DAY TWO

After our arrival in Athens GA last night, we took a short tour of the town.

 This morning we returned to visit the tree "that owns itself".  It's original owner had a deed drawn for the tree, including 8 feet in each direction!

Then we headed along fraternity/sorority row towards the Georgia State Botanical Garden.

We had visited several years ago, but we arrived too late to see the visitor center and the conservatory.  We were surprised to see how many more garden areas were developed.  Some were newly planted, including a rose garden, that will be spectacular in a couple of years!

This is a map of the main garden areas.  There are also walking trails through the woods.

This Kousa dogwood was in full bloom.  I liked the distinctive shaped "petals".

A view of the conservatory from one of the garden paths.

This blooming thistle was beautiful in the early morning sunshine.

This is part of the new garden area, with grape vines and a pear orchard in the distance.

There were lovely surprises around each bend in the path.  All the plants were well labelled.

There were small streams gurgling throughout the garden areas.

This bed of poppies was wonderful in the full sun!

One of the many orchids in the conservatory.

The view from the entrance of the conservatory.

We followed the path to the lower level, and entered a fragrant jungle.