 (look for an upcoming post).

P.S.  Can anyone tell me what those flat seed pods were?


Sharing At:
Tuesday Garden Party,
The Gathering Spot
Tuesdays with a Twist