Treasures

BUTTERFLY GARDEN

 

Their wing span ranges from ½” to 12” and are transparent.  Touching their wings can remove scales and shorten their lives.  Some can fly up to 30 miles per hour.  They hear sounds through their wings, even ultrasound.

 

The sense organs on their feet serve as their taste buds.  Their first meal is their own eggshell,

and then the plant they were born on.  All of them have six legs and feet.  They don’t have

mouths to bite or chew but a long straw like structure called a proboscis, which coils like a

garden hose when not in use, and their sweet tooth is what leads them to dinner.

 

Some live no longer than 3—4 days, others up to 6 months.  The last ones laid in the season are the ones that migrate up to 3000 miles to Western Mexico for the winter.  To protect themselves, they camouflage to blend in with their surroundings, mimic others that are poisonous to avoid being eaten, or smell bad to offend predators.

 

Yes, we are talking about those enchanting and beautiful flying flowers, the butterflies.

Visit our lovely Butterfly Garden in the shape of a butterfly to see the butterflies, sphinx moths, and hummingbirds, and find out what flowers you should plant to attract your own delightful display.

 

 

GODDESS GARDEN

 

My friend Linda visited Europe a few years ago and came home with a necklace with a beautiful goddess on it.  She suggested we create a goddess garden!  After much measuring and re-measuring and with the help of my nephew who is a surveyor, we created a beautiful image of the goddess, who represents the female in each of us.  She is planted with ground covers and resides over the other gardens in the area.

 

This garden is very unusual and appealing; you can walk the spiral of her belly, sit on a stone, and enjoy the view of the lake.

 

 

HUMMINGBIRD GARDEN

 

The Portuguese called them “flower kissers”, Creoles called them “murmurs”, and ancient Mexican names linked them to “rays of the sun”.  Ancient Aztecs wore floor length ceremonial cloaks made with their plumage.  In the early 1800’s dried skins were shipped to Europe for decorating hats and jewelry.

 

Their family consists of 338 species of which over half are found in South American countries like Ecuador, Columbia, and Brazil.  The smallest measures 2-1/4” long and weighs 1/15 oz., the largest is 8-1/2” long weighing 3/5 oz.   The nests of the 16 species within U.S. boundaries are the size of a quarter.  The male is the colorful one, but neither has a sense of smell.  They are attracted to color, particularly red.  If you have ever seen the courtship dive of the male, you’ll fall in love yourself.

 

Many of us can’t wait until May 1st, the time of sighting in our area.  We hang feeders for them and plant flowers to attract them, especially host plants they can lay their eggs on.  They’ll entertain you and delight you; if you don’t have any, hummingbirds we’re speaking of, visit us at Treasures of the Earth and we’ll gladly share ours with you.

 

 

TEA GARDEN

 

Our Tea Garden is in the shape of a cup which sits on its saucer, and is filled with herbs, flowers, and miniature roses used to make tea.  We invite you to pinch off a leaf and delight your sense of taste, feel and smell.  And then join us on the Garden Patio for some herbal refreshment!

 

 

SHADE GARDEN

 

There are several shade garden areas at Treasures of the Earth, including the Peace Garden, where you can follow a path to a stone bench and sit a while enjoying the peace and quiet and the beauty of the plants.  We offer many varieties of hostas, ferns, astilbes, heucheras, and many other shade plants, even miniatures.

 

 

FAERY GARDEN

 

There are many stories about the faeries, and creating a garden has become very popular.  This garden contains many miniature plants, which is one of our specialties, as well as furniture and ornamentals.  This is a garden that brings the child out in all of us, no matter the age.

 

 

MEDITATION GARDEN

 

Situated above the other gardens on the hillside, it has a Japanese zen garden in it’s center and two benches along the top.  You can relax on a bench, sip your drink, and allow your mind to wander…amongst the many beautiful flowers in that garden, down over the landscape of other gardens, across the lake into the woods, or wherever…

 

My favorite spot early in the morning with my cup of tea.

 

 

SLEEPYTIME GARDEN

 

Have a cup of chamomile or anise hyssop with lemon verbena tea (herbs from the garden), relax in your bath scented with some of our bath salts, spritz your boudoir with one of our room sprays, tuck your dream pillow under your bed pillow, and have a marvelous sleep.  This garden has all of the herbs in it that are used for your “sleepytime”, even the bed which has been planted with zinnias!

 

 

HERBAL PHARMACY & EATERY

 

We’ve taken several of the smaller individual beds and put everything in one place – medicinal herbs, culinary herbs, edibles, and spiritual/biblical herbs.  This will also serve as our teaching garden.  

 

This bed is new this year and still in progress; we’re very excited about it.

 

 

MOON GARDEN

 

This bed is also new this year.  It is 30’ in diameter with several smaller moons inside.  It will have primarily white, silver, and a few pastel colored flowers so that when the sun goes down, these flowers will be fluorescent.  Situated right by the lake, the view will be “enlightening”.

 

 

DIGGING PATCH

 

This HUGE garden is where we dig fresh plants for you, wrap them and put them in a bag/box.  You’ll get some of that wonderful biodynamic earth on the root system to give them a good start in your garden.  We’ve been adding to this patch for 5 years now and have a marvelous selection of perennials.  Our friends the butterflies, hummingbirds, sphinx moths, and dragon flies love to visit here.  We even have a resident tree frog I rescued right from the mouth of a snake.  Let me tell you that story when you visit!

 

 

GRASSES

 

We now have 25 varieties of landscape/container grasses, from 6” to more than 6’.  Grasses are becoming the rage lately because they add to your garden year round.  The dried plumes make wonderful bouquets.  Left standing over winter, they add interest to your garden.   Their varied colors and form are beautiful to behold.

 

 

MEMORIAL GARDEN

 

Our mother passed on in January.  She was a wonderful role model for many aspects of our lives, particularly her love of gardening.  I will miss her clipping articles for me, peeling the skins from the glads as we planted, covering the rows behind me, telling me what her mother planted in her many gardens and her daddy put in the vegetable garden, always there to help and support.  She passed along so many honored traditions that we intend to pass on to our young people.

 

So we decided to create a Memorial Garden, not only in her honor, but also to honor others who have passed on.  We invite you to bring a favorite plant of a loved one or a plant to honor a loved one and plant it in the garden; and then sit a while and enjoy the peace and tranquility of their unending love.

 

 

 

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