Sonnenburg Gardens

 Earlier this month Adam and I visited Sonnenburg Gardens in celebration of our anniversary. Sonnenburg is a beautiful historical mansion surrounded by incredible gardens. It is truly a treat to walk about the grounds enjoying the variety of gardens.

In the photo above Adam is standing beneath a huge beech tree. The photo is rather poor at capturing just how huge this tree is and how the branches create a canopy over the path.

As we walked about the grounds we enjoyed the unique variety of trees. It is also interesting that many of the trees at Sonnenburg were planted by notable historical figures such as Thomas Edison.

 

Here is a photo we took of the mansion from the back. Isn't it fantastic? The house was built in 1887 and named Sonnenburg which means "sunny hill" in German.

 I believe I took these photos in the "Old-Fashioned Gardens". I was so pleased to have photographed the honey bee busy at work.

 We were hoping to see all of the roses in bloom, but most of the roses are late blooming this year.

 Peonies- they smelled so pretty!

  An interesting historical fact concerning the owner of Sonnenburg, Mary Clark Thompson. In 1912 she visited Europe and was scheduled to sail back to America on the Titanic, but was prompted by a friend to extend her trip in order to visit Holland and purchase tulips. Being lover of flowers Mrs. Thompson could not resist the invitation and was spared that fateful voyage.

 The rose garden.

 Part of the rock garden.

 Lily pads in a pond.

 Here is a photo I took inside the mansion. This sewing room is off of the beautiful bedroom shown in the photo below. What a grand idea to have a sewing room off of the bedroom. : )

  I love the Victorian decor of this bedroom. There was also an exhibit of vintage dresses throughout the house that I really enjoyed having a chance to see. 

 The view from the upstairs porch that overlooks the Italian gardens.

We certainly enjoyed our visit and we were grateful for the perfectly beautiful weather we were blessed with that day!