Last Sunday was a gorgeous day. Just the right balance of sunny and breezy, warm but not hot. The rhythm of our lives – and the peculiarities of the weather swings in our neck of the woods – rarely offer such perfect opportunities to go out and explore, but the stars were aligned on the day, and off we went to visit a place called Deep Cut Gardens, less than half an hour drive from where we live.
Only a week prior, we were in a different part of the country visiting friends, and I did all of the photography via my mobile phone – the output was rather dissatisfactory (more on that in a future post), so I very purposefully took my enthusiast-grade camera along on this most recent excursion. Here is a selection of photos from the lovely oasis that is the Deep Cut Gardens.
The first attraction is the Display Garden, a compact set of flower and vegetable beds in the botanical-garden style.
It appeared fairly sparsely used, although not without eye-catching features and fragments.
A couple of award-winning vegetables enjoy dedicated signage.
Beyond that, there are gorgeous flowers in all parts of the garden grounds.
The next attraction is the Bonsai Display, exhibiting several dozen miniaturized trees and shrubs.
In the greenhouse that is standing next to the bonsai, one section is chock-full of various species of cacti.
Large sections within the defined Deep Cut boundaries are pure parkland, while Tatum Park, which is part of the Monmouth County Park System, sits right across the road from the gardens.
The pièce de résistance of Deep Cut grounds is the Rose Parterre.
We came to the garden relatively early in the morning, and, customarily, I removed strangers from the above perspectives. There were just a few at first, but closer to noon, people started to arrive in larger numbers, partially on account of a ceremony that was apparently about to take place in the Pergola at the far end of the rose garden. And even then, the place did not feel crowded.
Elsewhere, there are various water features and plenty of benches to park yourself and enjoy the surrounding tranquility.
We have lived in this part of New Jersey for over a quarter of a century, and I first learned about Deep Cut Gardens literally the morning of this excursion. Goes to show that there are always fun places to discover right under your nose, even when the preference is to travel far and wide in search of interesting locales.