A Visit to Leamings Run

For years I've wanted to visit this garden in Cape May County.  It was such a beautiful day - breezy and not too warm, so we decided to go for it.  The hummingbirds and butterflies are nearing the beginning of their migration and according to the website should be easily found down there.  This was not your typical garden as it was nestled in a wooded area.  The paths were lined with trees and low growing greenery including many different types of ferns which were deliciously cool and patches of 20 ft. tall bamboo which were interesting and a little scary too.  Well, let's see what we saw........ 

There were frogs and turtles.  Almost missed this one.

This one was very content and was still in the same position when the path swung back around the other side of the pond.

Something about that shape below that seemed out of place.

Look under the lily pad for this creature.

No creatures visible here - just a beatiful water lily.

This rickety looking bridge was actually quite sturdy and made a beautiful reflection in the water.

It had a refreshing little man-made waterfall next to it along with scads of flowers.  Look at the height of that cleome. 

These cardinal flowers were interspersed in the planted borders and wildly throughout the paths.  No wonder the butterflies and hummingbirds like it here.

The little 17th century farm had some interesting buildings.  I just loved the texture of this roof on the smoke house.

And the question of the day - why are there 2 seats in the outhouse?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Still no hummingbirds.  But another flittery creature or two - Spicebush Swallowtails vying for the best flowers.  Just look how beat up the poor things wings are.

 And yes, there were hummingbirds.  Most of them flew off before I could get close enough for a picture but this one lingered just long enough to make the whole trip worthwhile. (Look in the center of the pictures near the tall pink flower.  If you click the pictures they should get bigger)

Let's try this one a little closer.

It took us a little over an hour to wind through the whole of the garden.  The paths were very nicely manicured and ranged from sand to soil to gravel to muck - but not enough to ruin your shoes.  I doused myself lightly with bug spray just before we entered the garden as recommended.  Still there were areas where it got a little itchy.  We hadn't had rain for about a week at this point so some of the flowers were looking a bit bedraggled.  But, all in all, it was a pretty nice walk.