Garden memories

Thinking about Botanic Gardens has made me nostalgic for the Chicago Botanic Garden in the fall. When I was little, my parents would take me and my sister to their Halloween celebration and volunteers wrapped up like mummies would pop out of the lagoons and chase us to scare the pants off of us. Haha, I don't know whether or not those are happy memories.. More recently, on trips home for my birthday or Thanksgiving I would go for walks or a run on the path that circles the garden with my dad (and on one occasion with my mom, too). I am grateful to the Garden for giving my family the space to be together. What is it about natural spaces that are perfect for bringing people together? What's the draw?

Closer to Christmas maybe I'll dig out the Christmas pictures that were taken at the Garden that never made it to reprint. Yikes. Erica and I with braces... the only time John was ever a fussy baby...

Gardens

Garden Inspiration #1: The Weatherby rain boot from J.Crew.

I like my topic because I like gardening culture. I don't call myself a gardener, because I'm sure my family would have something to say about that, but do come from stock that can grow amazing tomatoes from seedlings and turn a backyard into a tropical plant sanctuary. As a garden groupie, I naturally gravitate toward garden attire. Rain boots actually double really well as gardening boots. They also contribute really well to my vision of a metaphorical garden groupie--who goes to a botanic garden? Why do they go? Do you have to know anything about nature to appreciate it? How do different types of people appreciate and interact with nature? Do botanic gardens or arboretums do enough to address all of those different types of garden groupies?