There's Beauty Everywhere!

If you ever have cause to visit Charlotte, I strongly recommend that you take the time to go to Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary. Although it covers only 3.5 acres of land, Wing Haven manages to have a rose garden, a children's garden, an herb garden, 3 pools, 3 ponds, a fireplace, a woodland area, multiple fountains, and too many plants for me to list here. The designers of Wing Haven, Elizabeth and Edwin Clarkson, wanted to attract songbirds when they built their house, in the 1920s. Over time, they attracted a variety of wildlife and did everything they could to nurture their little biome, including taking injured animals into their home until they were well enough to live outdoors.

The entirety of Wing Haven is still attached to the Clarksons' home. What began as their private garden eventually became a place for bird lovers to visit and for elementary-school students to learn about the relationship between plants and birds. This is what is most charming about Wing Haven: it is still located in a residential neighborhood in the middle of Charlotte. On our recent trip, we had to pay close attention because there aren't big signs or billboards leading you there. It sneaks up on you quietly, looking like any other house on the street. To enter the gardens, we had to first enter the Clarksons' home (preserved as it was when they lived there) where a volunteer greeted us, asked us to share our name and address and to pay the $6 entrance fee, and gave us a brief history of Wing Haven. We were then led to the Education Building where a 20-minute video about the Clarksons and Wing Haven was showing in a perpetual loop. After the video, we went outside and entered the gardens through a gate. 

What I saw from the outside did not prepare me for the beauty and serenity of the gardens, themselves. I could hear very little of Charlotte inside the gardens and I forgot where I was, until the path led me up to one of the brick walls over which I could see a neighbor's house. All throughout the gardens, there are marble blocks with quotations carved into them placed among the brick paving stones. There are also several statues of religious figures and some plaques with quotes from the Bible. I loved the scents and the colors, but my favorite part was the sounds of the birds.

My daughter, who had been protesting this outing, became more interested as we walked along the paths and eventually said that it was, "sort of cool." She particularly enjoyed the chipmunks, one of whom let us get very close as it filled its cheeks with seeds from a platter on the ground. This is another unique thing about Wing Haven -- the wildlife is fed. Apparently, the birds eventually became so accustomed to the Clarksons that they would perch on their fingers and eat from cups they held in their hands.

When we lived in Illinois, we visited the Chicago Botanic Garden regularly and I spent some very happy days there with our older daughter, during our summer vacations. But after having visited Wing Haven, I think I prefer something smaller, more intimate. Or, maybe I'm just getting old and thinking how nice it would be to have a lush garden in my own backyard, where I could become familiar with the birds and chipmunks. The whole experience has made me wistful.