Our Trip to the Dallas Arboretum

  

  Several weekends ago we took a wonderful day trip to the Dallas Arboretum.  It has been a desire of my heart to go there for years.  Let me tell you how I heard about the Arboretum.  I took a master gardening class in 1993.  This might be something you would be interested in.  It usually starts in September and you meet once a week from about 9:00 a.m. until around 3:00 p.m. and the class ends in December.   You have a little assignment every week and an open book final at the end of the class.  The class is free but you are asked to donate a certain number of hours to answer the phone at the extension center at OSU-OKC. (Things may have changed some since I took the class so you will have to call and get specifics.)  You have about a 5-6 inch notebook of fact sheets, handouts and your personal notes when you finish the class.  It is a great resource of information to have on hand.  The class is very informative and you learn a lot about all types of gardening.  You have professionals in the various fields of horticulture to professors from OSU in Stillwater who give lectures on various aspects of gardening. When I took this class I heard other master gardeners talk about the Dallas Arboretum and how beautiful it is.  And it is! 

I took so many pictures of the gardens and the landscaping I couldn't begin to post all of them although I wanted to.  The gardens are on 66 acres that front a beautiful lake.  You will have to look on line at all the activities they have.  They have two old beautiful homes that sit on the property.  One you can tour and they serve a high tea and also a beautiful outdoor space for lunch.  The other home is used for office space upstairs and the down stairs in used for parties and receptions.  The patio of this home opens up to a huge lawn area where there are outdoor concerts and it overlooks the lake.  You are free to bring a lunch and spread a blanket and eat on the grounds through out the gardens and we saw many people doing that or lying on a blanket just reading. 

We walked the whole acreage from front to back and all the nooks and crannies in between.  We saw all the babbling brooks, the bird sanctuary and took notice of all the unusual varieties of plants and the huge crepe myrtle trees.  Everything is beyond beautiful!  There were several weddings that day and one future bride was having her wedding portrait made.

I wanted to go in the fall because I love the fall and there is nothing to compare to their pumpkin display.  They display over 65,000 pumpkins and gourds and no I didn't add to many zeros.  :)  The pumpkin village is magical.  They have 4 different types of pumpkin houses and inside the houses they have painted tarps and there are stories written about gardening for children.  A hay bale maize that kids can run and romp through.  It was the perfect day for this and by 1:00 there were lots of families enjoying this story book atmosphere. 

We were there for about three and half hours and worked up quite an appetite doing all that walking.  We couldn't leave Dallas without going to one of our favorite restaurants, "Pappadeaux".  I highly recommend Pappadeaux and I would suggest one of the chef's specialties, you won't go wrong.  So far, it's the best fish I've ever eaten. Also try the Greek Salad for two that's prepared at your table.  It's light but has the freshest ingredients, plump shrimp, capers, an assortment of greens other vegetables with a light homemade dressing. It's making me hungry now thinking about it. :)  As you can see, the end our day was crowned with a gorgeous sunset.  What a beautiful way to end a beautiful day. 

One heart's desire marked off my list!