Its not called Big Sky Country for nothing

Seriously, look how gorgeous this is!

Before heading down to Yellowstone I spent a day in Bozeman Montana and visited the Museum of the Rockies.  I had primarily wanted to go because it had a huge collection of dinosaurs and I'm a huge dino geek.  When I got there though I was interested to see a homestead site complete with garden!

Poppies!  I'm not even remotely a country girl but this makes me want to build a split-rail fence and grow a whole field of wild flowers.

Here is a better view of the vegetable garden.  They clearly take really good care of it.  I didn't see one weed.  And the straw paths were pristine even with all the museum visitors tromping through all day.  I spent quite a while just walking through the garden which prompted my boyfriend to remark "I spend a lot more time in gardens since meeting you".  Guilty!

I love how mad these chickens look.  Like "Back off lady.  We can't be bothered with you and your silly camera".

New York!

New York, New York --
It's a hell of a town.

~On the Town

I just got back from a trip to New York City and I’m so inspired now by all the beautiful parks.  I love being able to see flowers blooming even in the middle of so much steel and concrete.  It’s also a good reminder to me that plants can thrive in all sorts of conditions.  A lot of the flowers I saw were blooming just feet away from busy streets.  I sometimes worry about my plants having the perfect growing conditions, but really they are incredibly resilient.  To quote the fictional Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park (one of my favorite movies) “If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, expands to new territories, and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, ah, well, there it is…I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way.”

So here are a few pictures of the parks I visited.  I'll start with the big one...Central Park!

Next up...Tompkins Square Park

And finally my favorite...the High Line.  These pictures don't really do it justice.  Its such a cool experience to see how this old rail line has been converted into the ultimate urban garden.

http://www.thehighline.org/