Planting Fields Arboretum, Long Island NY

Planting Fields Arboretum is a wonderful place to visit in spring, summer, or fall.  The property is expansive and an impressive example of historical landscape and garden design.  Walking through the gardens, you will discover formal gardens, rose arbors, rare plant and tree specimens, and beautiful pools and water features.  Some highlights from my trips to the arboretum include the dahlia exhibit in the late summer months which presents a display of hundreds of varieties, in many fabulous shapes and colors.  The large purple Beech trees are magical to see from afar, and also to enter into--their tangled roots and branches create an experience like something out of A Mid Summer Night's Dream.  Gigantic magnolia blossoms seem as if they belong to prehistoric times, rather than in two thousand twelve.  There are so many places to explore, discover, and lose yourself in another time and place at the gardens, I could go on and on.  It is definitely worth the trip!