Lakewood Balmoral Historic District Garden Walk

I think I am going to do more of this. Today we took a self-guided garden tour strolling in the Lakewood Balmoral Historic District which is located in the Edgewater community of Chicago on the north side.

I've spent a lot of time waiting for organized garden walks to be announced.  They are usually sponsored by a non-profit and while some have been quite spectacular, others were a little blah. And...garden walks are most always given around the same time when flowers should be in full-bloom around late June and mid-July. Why? I don't know, because spring has a lot of flowers blooming (see below), and when we did this, just after a rain, we could smell the lilacs, and the leaves were covered with rain drops. Everything was so fresh. I just wanted to stand and stare. Very Zen-like.

These pictures are great examples of urban gardening in a small space located in the front yard, of course: I didn't ring any bells and ask if I could see the back!  But they include the basics of good landscaping: Pretty gates, stone and brick paths, containers with plants that add homey accents to the porches and front entrances.

Notice the freshly painted green gate and the unique brick path behind it.

Flagstone path to backyard, iron edge fencing, antique bricks to the right. Japanese Maple, hosta, white nancy, heuchera, ajuga.

Climbing hydrangeas spreading up brick post.

Notice the pink and purple painted stairs!

Container gardening

Nicely done. Japanese maple in center.

Front yard enclosed by decorative iron gate.