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By Jude Forsyth
Friends of Bellingrath Member
My friend, Lori Bosarge, and I love being members of Bellingrath Gardens. Aside from the many other benefits, the fact that we can walk there endlessly year-round for such a small cost is priceless to us. It’s such a pleasure to see the garden every week, letting the colorful seasons run like little children, one after another in their varied outfits. They run forward, ahead of the others, laughing and shouting at each other as they skip over their path. But what would happen if they decided one day to be backward children?
I think, like most frequent visitors to the gardens, Lori and I have our regular walking path. It’s so pleasurable to walk into the Rose Garden, towered over by the old mall fountain that sprinkles water in the air, which falls gently over the more than 1000 roses of different colors and varieties. The smell of it! We talk and laugh as we walk, usually at a faster pace (to be able to say we are truly exercising), past the Great Lawn, marveling at the seasonal flowers planted along the path. How many workers and volunteers did it take this season to prepare and plant this stunning stretch of color and texture? What will it look like in the full bloom of summer? We continue our trek and enjoy seeing the subtle changes on our route. The same route each time.
Then one day, Lori suggested to me that we walk a different way. What would happen if we decided to be backward visitors? How would the garden look if we reversed our path? Like those imagined little children, laughing and almost skipping, we gleefully started out on our new hike to see the backward garden. Would anything be different?
I admit the walk wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Sometimes I was a little turned around, not sure which way to go. We decided not to just follow the set-out path with its paved and stoned trail laid out before us but to also take small detours to see what scene might be hidden from us. We were hardly out on our new hike before we were sidetracked to a grassy area and found a field that revealed a wraparound wood bench, skirting the outline of this impressive tree trunk. What a wonderful find. We usually walk up past the Great Lawn and then, to finish our walk, we pass the Asian-American Garden towards the gift shop. But we are backward today! To go down into The Rockery, instead of up through it, is to notice more than just the flowing grottos but also the striking stone wall. Crossing the bridge in the opposite direction showed us another tiny grassy spot we had never seen before, and it gave us a new view of the waterfall behind the bridge. Coming up to the lion, we realized we had always been looking at the tail end (hee hee) and never looked directly into his face. Do you know what expression is under his majestic mane?
A couple of times, I mistakenly turned onto a service road. We are such creatures of habit! Still traveling in our backward wander, we went through the gazebo to the giant pots behind it and saw plants we hadn’t seen before. Continuing back to Mirror Lake, I noticed a different view of the Summer House. What did the long-ago occupants see from that little window, I thought, as I passed a small grotto that I had never observed before. That’s what happens when your focus is on the stairs ahead of you instead of what’s beside you. Now I have seen that secret place. Did you know there are several bird boxes that sprout out of the water at the boardwalk? I saw them this time because I wasn’t facing the bay as I strolled through. Gotta love this backward ramble!
Coming up behind the beautiful Delchamps Gallery, we entered as we always do, so we could marvel at the many offerings there and see the vintage pictures of the people who inspired it so long ago. It’s hard to believe that a porcelain flower can look just like the real one. When I was walking on my own one day, I not only listened to the audio talks along the way but also sat and watched the video in the gallery and learned so much about the garden’s history. It’s wonderful to see the faces of the people who made the garden possible.
Lori and I continued to meander our way to the house and realized that on our regular walk, we always took the first path down to see the “lady” in the pond and then down to the waterfront. So we didn’t get close to the quaint garden between the buildings at the house. It was delightful to see it, and it was a surprise to meet Cory Sparks, the Director of Development, walking with a new employee. If we hadn’t been on our backward journey, would we have met him and had such a delightful chat?
Coming back through the Great Lawn, it’s amazing what you observe. I guess it’s because being right-handed, we often looked more to the right. Really, it is hard not to continue to look out at the lawn and all it offers. Walking through our adored rose garden from the opposite direction, I saw a view I had never seen before. Exiting under the old metal bridge to the front pathway of the garden is truly a breathtaking sight. Heading to the gift shop, I had the same feeling as our regular walk—a certain kind of sadness that we would soon be back in our own homes. It feels like a lament that we will never see the garden again. Until, of course, three days later, when my friend Lori and I now have to decide what new route we will take this time in our beautiful garden!
Thank you Bellingrath staff. We are so grateful to you!
Jude Forsyth, a Bellingrath member, is a local writer, teacher and speaker and a Bellingrath enthusiast.
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