This garden was once a wild and untamed forest. The home and garden were designed by Philip Shutze. Who is he, you ask? Born in Georgia and educated in Georgia, Shutze spent a few years in Europe designing great villas before returning to Atlanta to become one of America’s finest classical architects and for over 40 years designed some of Atlanta’s most elegant homes and buildings. Many of his homes are featured on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. We will be touring one of his most famous houses in Atlanta, so be sure to follow up with that post coming soon! But, today we are walking through this lovely secluded garden on the property of another stately home! This setting is a private park for the family! Isn’t the oak leaf hydrangea huge? Let’s walk down that way!

The owner of this fabulous garden had the most unique plant markers, I’ve seen to date. She photographed the plant or tree or shrub in bloom and then posted the photo by the particular specimen, so you could see how it looked in full bloom! So, in bloom now or not, we knew what they looked like!

The trees have been here for many, many years……compare it to the man in size. The top of the tree is not even in the photo!

Here you get the feel of the paths through the woods.

There were also several ponds……….with lush ferns, huge hosta and very tall grasses.

I love the color combination of the plants here……….

There were places to sit and watch the world go by………

and woodland faces to look for……

and small retreat spaces……..

There were several different paths to follow……..

And then through the arbor, we came to the open spaces……..

where we could measure the rain……..

and look at these beauties in bloom……..

In 2013, there was a devastating fire on this estate. The garden was moved back 15 feet, and took over the field where the cow pasture had been! Now, I think this is the dog park for the family, wouldn’t you agree?  215 plants were moved to the back of the garden……..while the burnt section of the garden tried to recover……..

Now, you would never know there had been a fire here!

A beautiful fountain rests where the fire started………….

and you can look out to the back of the garden and see it has filled in nicely!

This is one of my favorite spots in this garden……..

as is this setting……..

Well, it’s time to move on, but we don’t have to go far to the next garden……….it’s right next door! We’ll meet you there!