Where is Gibbs Gardens?

Gibbs Gardens is in Ball Ground, Georgia.  It is about ninety minutes from Bold Springs. Upon the advice of Ed Springer, we took off for Cherokee County.  The gardens are a part of the private residential estate of Jim Gibbs and his wife.   It is one of the largest residential estate gardens in America.  

After graduating from the University of Georgia, Gibbs started a landscape company in Atlanta.  He spend six years looking for property to build a world class garden.  He designed 24 ponds, 32 bridge crossings over the wandering streams and 19 waterfalls. There are 16 total gardens including three feature gardens--Manor House, Japanese and Waterlily.  Jim took thirty years developing the gardens which have been open since 2012.  

Paths twist and twirl through multiple fields of over 20 million daffodils in more than 100 different varieties.  These range in color from yellow,  gold, orange, pink blush, white and cream.  Gibbs gardens offers a tram service through these gardens for those who aren't up to walking the 220 acres. The season for daffodils normally lasts from mid March to the first or second week of April.  This year, our tram driver told us--the flowers bloomed earlier than usual. Most were gone by our visit, but enough remained to indicate that spring has indeed arrived!

Crepe Myrtle all trimmed standing tall at attention like soldiers

Delicate green leaves--love that color

I was quite taken by these curly spikey growths but clueless as to their name...any ideas? 


Joy