This post continues that delightful Autumn afternoon I spent ambling around Heritage Park.
You’ll recall from my last two Monday posts, I visited this picturesque park on Sunday, October 16th because I wanted to ensure I would get some photos of the flaming red and gold leaves at peak color. And, as you know, on that perfectly calm day, I was lucky to see and photograph those stunning reflections of the trees on Coan Lake. If you missed those prior posts, you can find them here and here.
Today I’m going to focus on another portion of Heritage Park, the Taylor Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, located on the fringe of that park. I saved these photos for Thanksgiving week, because nothing says harvest time better than gourds and scarecrows.
The flower gardens were still gorgeous.
Although some of the tender potted plants had already been moved to their respective overwinter sites, the remaining annuals flourished and the perennial gardens were still colorful. Here are a few of the many garden beds.
A variety of colorful gourds had been tucked alongside perky annuals and mums …
… or just scattered around the grounds by themselves.
A harvest swag greeted visitors as they entered the Conservatory.
I’m including this cute gnome for “Gnomevember” for fellow blogger Jeanine.
I’m sure the gourds and harvest décor will be whisked away, soon to be replaced with pine boughs and Christmas bulbs as soon as the last bite of turkey has been gobbled up. (I don’t know about you, but it seems to me it was just Halloween!)
Scarecrows, just like people, come in all shapes and sizes.
This unusual collection of scarecrows will keep your Monday from becoming too mundane.
You’ll recall there was an event at the Park the day before called the “Vintage Market and Scarecrow Stroll” and a few of the scarecrow entries still remained. The concept of the Scarecrow Stroll is that entrants pay $25.00 to enter their creative scarecrow which is displayed with others around the Gardens. The entry fee helps fund maintenance for the Gardens and there are prizes for the three top scarecrows as determined by event goers.
So a few of these clever scarecrows still remained on the grounds, like this pretty lady named Philomena Phragmite, who was not scary in the least.
She wore a frothy headdress of Phragmites, an invasive wetland reed and a collection of gourds gathered at her feet.
These two scarecrows were created to honor Garden volunteers – like Philomena Phragmite, I had to take close-ups as they were so clever.
This scarecrow was a nod to Rosie the Riveter, a/k/a Rose Will Monroe, an employee of the World War II Willow Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti Township, right here in Michigan.
Two local companies submitted scarecrows bearing their company logos.
Another scarecrow, more traditional this time.
I found this cute scarecrow at the entrance to the Petting Farm …
… and this scarecrow embedded in the flowers.
Finally, this humongous scarecrow loomed large as he watched over the remaining crops at the Community Gardens.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that while walking around the Gardens’ woodland area, after seeing this beautiful tree …
… I came across some more escapees from the Petting Farm. No, they were not the Lavender Guinea Fowl that I wrote about a few weeks ago, but a different bird. Hmm. That day the Petting Farm had a Halloween event for kids with spooky noises and even some yodeling blaring from the speakers. I am sure the noise pushed these birds over the edge, so they sought some peace and tranquility at the Gardens, but I must tell you in my many years of visiting this venue, this is only the second time for seeing Petting Farm escapees and you’ll meet them in this week’s Wordless Wednesday post.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Amazing all photos. Beautiful autumn afternoon spent around the heritage park. Wonderful Gourds & Scarecrows. Wonderful photography
Lovely photo for Thanksgiving so colour full Gourds. I like. Thanks,
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Glad you liked all the photos rajkkhoja. It was such a great day to walk around and take photos and I was able to create five posts from this one trip to Heritage Park!
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Thank you so much!
Happy Thanksgiving week 💐
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Thank you rajkkhoja!
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Wow, that’s such a fun idea they have to share the participant’s creativity and the season’s colors. I’m glad you went to see it all in person so you could share the photos with us. We don’t have an event like that, that I know of anyhow, our local park is decked out in Christmas lights that will turn on the day after Thanksgiving. It takes lots of man-hours to get all the lights up before it snows. I think you’d enjoy seeing it. Thanks for the smiles and the bright autumn colors to enjoy this Monday morning! Happy Thanksgiving week to you!!!
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I thought it was a fun idea too Shelley. I don’t know how many other scarecrows there were that were taken home. Next year I’m going to go …. it is all outside, so no Covid worries. I was undecided this year, then it rained in the morning, so I decided not to. I think it is not only a fun idea but a great way to raise money for the Gardens. I just booked my first 5K over the weekend – it is for “Run for the Trees” in conjunction with Bob Ross where you raise money to plant trees for reforestation efforts. Anyway, this year they are opening participation in Ohio and Wisconsin – that’s different.
They just opened the annual Wayne County Lightfest about 20 miles from where I live. It is a four-mile drive in Hines Park with 50 animated themed displays and 100,000 lights. They opened last week and no cars, just runners/walker/bikers … sounded like fun.
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I’m so impressed with the fun walking activities you find. It’s great to have fund raisers that carry on the traditions and help the environment at the same time!
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Yes, there are a lot of fun activities for charities around here and I like that you can do this 5K Run for the Trees anytime from April 22nd to April 29th.
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YAY! 😁😎😀
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The scarecrows are so imaginative and creative! I really like the Good Thymes one, with the acorn caps for eyes and sticks shaped into a pleasant smile.
I’ve never heard of Gnomevember before and read Jeanine’s interesting post. I have a few different gnomes I pull out seasonally for decorating. My favorites are the Nordic nisse for Yule. The autumn gnome you found is adorable with his leaf pattern pointed hat. 🙂
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I thought those scarecrows were very clever too Barbara and that scarecrow with its pencil-thin mustache reminded me a little of Marlon Brando’s character in “The Godfather” when he was out in the garden with his grandson and wearing a straw hat. They have a lot of different events at the Gardens and the event where the baseball cap was from was “Good Thymes at the Gardens” where you can buy plants, honey, herbs, spices and hand-crafted items while listening to a band; that is every Spring. In fact, they have a band there every Wednesday night, starting at 5:30 p.m. Maybe I can get there when I’m retired. They post pics of all the events and they look fun. I’m also trying to steer clear of crowds, though this is outside and I believe you and Tim went to a few open air concerts last year.
I had never heard of Gnomevember either before following Jeanine’s blog which is often about gnomes or street art in and around Berlin where she lives. I like that gnome with the leaf pattern pointed hat and his sunflower too. I remember you either mentioned, or did a post about a Nordic nisse – it might have been at your home, or you also walked through a town at Christmastime where one was in the window.
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The scarecrows were my favorites.
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Mine too Anne – they were all so creative!
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Beautiful flowers. All history now!
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I had a rather large weed in the backyard which I intended to pull when I raked the leaves a final time and it finally bit the dust from this bitter cold weather.
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Oh I do love a gnome. November or not. I feel that the scarecrow with the bandana and watering can is better dressed than I am some days. Just a little disturbed by that
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Yes, I like them too Ally, always cute and whimsical. On occasion I see them in the ‘hood or a park and send them along to Jeanine who collects photos of and writes about gnomes and also street photography in/around Berlin. They look better than me too – I scurry out the door to walk and don’t spend a lot of time on my appearance. I thought that scarecrow reminded me of Marlon Brando’s character in “The Godfather” especially when he was relaxed out in the garden wearing a straw hat and joking around with his grandson – his final scene in the movie.
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I’m sure after hours with no one around all the Scarecrows gather around and play cards and talk about their day.
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I like that idea Wayne … they might even brag about who got the most people gawking at them.
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I can see them drinking coffee and smoking cigs………maybe no cigs when I think of it, they’d go up in flames!
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Eating candy cigs and bubblegum cigars then – it’s a safer bet.
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Wow – you out did yourself on this post. Can only imagine how long it takes you to compose your posts. I am not that ambitious. Loved the scarecrows, the gourds and all the wonderful flowers.
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Thanks Peggy – I have to admit this one took a while as I had a lot of photos. I originally was going to split this into two posts, but changed my mind when I used the reflections for a long post as opposed to Wordless Wednesday. So I didn’t walk yesterday as it was icy, so I did this long post, a short WW post for Wednesday and a kind of long post for Thanksgiving. Here it was the middle of October and flowers still flourishing as we’d had that wonderful warm spell.
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You are certainly dedicated to your blog. I am not as dedicated as you are. I leave out a lot of pictures and just add 10 or 12 to a post. I remember I read that somewhere when I first started blogging. They said, “Make your posts fairly shoet so you don’t lose your audience. ” I think you should do what you want to do.
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Yes, I am dedicated to my blog, but also spend too much time on it to be honest Peggy. The problem, which makes me behind in everything else, including here in Comments and/or Reader, is the photos – taking them, going through them, not even so much the writing part. I literally have at least 1,500 photos, if not more, that I haven’t even looked at from Summer and Fall. I likely have a lot of people who do not read the whole post and just look at the photos.
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Those scarecrows are all very cool! I really liked Rosie the Riveter. I wish our weather was still like that, snowy and cold here. Brrrrr !
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I thought they were cool too Susan. I wonder how many scarecrows they have at the actual event and people took home with them? I liked Rosie the Riveter scarecrow too – clever costume. The original Rosie here in Michigan (due to her work at the Willow Run Bomber Plant) is celebrated at special events where those original women workers still gather. I think they had a Guinness Book of Records event where they wanted women to dress like the original “Rosie” and gather at Willow Run. They had a lot of people show up for this event, all in the red polka-dot kerchief.
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That would have been fun to see them all dressed up as Rosie! We were in Gettysburg one year and they had a parade (I think it was 4th July) and one float was Rosie and all about her.
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I think so too and I just Googled to find out how many Rosies attended for that record and it was 3,734 back in 2018. I will send you the short story and photos in a separate comment in case it goes to SPAM. The “Free Press” did not have a paywall back then, so the article is still there.
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Susan – the slideshow and article shows the group … a sea of blue and red polka-dotted scarves.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2018/08/21/guinness-world-records-rosie-riveter/1052820002/
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Also, I forgot to mention, I didn’t know she was from your necks of the woods !
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I loved Philomena! She would not scare any crows, but she is a beautiful lady. Can’t wait to see the petting zoo escapees on Wednesday. Nice cliffhanger to keep us interested!
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I thought Philomena was unique and beautiful too Laurie. Very creative work. I turned around to see these escapees running all over the place and I was able to get up close to them – they were fearless. Glad to provide a cliffhanger – hope you’re not disappointed. 🙂
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That was fun Linda. I love all of the scarecrows! So creative!
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Glad you liked the post and the scarecrows Ruth. Did those scarecrows give you any ideas for scarecrows for your gardens? Maybe Ranger and Ruby scare away all the critters that want to feast on your produce?
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I’m afraid scarecrows in the garden would just be decorative. Netting is the best to protect our crops from hungry critters.
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Well, that does make sense Ruth. I’m trying to remember if it is Diane who does the netting across her pool because the heron eats the fish in her pond.
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Great pictures! I like Philomena Phragmite, (about the only good use for them!) and Rosie the Riveter. You got some really nice color flower shots for mid-October. I’m curious about the escapees…..awaiting Wednesday…..
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Thanks Joni! The beautiful sunny day helped contribute to these colorful pictures (taken with the compact camera). Philomena Phragmite was pretty wide, accounting for that headdress and all those gourds. Very clever. Yes, Phragmites are everywhere and in some counties homeowners have issues with them getting into sewer/drains and causing issues. The escapees surrounded me, were fearless and I got up close to them. Hope you’re not disappointed when you see what they were. 🙂
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A lot of creativity going on there! I liked that autumn swag over the entry.
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Yes it was Eilene and all for a good cause. The Gardens are beautiful and maintained by all volunteers. I liked that swag too and think it might be nice to make for home at harvest time.
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Such an interesting variety of photographs and some very intriguing looking gourds.
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Thanks Anne – those unusual shapes of the gourds, like the yellow bumpy-looking one and the one shaped like a swan sure were different.
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I love all the autumn decorations and flowers shared here. Autumn seems to pass way too quickly!
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Thanks Rebecca. That walk was just perfect in any way, from the reflections to the leaf colors, beautiful flowers and autumn decorations. My favorite season does pass way too quickly. We had a brutally cold weekend, then two inches of snow and now we’re headed into the mid-50s again. It has been quite a roller coaster ride.
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Our weather is the same. It seems like it changes daily.
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The scarecrows are totally scary but fun!
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Yes, I thought so too Esther. This looks like a fun event – I was wavering on attending as it was outside, but the morning of the event it rained and I decided maybe it was best, but I’ll try next year. Hopefully COVID is in the rear-view mirror by then.
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What a great post! So much creativity out there. Anybody can be an artist! Thank you for the shout out Linda!
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To be honest, I didn’t know she was from Michigan either until they had this event.. I just knew she was from WW II.
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What a beautiful day you enjoyed Linda! The scarecrows are so cute. Getting ready to put the Christmas decor up this weekend! Wishing you a lovely Thanksgiving!
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Yes, it was a beautiful day Terri – all the elements of a perfect Fall day. Years ago I used to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. This is a small house, so you wouldn’t think it would take long to decorate, but it was the tucking all the knickknacks away took forever, then I’d repeat that in reverse on New Year’s Day when I put everything away. I really should at least put a few items out for Christmas. Same back to you Terri – blessings to you on Thanksgiving.
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thanks for the sending me the link, that would have been something to see! What a lot of fun they must have had, all dressed up like Rosie!
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You’re welcome – I think it would have been fun to see too. I remember it was a big deal when it happened and all over the news at that time.
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I’d never heard of a scarecrow competition until we moved to our little town here in the South. Every year at Halloween the local businesses on the downtown streets grace the lampposts outside their stores with their entries. Strolling the sidewalks to admire their creations fosters shopping local, so it’s a smart idea. Like the ones in your photos, I admire a level of creativity I know I don’t possess.
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Dave, I think that would be very creative to have the scarecrows on all the lamp posts – very festive harvest decor. A fellow blogger lives near a small town in Wisconsin where shop owners park two-wheeled bicycles in front of their shops, paint them colorful colors and plant flowers in the bike’s handlebar baskets or rear baskets. What a colorful touch for the Summer months. Shelley did a post about this and I thought “how quaint and cozy!”
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This is my first time for a scarecrow contest. I presume that you saw no crows? Up until about the age of 2 1/2, I lived in Ypsilanti not far from the Willow Run plant that I think was by then owned by GM for building Corvairs and automatic transmissions.
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No crows JP, but with everything they had going at that vintage festival, including the scarecrows, headless horsemen and a large contingent of dancing witches with broomsticks, I’ll bet they stuck in a few real or fake crows for the festivities. A few years ago they had an event where all the living Rosies who worked at the Willow Run plant, plus women dressing in the Rosie the Riveter garb, gathered together to create a “Rosie” Guinness World Record. I just looked it up and I know it is used as an airport now, but you were correct in that General Motors used that plant after a fire in August 1953 destroyed their Detroit transmission factory in Livonia, Michigan. I didn’t know that piece of history, so thanks for sharing it.
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