tiny beach scene in missouri

outdoor garden seating area carrollton

colorful glass garden ornament

vibrant garden plants

garden ornament bug

garden ornament dragonfly

 

 

 

garden water feature

stone rabbit garden bench

man head planter green

tiny gnome garden display

beautiful garden planters

garden sign painted vibrant multi colors

nice garden wood shed

dragonfly against wall in garden

raised vegetable planters

onions metal garden sign

lettuce metal garden sign

tomatoes metal garden sign

green garden bench on side of house

dad looking at squirrel-proof bird feeder

tiny beach scene carved in tree trunk in missouri

tiny beach scene carved in pail in missouri

man made garden waterfall in missouri

pergola sitting area outdoors in missouri

My dad took me on a garden tour a few weeks ago when I went to visit him and Liz in Norborne. It was my last day, and as always, I decided to do something fun, instead of surrendering the entire day just because I had a flight to catch.

So we drove to the Carrollton, the next big town, which is about 10 miles away. Carrollton is a much bigger town than Norborne, which has a population under 900, and not a single stop light.

Carrollton is its big sister – a charming little town with an historical main street, and a central square surrounded by brick shops and restaurants of yesteryear. Only a few stores are still open, which makes me sad for the decline of small towns forsaking the rise of big cities as a whole. But that’s a story for another day.  Carrollton  is cute, and it has a grocery store, a mexican restaurant and a liquor store – and a community pool. And across from that a Sonic, which we visit frequently for cherry lime-ades, especially during 2-4-1 slushy happy hour.

So Dad and I loaded up into the Ford truck with my camera and backpack, and began the tour. We navigated our way to the first house, where we paid a small donation, and got a printed map of all the homes and gardens we were about to see.

There were more than ten homes on the list, and we only had a couple hours. So we asked some ladies at the first garden what the top stops were, and made our abbreviated goto list off that.

Each home we visited offered something unique and creative. Many ideas to steal from. Why re-invent the wheel when you can steal it and improve it? There were a lot of staged sitting areas surrounded by lush plants and blooming flowers. Lots of places to watch sunsets with a glass of wine at dusk before the fireflies light up the Missouri sky.

There were so many different styles of sculptures to look at. Some were iron and steel, and some were blown or stained glass. There were some fun, quirky things too. One house had a bright green planter in the shape of a man’s head, with ferns growing out the top, where his hair would be.

For my dad, there was a bird feeder that became his showstopper. It had a built-in mechanism kicked off naughty squirrels that may try to climb up and steal nuts and seeds from the birds.

The very last stop we made had some really unique miniature scenes. One was carved out of a broken tree trunks and filled with t0y furniture. The other was in a plant watering pot. I took some pictures of these as they were really interesting and very well thought out and orchestrated. This was our last stop before we  jumped back into the car and headed towards the Kansas City airport.

It was a nice way day to spend the day with my Dad. I was again thankful that I didn’t let a flight keep me away, and enjoyed an extra day of exploration and great memories.

Share:
Written by Suzi Albrecht
Digital Project Manager and Traveler