A Beautiful Must-See in the County

My friend Janet introduced me to a marvelous place today. After having lived in the wonderful county of Fairfax since 1977, I was finally made aware of a veritable treasure here.

Green Spring Gardens - There is too much to say about this magical place so I will direct you to its website for a wealth of information about it.

Go to https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/greenspring/ for complete information.

I will share some of my photos with you now.

I wish I had known about these gardens when my grandchildren were younger. Here is the Children's Garden.

Janet at the entrance to the Children's Garden 

The cards behind the caterpillar mound tell the story of "The Hungry Caterpillar." 

A Little Free Library - Take a book, Leave a book  

Do you see the two dogs? 

Boy filling up a watering can at the Rain Barrel 

A pleasant place for little folks to sit 

Happily-decorated bird houses

After leaving the Children's Garden, we found other places of interest.

 A Monarch Butterfly Way Station

 These plants are not native to Virginia or to the U.S. They perhaps come from Europe or Asia.

The shed with colorful birdhouses in the Vegetable Garden 

There is a Monarch butterfly somewhere in this photo. Can you find it? (I can't!)

Another inviting spot for little folks

What looks like a blue window frame is actually a swing for children.

(In the background on the left, you will catch a glimpse of the native plants of Virginia for sale.)

After roaming around outside in the gardens and inside in the Gift Shop for over an hour, we went to the Swiss Bakery for lunch. We both had Gruyere cheese sandwiches (see below).

Since we were in a bakery, we had to have a sweet dessert. The choice: the Bird's Nest. (See below)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Janet, for introducing me to this oasis of tranquillity and beauty.