The Children's Garden

Here are some more pictures from the Arboretum. I kind of liked this sunny metal sculpture. People are using metal in their gardens today. I have a beautiful metal trellis (gift from my daughter) in my woods. Some local artists made it and she bought it at a festival at Klehm's a few years ago. It has that old rusted look...that is so popular. She also got me a copper bird bath. The birds were quite skeptical about it at first, but soon warmed up to it.
One feature in the kids garden was this ABC plot. The markers have an ABC block on it. A flower whose name starts with that letter is planted behind it. Yes, there is a flower for each letter...I checked. The guide told me that school kids come and stand there singing the ABC song.
Turning a corner I came upon this painted cow. What a surprise!
This archway was so pretty with the painted birds welcoming. I thought it was a clever idea for a home garden.
And last but not least...the beautiful koi. As soon as my foot hit the bridge, they came to me. I'm sure people feed them everyday, but I didn't have anything to give them. Sorry little fishies. This reminds me of my Mom. She wanted to get an aquarium and have some fish to care for. They lived in an apartment and couldn't have another kind of pet. We set up the aquarium and filled it with just ordinary gold fish. They were tiny at first. Mom always wanted to feed people...it was her mission in life. Here was a woman who read cookbooks like they were novels. So, she looked at those tiny fish and thought.....hmmmm something to feed. And feed she did. The fish got to know her. Every time she passed the aquarium they would rise to the top and wag their butterfly tails, and Mom would say...out loud, "Are you hungry?" Of course they were, and she fed them. I swear they rose to the top whenever she passed. Some of the fish didn't live long, but one survived the many meals. One day I noticed that "Goldy" was acting lethargic. She was at the bottom of the tank. I said, "Mom, what's wrong with your fish?" She thought she needed more food. I think that the fish was so large that she couldn't rise to the top anymore. Well, the story gets sad now. The fish died. My Dad always played the undertaker in Mom's fish world. He got the net and the last fish was flushed. She had a good life....May she rest in peace.

Balisha