Bayou Bend was the home of Miss Ima Hogg, the daughter of one of the governors of Texas. When she was 44 years old, back in the 1920's, she endeavored to create a home and garden in the heart of Houston. Today that garden is open to the public year around.
The trick is to visit the garden at the peak of flowering perfection!
I knew that Wednesday, yesterday, was to be sunny; not too hot and not too cold. Thursday was to rain, then it would warm up and be cloudy. Surely the flowers will go past peak facing those challenges.
Should I wait for the weekend so Laura and Bernie could go with me?
Shouldn't I just stay home and clean the bathrooms and vacuum like a good little housefrau?
I felt guilty considering going to such beauty when Laura and Bernie were toiling at their jobs. I even felt guilty thinking about my BGF Gail in Colorado working away at Focus on the Family.
I emailed her and told her what I was feeling.
Her reply: GO!!!! ENJOY every bit, and share the day later via photos. She would walk about outside on her own lunch break and enjoy what springtime she could find there, and think about the springtime I would be enjoying here.
So....here are some of the pictures Gail!
(Remember you can click on each picture to enlarge it to full screen size.)
The bridge you go on to enter the gardens.
Miss Hogg's home, now a museum of American historical furnishings.
If you'd like to walk the grounds with me, see more of the pictures and read my comments, click HERE and start the slide show to join me in my stroll through Bayou Bend gardens. You can click through the pictures one by one, or click on the SLIDESHOW option on the sidebar to see them full screen with a black background.
Oh, it was beautiful. And even was made better because I knew I could share it with you...yes, you, dear reader, and Gail. I hope if you are surrounded by wintery white today this walk through Southern springtime will serve to gladden your day.
13 comments:
Wow...this is all so gorgeous!
Thank you for this post...especially appreciated by those of us in the snowy northlands.
Ah, the azaleas, tulips, hydrangeas, redbud tree, and more...they're all so beautiful right now! The azaleas have been drop-dead gorgeous around here for a few weeks. Love 'em! Thanks for the photos...I'm off to view the slideshow!
What a glorious, joyful, peaceful afternoon break. Thanks so much Jill.
Miss Ima did us all a great favor in starting this glorious setting for generations of families.
When we moved to Houston in 1949, we lived four blocks from this place, and we never new it! It was in the middle (so to speak) of the Memorial Park area - which we explored (playing cowboys and indians) and pretending to live in pine-treehouses, with pinestraw beds.
Oh, my.....I need to go back, too.
That was breathtaking! I could just hear the bird song and feel the wonder of strolling through such delightful gardens. I love all those shades of pink too.
Oh, and the hat is just perfect!
I wish you email me and ask me to go with you to go to. I want go.
What a beautiful day indeed! I'm so glad you felt "worthy" enough to go out and enjoy it solo. And truly, through your photos I felt I was walking right along with you while sipping a lemonade.
ohh.. how beautiful, Jill !! thank-you for inviting me along with you !! I am sorry I only had time to run through the garden .. We are on our way out for a couple of days.. but I will come and linger in the garden when we come home !!
Your photos are soo real I could almost smell the fresh air and the flowers!!!!
I have one other comment...was her name really Ima Hogg? It sounds like a joke. Who would do that to their child? Or perhaps it's more like pride of family name? Very interesting. Well, despite her name, she did create a beautiful place.
Yes, that really was her name. I wonder if her name had anything to do with her never being married...she was actually a lovely looking woman, and while I don't know much about her faith (everyone in Texas seems to be Christian) I do think she is to be commended for rising above her name to create beauty through gardens, music and art for the world to enjoy.
http://www.fm.coe.uh.edu/comparisons/ima1.html
http://www.famoustexans.com/imahogg.htm
Beau-ti-ful! Thanks for taking us along on your garden tour. I'm so looking forward to having the gardens in full bloom out here...Pacific Northwest.
You seemed to capture the feeling of the gardens perfectly, so that I actually felt I was there too! Thanks for taking the time to share them with us.
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