The next garden on our tour I called the Woodland Retreat Garden. It was situated in a neighborhood, where you could actually see the neighbors’ houses, versus the last two gardens we explored! This also turned out to be the only garden, where we got to meet one of the owners (the worker bee) and learned more about their garden from him, rather than from the helpers from the garden club. This garden was designed by the she-owner and all the work was done by the he-owner. Kinda like the work detail at my cottage. I point, hubby plants. This couple have turned every bit of available space into a beautiful, relaxing, garden, mostly in shade. I am convinced the trend in Atlanta follows one rule, “one must have more than one seating/relaxing/entertaining area or a garden ain’t a garden!” Let’s not hold up the group behind us, we’ll go around to this side.

If this is not a delightful entrance to a garden, I do not know what is!

As soon as we turned the corner we were on a winding path that curved and dipped and followed a creek bed. The hosta, the ferns, the grasses, the trees, oh my!

and lots of different sized frogs! Should we begin counting?

The trail weaves this way and that………

around the armillary sphere………I just learned what those things were called from a fellow blogger!

and the up close and personal photo of it.

around some playful frogs……lots of water features in this garden, which just oozes relaxation………  I liked all the different shades of green. Here we see the blue-greens……….

and closer to the fence the variegated greens lighted the area…….along with the trellis lighting in a turn of the path……..

This gives you a really good look at the design of the creek bed. There’s another frog! Do you see him?  Aren’t those hosta lushhhhhhhhhhhhhh! And, one of my favorite trees is here, the Scaley Birch.

You can see how the path meanders throughout this garden and the various heights make it flow…….it made the garden feel much bigger than it probably is……

A resting spot…….how many dwarf mondo grasses are in this garden? Thousands, I imagine and hundreds of hosta!

and here is another bench in this section of the garden……..it goes on and on!

And then we come to this sitting area! Is that moss in the planter on the table?  Yep…….moss balls!

This setting is perfect………..

and so are the pieces of driftwood in with the mosses………

and in this section at the end of the garden was another retreat. The rocks, moss, greenery, wood sculptures and planters blend, to make this area very appealing…….

more paths and stone stacked walls……..

Let’s just listen to the wind rustling in the trees……..as she plays……..on the imaginary harp strings.

And, finally we get to see the natural creek bed of Nancy Creek that supplies the water for their man-made creek, that meanders through their property. Just go with the flow!

This tree looks like a sequoia compared to the others………

We’re getting close to the back of the house and garden now! I love their light in the center of the trellises that highlights another focal point in the garden! Very clever and the placement of the trellis focuses your eye on the entertaining area……

Isn’t this sculpture just the best here?

as well as this one? EVERYTHING is carefully placed and thought out in this garden!

I had to get up close and see the artichoke table display!

and the little replica of their garden on this table top….. It has the paths, rocks, trellises, flowers, planters and the Atlanta Botanical Garden Logo. I bet there is a frog as well, if I look closely!

And this photo is to give you an idea of the paved path in the upper Woodland Garden.

and now were are going to see the “B”  Garden. Can you spot it?

How about now? Not quite yet?

I have to check her out first and the curly-cue trees…………

OK, we can see the facing “B’s” better up here from the terrace garden!

and then take a gander at more seating areas overlooking the”B’s.”

and this one………

These lilies look lovely here!

as well as this planter…….

I have seen more than one trike in the garden too…………

and not to lose any space under the terrace, add another path to another garden area! I like that tiny green chair and table in that corner…….You have to study this garden and it takes a while……..

How about this little guy?

and the lily display>

and these hosta just pop!

Here we are in another garden tableau!

The little ducks are leading us out of the garden, for now, so we’ll say goodbye!

Was’t this garden just the best? We are seeing so many beautiful gardens on the garden tour! What will we see next? Be sure to look HERE to see all the events that the Atlanta Botanical Garden host! We’ll see you in the garden!