More delights of the TBG

I did venture over to the sunny borders of the Toledo Botanical Gardens on my last visit and am glad I did. I had been looking forward to the June flowering of the rose garden but was disappointed. It's possible that I have become too fussy about roses, preferring either highly scented old varieties or David Austin's wonderful big cabbage-rosy blooms, but nothing in the formal rose garden enchanted me. The hedge of white rugosas at the entrance to the formal English borders, however, was another story: dozens of chest-high bushes,all bearing tissue-papery blossoms with that unmistakeable rugosa scent. Rose-lovers' heaven.

Then, in the secret garden, was a plant with a secret. Looking toward the rudbeckia patch at the end of a walkway, I saw what looked like a giant caterpillar draped over a black-eyed susan. But the brown growth was no caterpillar.

No, what I saw was a rudbeckia with what seems to be a double seed head forming. There were actually several plants in the bed with the same odd formation, so I wonder if we'll be seeing "Crazy Daisy" rudbeckias marketed in a few years.

Then, crossing the bridge to return to the garden entrance, a glance at the lake island revealed a blue heron: not an uncommon bird, but one of surpassing elegance.

It was a good walk in the garden.