A Beautiful Day to Be in the Cemetery!

Saturday was "the big planting day"at Oakland Cemetery, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for it! It's been much warmer than normal this month in Atlanta, so it ended up being sunny and in the low 70's. In the morning there were about 100 volunteers from different groups around the city, and then in the afternoon there were another 100 who came from Emory University to assist.

We got tons done, and the eclectic mix of people to garden with was great! All of the fastidious pre-med students have much more patience with extracting little weeds than I, so by the end of the day things looked pretty awesome.

Each time I visit Oakland, I discover something new. I had never noticed the bronze plaque on the fountain shown above. On Saturday, I saw that it came from the JL Mott Iron Works in the early 1900's, which is sorta cool, since my family was one of the principals in that company around the turn of the century.....interestingly, none of the old relatives can tell me where the family money went!

I can't take credit for these photos, they are from my friend, Sara. Check out those gingko leaves!

Historic Oakland Cemetery

This weekend hasn't exactly been "gardening weather" in Atlanta (low 40's and raining on and off), but yesterday turned out to be a very interesting morning!

I had some Bridal Wreath Spireas that had seriously outgrown their home, and needed a new one. I've wanted to visit Oakland Cemetery for some time, but have never gotten there, so escorting the orphaned shrubs provided the perfect excuse. I'm sure that Sara, Chuck and I looked a little bedraggled in our mud-covered raincoats, but the Spireas are in and will hopefully love their new home!

Cemeteries are not usually my thing, but this is one of those Victorian park-like settings in which the graves are in and amongst huge collections of flowers, monuments and trees. It is a little like stepping onto the set of "Oliver Twist," particularly when outside the walls of the cemetery one sees the old factories and mills of the late 1800's (fortunately they've all been repurposed as condos, so the skyline stays the same). If you've been to Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Boston, it's a similar feel.

If you haven't visited Historic Oakland Cemetery, you need to! I would love to see it on a sunny day, but there was something very romantic in a turn-of-the-century way about being there in the cold drizzle.

I'm planning to be there the second Saturday of April to do some more volunteer gardening (with lots of others), so if that's your thing, come and join me!