A Stroll Through the Gardens and Down Memory Lane

Near when Orlando and Myney grew up is Ladew Gardens, an estate on more than 20 acres with beautiful topiary gardens. Myney and Orlando hadn't been to the estate for quite some time, and Myney had never been in the Manor House on the estate before, so when we won 4 tickets in a silent auction earlier this year, it was just a matter of time before we'd get back up to their old stomping grounds. We started by driving through the neighborhood that now sits on the farm where Myney grew up. Seems the old house is still there, still owned by the family that Myney's parents sold it to. Somehow, the neighborhood isn't nearly as pretty as the fields would have been. Then, it was on to the gardens.



Apparently, Harvey Ladew was very fond of English formal gardens, and brought back the art of topiary with him when he purchased the acerage in the 1930s. He was also an avid fox hunter, so it's not suprising that the first thing you see when you come on to the estate is a hunt scene with a fox being chased by 5 hounds and riders on horseback, all done in shrubbery. Anastasia loved the dogs and counted them several times.



After taking the house tour, not overly exciting, but it did include a beautiful library room, we started our walk of the grounds. We stuck to the formal gardens, which made seeing Annie as she ran across the fields a lot easier. I think her favorite part of the gardens were all the water features, but it also could have been the Yellow Garden.





When we'd finished walking around the gardens (Anastasia could have run around the grounds all day, but the rest of us were ready for something else), we decided to take a drive around Orlando's old stomping grounds. We drove by the house he grew up in and to both Myney and Orlando's surprise, much of the landscaping was bigger, but otherwise unchanged. Then it was on to Orlando's highschool for a quick look to see if they'd expanded it at all in the 20 years since Orlando went there. They haven't.

After the tour, someone mentioned dropping in to see the Parkers, family friends who still live in the area. After a little debate, we decided to stop by for a few minutes just to say hi. Dowel, who's real name is Robert, is most well known for publishing "The Wine Advocate" and Pat, his wife works with him on the magazine and is an avid gardener. We were welcomed warmly, with a glass of champagne and given a brief tour of their property, though I forgot the camera, so you'll just have to trust me, it was lovely. A wonderful end to the day.