On our way home from our fun filled Poconos weekend we decided to stop off at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens. Gardens are always one of our favorite places to go. We love wandering around looking at all the lovely flora and our kids love smelling all the flowers!
Pump House.
Knox getting ready to enjoy the gardens. MUST apply sunscreen!
The New Jersey State Botanical Gardens is also called Skylands and has a mansion along with 96 acres of gardens. It is located in Ringwood State Park.
The first stop in the garden was to have a look at the Carriage House. Unfortunately it wasn’t open to the public the day we were there. I don’t know if it is open sometimes to look inside.
The Carriage House courtyard.
Smelling some flowers in the courtyard.
After this we decided to participate in their Solar System Walk. Tate loves naming all the planets so we knew he’d enjoy the walk. By walking along the eastern edge of the Great Lawn you can see a scale model of the solar system. Tate had a ball finding all of the sign posted planets.
The Sun.
Mercury.
Because it was on our way through the solar system we took a break from our planet hunt and headed into the Hosta Garden. This garden is fenced in and features a large collection of hostas and rhododendron.
We don’t often get a family photo!
Posing on a tree stump!
Smelling the leaves.
Once you’ve finished finding all the parts of the solar system you are greeted with the Continents of the World statues. It was installed in 1930.
From left to right: Asia, America, Africa, Europe.
Next we walked through the Tree Peony Garden, Magnolia Walk and around the Summer Garden.
Tree Peony Garden.
Water feature connecting Magnolia Walk and Summer Garden.
Stunning colours.
Waving to daddy and Knox.
Tate had lots of fun going through the Magnolia Walk area and got a little silly!
Running towards the camera.
Now crawling!!!
Past the Magnolia Walk was Skylands Manor. The manor was designed in the mid 1920s. It is interesting that all the stone was quarried on the estate. It is such a lovely grand house. Looking at signs on the glass doors it might be used now for overnight accommodation or events.
The manor house (from the side).
So grand. The front of the Manor House.
The last stop before leaving the botanical gardens was the Annual Garden. This garden was full of beautiful flowers with wonderful, vibrant colours. Definitely one of the lovelier and more photogenic parts of the garden!
Love this orange colour!
A beautiful pink too…
Like always, Knox enjoyed the flowers too.
