~ Trenda
One of our highlights each spring is going to the Azalea & Spring Flower Trails in Tyler, Texas. The brick paved roads on the trail meander through neighborhoods lined with charming and prestigious historic homes and gardens that visitors are “invited” to walk through and are filled with blooming azaleas, Dogwood Trees, tulips, and “all things Spring.” Completing the feeling of “gentler days” and nostalgia, Azalea Belles (young ladies chosen from Tyler’s high schools and home schools) meander around the gardens and greet visitors wearing beautiful antebellum gowns reminiscent of those worn by the Southern Belle’s in the years prior and during the Civil War.
Each spring over 100,000 people come from all over the USA to visit Tyler and the Azalea Trails. Today you can open this “garden gate” and vicariously enjoy a “scroll” through these enchanting gardens. (: All of the pictures I am sharing in my blog today are pictures of people’s homes and their backyards (not parks!) that they so kindly let us “tour” and walk through on the Azalea Trails. The owners of this next home (pictured below) chatted with us and told us that every afternoon they come and sit under this gorgeous wisteria-covered pergola and enjoy a glass of ice cold Dr. Pepper! (:
Leatherleaf Mahonia nestled next to Coral Bells ‘Azaleas’ …
Charming “greenhouse” among the azaleas … 
Beautiful blooming White Dogwood Trees shading George L. Taber Azaleas. 
Stone columns mark the entry to a quaint stone bridge … just the sort-of-bridge that a Troll might live under and 3 Billy Goats would like to trot over! (: 
A bronze statue of a little girl in overalls with a picking basket stands among the Azaleas and Aucuba …
A large jardiniere filled with ivy and a cobble-stoned walkway along lichen covered walls.
Al Fresco Dining at it’s best! “Table for 2?” Yes, please!” (:
Side courtyard …
The perfect spot to read (: … tucked behind a diminutive wrought iron fence, this reader is in “good company” with Angel Wing Begonia, azaleas, and a hedge of boxwood.
A charming basket filled with frolicking bunnies … I would love to hang a basket like this from one of our trees!
Red tulips are particularly striking against a backdrop of wine-colored Loropetalum.
A double hedge of azaleas …
Pine trees tower over brilliant azaleas …
A little cherub greets visitors as they come into the garden.
I hope you enjoyed your stroll along the Azalea Trails today! The last picture I’ve added is a picture of our own Coral Bells ‘Azaleas’ blooming in our front yard at Cottage Green on the Lake! Hope your day is filled with blossom and bird song! (:
From my cottage to yours ~ Trenda
Thank you for spending some time with me today! I love reading your comments and hearing from you! (:
All right, we’re off! First stop … The Secret Garden. The first time our daughter saw this forgotten garden she was only 9 years old. In excitement she breathlessly told me, “Mommy, I found the Secret Garden!” (: We’ve called it “The Secret Garden” ever since. ❤ These yellow roses rambling over a beautiful wrought iron fence are the more common variety of the Lady Banks Rose … and still reflect the hands that once planted and cared for them.
Gorgeous grape-like clusters of Wisteria dangle from the tangled vines within “The Secret Garden.”
Azalea Majestic’s bright magenta buds, blossoms and green foliage contrast beautifully with the texture of the rough landscaping bark.
It’s time to head home. Hope you are enjoying some beautiful weather where you are, even if it is only February! If you are still in the “throes of winter” … I hope these pictures will remind you that Spring is “right around the corner” and soon you will be seeing “adorably lovely Robins” showing off in your own backyard! (:
Cottage Green on the Lake 