Wickham Park Day Trip

With Connecticut's four day heat wave behind us, it was time for my day tripper friends and I to head someplace we had not heard of until just before the pandemic hit. At the Hartford Civic Center's Flower Show last year we stopped at a booth for Wickham Park in Manchester, CT. It looked like exactly the kind of thing we like to do and then life as we knew and loved it came to a grinding halt. Now that we are free to roam about again, Wickham Park went to the top of the list. For more info and history on Wickham Park, Click Here

Entering the English Garden

A knot garden

My favorite pathway was in the Scottish Garden

Can you tell we are entering the Irish Garden?

There are several locations at Wickham that are perfect for a garden wedding

Water features are located in many of the gardens

Comfortable, walkable paths throughout the park

The Oriental Garden has a pond, a bridge, and some noisy bullfrogs!

Linda, JoEllen, Donna, and I went up and over this very steep bridge

Leaving the Oriental Garden, we saw this Japanese Torii gate. In the past, the traditional vermillion paint was thought to ward off evil spirits. Red paint also contained mercury, a preservative that kept wooden gates from rotting. Today these arches are just as likely to be made of concrete.

This is a public restroom with oriental decor and Chinese music playing over a speaker inside. Never enjoyed using a public restroom so much!

Next, we toured the aviary on the grounds...

where a peacock put on a show

The Sensory Garden had beautiful flowers in bloom...

a water feature for sound...

and a way for kids of all ages to imitate frog sounds...

and a Smell Garden

Tall, old growth trees were everywhere...

as well as a cherry tree that really does produce cherries!

This sculpture is found in the Imagination Garden

Look at the size of these now faded allium blooms!

We've done a lot of walking but we're not done yet...

after an uphill climb, it was time for a rest with a relaxing view of Hartford in the distance...

and nearby is another garden wedding spot adjacent to "The Cabin"...

where receptions are held under the tent...

while a gazebo offers more views and opportunities for wedding photos

Next, we meandered through the Lotus Garden...

with lovely landscaping and water features...

and then moved on to the Italian Shrine...

where we were greeted by St. Francis

Linda and I skipped the uphill climb to the Rhododendron Garden, but Donna and JoEllen said we didn't miss anything as the blooms had all faded

Our last stop was the Wetlands Garden...

with raised walkways, scenic overlooks, and more noisy bullfrogs!

It was a wonderful day spent in nature, looking at beautiful plants and flowers, and getting some much needed exercise. If you decide to go, allow half to a full day. There are lawns for kids to run around or toss a frisbee, and picnic benches in the shade for lunch time breaks.

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