Barnegat Lighthouse Museum Garden

The museum itself was closed until June but you can stroll through the garden surrounding it at any time.  It is actually tucked away quite nicely a couple of streets away from the actual lighthouse.  In fact, I think most people don't even know it is there.  We didn't until it was included on the Lighthouse Challenge Tour two years ago and we had been out there many times to visit the lighthouse itself. 

The garden looked a little ragged - plants gone to seed and weedy, but someone cared enough to plant some pretty pansies by this driftwood........

It was hard to tell if these border plants were meant to flower like this or whether they had bolted as they looked to be in the ornamental cabbage family and might have made it through the winter in such a secluded setting..........

Isn't the contrast of the flowers with the purple stems striking! 

I was very surprised to see the lily of the valley.  There were only one or two stems of flowers left and I must have made a pretty sight squatting down and tilting the camera up towards them to get their picture..........

That green bug was an added bonus I didn't even notice until I transferred the pictures.

The next three pictures are a series of the stages of the lilac blossoms.  Normally I try to avoid the lilacs only because their heady scent causes me to sneeze, however, they were unavoidable as they hung over the pathway.......

The plantings in this garden span the three blooming seasons and we've managed to see it during the fall, summer, and now spring.  They've done a nice job of keeping it flowering nicely during all those times with the perennials that are there and the added annuals that add to the overall composition.  It's always interesting to come back and see what's in bloom.