The Italian Garden at Biltmore

My friend and I paid another visit to Biltmore a few days ago. Just because it's in the mountains doesn't mean it was cool. No, it was a hot day and I almost melted. We walked in front of the house and toward the gardens.

I loved these two beautiful pots filled with plants.

First, we visited the Italian Garden. This series of three water garden pools was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead in the late 1800s. When the Vanderbilts lived in the house, they used this space as an outdoor room. It's very elegant with statuary and beautiful water plants of all types.

Waterlilies

Baby bull frog

We saw several of these tiny, baby bull frogs and also some still in tadpole form.

Another view toward the house. Here you can see the shape of the pond.

Tropical water lily

View away from the house.

Waterlily

Koi

 I loved watching this beautiful silvery-white koi fish. It was huge. The ponds contained a few dozen fish.

Lotus

These ponds were almost filled with lotus plants and they were just starting to bloom. I have a pond and would love to grow lotus but haven't been able to. You will also see a dragonfly at the bottom of the above photo. I love all the wildlife around ponds.

Hope you enjoyed this little excursion to the Italian Garden at Biltmore. :)

Vonda
www.vondasinclair.com

My Brave Highlander: Battle-hardened warrior Dirk MacLerie isn't who everyone thinks he is. He's Dirk MacKay, heir apparent to the MacKay chiefdom and Dunnakeil Castle on the far north coast of Scotland. When he returns home after a long absence, will his clan know him and will the duplicitous enemy who tried to murder him twelve years ago kill him in truth this time?

Lady Isobel MacKenzie is a beautiful young widow betrothed to yet another Highland chief by her brother's order. But when her future brother-in-law accosts her and threatens to kill her, she is forced to flee into a Highland snowstorm. When she runs into a rugged and imposing man she thought dead, she wonders if he will turn her over to her enemy or take her to safety.

Dirk remembers the enchanting, dark-eyed Isobel from when he was a lad, but now she is bound to another man by legal contract—an important detail she would prefer to forget. She wishes to choose her own husband and has her sights set on Dirk. But he would never steal another man's bride… would he? The tantalizing lady fires up his passions, testing his willpower and honor at every turn, even as some of his own treacherous clansmen plot his downfall.