Kalmia- a Wild Wonderland for Kids
It's a pretty day in Hartsville, and you have seven children with you... where can you go?
My favorite place in Hartsville, Kalmia Gardens!
We started our adventure near the lovely gazebo area, where a few little people just had to see the fountain. (note the little sandals that had to be kicked off, "to see if the grass is soft")
We looked at the herbs, and learned how to gently rub your thumb and forefinger carefully on the leaves to smell the fragrance of the herbs without disturbing the plant.
It's a hard lesson to leave nature as you found it, but these children learned quickly. When you visit Kalmia, you leave each flower as it is, so that the next visitor can enjoy seeing it just as you did.
The children and I walked down the steep, steep steps to where the temperature drops cooler and the sounds of the insects and birds drowns out the sound of the cars on Carolina Avenue. I may have gotten a few good photos down here, but this was "Giant Spider Jumping Day" at Kalmia, and I had to hold two little people's hands to insure that one of those big spiders didn't jump on them.
Back around the loop, we found the pond, one of my favorite areas of the garden.
The children found turtles, minnows, bass-looking fish, and a variety of exotic water bugs. This part of the walk was by far the most interesting, and we found some other children that were just as fascinated by the funny turtles and fast fish.
The water lilies were in full glory, and the pond was nearly covered with them. I don't recall ever seeing so many water lilies covering the pond. During a field trip years ago, I learned that when Miss May Coker had the pond created, she filled it with white sand so it would be a true reflecting pond. I bet she never imagined it in it's present natural state, teeming with so many species of aquatic fauna that had these seven children so mesmerized!
Ty, Tricity, Zackery, Jake, TyRon, Susan and Jasmine all agreed that Kalmia Gardens is AWESOME!
Looks like a great time!
I'll bet you can't wait to do it again. Your photos are great, Jana.
The colors are so vivid. Have you been playing with photofiltre? Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Thanks For The Memories
I grew up just down the street from Kalmia Gardens. Your pics brought back a lot of wonderful childhood memories.
No comments:
Post a Comment