Summerdale, AL, Part III: Bellingrath Gardens

One of our favorite things to do as we travel is to visit botanical gardens, and southern Alabama has an excellent one. Bellingrath Gardens is located to the west of Mobile, AL, about an hour from where we were staying in Summerdale.

Since we had never been to Bellingrath in the fall, we were planning to go during this stop in Summerdale to see their fall mum display which began November 1. After we got our computer problems straightened out and after the weather warmed up again, we drove over to the other side Mobile Bay to Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, AL.

Bellingrath is known for its spectacular displays of azaleas in the spring. We visited Bellingrath twice before - once last year and again this past spring. When we went there last year it was after the azaleas had finished blooming. However, we got to enjoy the beautiful spring annuals and perennials during that visit. To read our two-part post about our 2009 visit to Bellingrath click on Bellingrath Gardens and on More Bellingrath Gardens.

This spring, we wanted to see the azaleas blooming, so we tried to time our stay in Summerdale to coincide with the azaleas. The azaleas bloomed very late this year because of the unusually cold winter. We delayed our trip to Summerdale until almost a month after the normal bloom time, but the azaleas were just starting to flower when we were there. Even though all the azaleas weren't in full bloom yet, there still pockets of spectacular color. To read about our visit to Bellingrath this spring click here.

Bellingrath was originally a 65-acre estate that was the home of Walter and Bessie Bellingrath. Walter Bellingrath made his fortune in the early 1900s as one of the first and most successful bottlers of Coca-Cola. Walter originally bought the land along the Fowl River as a fish camp. Later, the Bellingraths decided to move out from the city, and the current house was completed in 1935.

Our first stop in the garden was a display of cascading mums hanging from the gateway at the entrance to the rose garden.

The roses were just about done blooming, but the rose garden, its fountain and the display greenhouse in the background were still picturesque.

Inside the greenhouse are lush, colorful, tropical plants.

There weren't as many orchids blooming in the greenhouse as we had seen on our previous visits, but we did find something interesting. Margery took a picture of Paul taking a picture of...

...a pineapple.

From the greenhouse we continued our way around the gardens. One of the best mum displays, even though they weren't yet in full bloom, was along the lawn on the way to the house.

Bellingrath has a light display that runs from the last weekend in November until New Year's Eve. Some of the lights were already up, and we could see workers across the lawn putting up more.

Closer to the house there are some formal gardens with fountains and pools that are also surrounded by mums. Unfortunately, these mums weren't quite at their peak bloom yet either.

We toured the house during our first visit to Bellingrath in 2009. While the inside is beautiful, there is an extra charge to tour the house, so we didn't feel the need to see it again on this visit.

Beside the house is a series of pools descending down to the river.

The pools are connected by a series of cascades and a man-made waterfall. The sound of the falling water is amplified by a grotto beneath the falls.

Down along the river, there were fish jumping all over the place. We tried to catch a photo of one in mid air, but were unsuccessful. There are nature cruises on the Fowl River that run from March until November.

There is a bayou off the river that has a nature trail that follows a boardwalk across the bayou and around the upper end. Informative plaques line the walkway describing some of the wildlife found in and around the water. We've walked the boardwalk every time we've been to Bellingrath, and except for a few birds and some turtles on a log we haven't seen much wildlife. Oh well, it's still a nice, quiet walk. This year when we were there, the tide was out (Bellingrath is close to Mobile Bay, so the level of the river rises and falls with the tide), and we could see the mud bottom. We saw a few tiny fish in the remaining shallow water and lots of raccoon tracks in the mud.

Mirror Lake used to be a runoff pond for a 19th century sawmill that was on the property. The Bellingraths had it dredged out and enlarged it to create a lake to reflect their azaleas. The Lion Overlook, which is located on the bank above the lake, has a life-size, cast iron lion that was made in the mid-1800s as a lawn ornament for a wealthy family in Mobile.

At the upper end of the lake, there was a spectacular display of cascading mums from the bridge that crosses the lake. Again, the mums were a little before their peak.

Our last stop before leaving Bellingrath was the Asian garden that has elements of both Japanese and Chinese gardens. The tea house in the next photo has cascading mums hanging from the railing. Unfortunately, these mums had barely started to bloom.

That concluded our visit to Bellingrath. We always enjoy visiting gardens at almost any time of the year; but having been to Bellingrath in both spring and fall, we can definitely say we prefer spring.

We'll be hanging around Summerdale a little while longer to do a little more relaxing, some more maintenance and cleaning, and we're hoping to do some more sightseeing. Look for our next post to see what we're up to.

Comments

[Arizona resorts]

Bellingrath looks like a beautiful place. You are lucky to see all these. I love viewing different gardens. I think flowers are one of the ways of the nature to show us how diverse and beautiful can it be.