AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

Here comes another garden tour. Can you believe how many I have been on this year? However, this one was not in England and not in Seattle. It was in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. On our way up to the Seattle Fling, avec trailer, we pulled into a friend's driveway for the night. We had skipped through Steamboat last year and never even gave it the time of day. Nice main street. Little did we know what we had missed. I'm so glad we got the guided tour this time. Knowing full well how much I love gardens our host made the first stop at the Yampa River Botanic Garden.

My dream rock garden. Just look at all that color. See what that cool, clear mountain air does for your garden.

The garden was created to ' encourage the enjoyment, conservation and study of the native plants of Colorado.' Rather like our own Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Funded entirely by membership, donations and endowment. There is no entry fee.

Most of the plants are perennials and must survive on the little summer rainfall. Precipitation comes in the winter in the form of snow, about 15' a year.

The air is thin and sunshine very bright. Plants must adapt to this. They seem to have done a fine job.





I don't think my yarrow is ever as bright as this.



Native to North and South America, we saw many varieties of penstemon.





You can see we are both all smiles after spending an hour walking round the garden.

We then went down to the Yampa river to look at the springs which gave Steamboat its name. French trappers who came through there in the 1860s heard this chugging sound which they likened to the sound of the boats on the Mississippi River. It was the sound of steam from far below, which would erupt in a geyser. The geyser no longer blows having been interrupted when the railroad came to town. Instead there are pools of sulfurous water and this clear pool bubbling with CO2.

We then took the short hike up to Fishcreek Falls, where the falls were in full spate. Just another example of why fly-fishing has been a disaster, so far, this year. We then went to visit our friend's daughter who has a small acreage ranch in the area. We visited with her horses and dogs in a lovely setting. I could live here, I thought, until I heard how much snow they had last winter and how it reached the bottom of the upstairs windows. Our stay in Steamboat was brief but very enjoyable.