Fall In The Garden
Monday I met two girlfriends down at the University of Utah's Red Butte Garden. I've been to plenty of summer concerts at Red Butte, but it had been years since I'd actually visited the botanical garden itself. I'll make sure that much time doesn't go by again! Literally 30 minutes door to door from my office in Park City, I was surrounded by the lush and serene environs of the botanical garden, the foothills of Salt Lake City as a backdrop. All of us working women with deadlines, we managed to quell the Monday nerves by making time for a quick walk through the herb garden and shady arbors, marveling at the black-eyed susans, lavender, toadflax, chokecherry and hundreds of beautiful plants, flowers and ornamental grasses before settling into a little table surrounded by trees. Fallen acorns crunching under our feet, we enjoyed our picnic lunch and girl talk about relationships and jobs and family and how the herbs in the bread of our tuna sandwiches made all the difference.
One of my friends lives in Salt Lake City, and makes it a regular habit to bring a book to Red Butte, sit on one of the wooden benches surrounded by flowers and read. The other friend, a Park City local, marvels at the variety of plants at Red Butte that simply won't grow in Park City at our high altitude and basks in their lushness. Entrance to the garden was an oh-so-affordable $6 for a delightful feeding of the soul. We were there one hour and I felt my head clear, my senses awaken, my heart rate drop and my imagination soar.
Although it's mostly a quiet place to walk, observe and contemplate, Red Butte Garden has plenty of activities and events coming up soon too, including their Bonsai Club Show September 25 - 27; the Native Plant & Bulb Sale the same weekend; the Utah Orchid Society Show November 7 - 8; and the annual Garden After Dark Halloween extravaganza October 22, 23, 24, 26, 29 and 30. Fall is a great time to visit Red Butte Garden, because the heat is gone, there's plenty still in bloom (when our Park City gardens are fading) and the fall foliage will be spectacular. Visit our local treasure at redbuttegarden.org, or better yet, in person.
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Kristen Gould Case is editor of Park City Magazine and a freelance writer who publishes nationally. Weaned on the blue ice slopes of New England, she moved to Park City 23 years ago and hasn't looked back.
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