Monday, November 16, 2009

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!

6 comments:

  1. Are you cleaning the cemetery, or planting it. How cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting place to volunteer, and with so many people in two, to boot!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The weather has certainly been mild lately. I wonder when we will get the first severe frost? A nice weekend to visit a cemetery!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The structures are beautiful. It is neat to see such good architecture used in the cemetery. Gingkos do grow in Iowa but I rarely see them at a nursery. I guess I would have to order it off the internet. Your friends photos are great seeing them from a forty degree day in Iowa.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Cemetery is officially a city park, which means there is zero money for horticulture, preservation and restoration. The tornado tore through two years ago, so lots of major damage. Through the Oakland Foundation, there are volunteers who are assisting (with serious guidance) with replanting and maintenance.

    ReplyDelete