CT Historic Gardens: Osbourne Homestead, Derby, CT

22 06 2018
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Butterfly Garden

(text from DEEP site): The butterfly garden contains a variety of plants that attract and feed butterflies. The bold colors of this garden attract many visitors  and other pollinators in addition to butterflies. Visit this garden and see how you can landscape your yard to attract wildlife. Some of the plants in this garden include sedum, yarrow, bee-balm, columbine, butterfly weed, and black-eyed Susans, dogbane, spicebush, and coneflower.

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Formal Gardens

This Colonial Revival style garden dates back to 1911 and has five main flower beds filled with various annuals and perennials.  Knockout rose trees and gomphrena are among the colorful flowers that fill the four rectangular beds, which surround a circular bed containing ornamental kale and tall ageratum.  Daylilies, Siberian and bearded irises, peonies, yucca, and globe thistle are among the potpourri of perennials along the perimeter.

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Rock Garden

Tucked behind the rose garden is a lovely rock garden, featuring dwarf conifers and perennials. Annuals add splashes of color throughout the year.  Iris, lavender, bleeding heart, and rose campion are among the prerennials in this garden.

Part of Connecticut Historic Gardens Passport





DEEP Sky Challenge: Naugatuck State Forest Quillinan Reservoir Block, Ansonia and Seymour

21 06 2018
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After some challenges, we reached the Raptor Woods Trailhead

 

Pyrola/shinleaf and Indian pipes

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Glacial erratic

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Stone marking Paugassett Indians

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Recent human artifact 🙂

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Obstacle course to reach our lunch

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Success, and well worth it for good Greek food!

Par of DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge





West Woods, DEEP #2

3 06 2018

30 May 2018

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West Woods Trails starts on Peddler’s Road

(Text from Guilford Land Trust site) The forest and marshes in and around Westwoods were used by Guilford’s settlers as agricultural lands.

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Lost Lake, looking south, with fog rolling in

Trees were cleared, stone walls were built, livestock were grazed, and where Lost Lake stands today, salt hay was harvested.

 

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Lady’s slippers

The story of this forest is similar to that of many forests throughout Connecticut. As the demand for charcoal and firewood increased, Westwoods was further divided into smaller parcels to become wood lots.

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At the Lost Lake overlook

There was some quarrying at its center. Around the turn of the century, Stiles Brick Company of North Haven purchased large tracts of the forest to supply wood for its kilns.

 

 

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We couldn’t find the smiley face trail markers but we did find this!

After our hike, we enjoyed dining al fresco on the Guilford Green with treats from The Marketplace.