A Walk in Cantigny Park: Part 2

Cantigny Park is vast, a whopping 500 acres, therefore I had to write 2 posts about the park. There was a lot to see and so many different types of plants I've never seen before.  On our walk, we saw these Reeds.  I'm not sure what they are called, but they were beautiful.

Here is a closeup of the Reeds.  They felt really soft to the touch.  I would love to grow this in my yard.  Aren't they cool looking?  I couldn't find a sign that identifies these Reeds.  Do you know what these are called?

There was a succulent plant near the Reeds that I really liked called Killimanjaro.  I really want to grow these!  Since these are planted outdoors, I am guessing that they grow back like Sedum?  Do you grow these?  How well do they grow in colder climates? 

The plant that I really loved was in their "Idea Garden".  On the Cantigny website it says that the Idea Garden is a garden that seeks to inspire creativity.  There are more than 300 varieties of vegetables, herbs, shrubs, and flowers in the Idea Garden and it sure was inspiring.  Like check out this Giant Rhubarb.  Wow!!  I wish my rhubarb grew this big!

They had these little pepper plants growing as well.  Not sure what type of peppers these were, they were small plants and very low to the ground.

I'm not sure if they are ornamental or edible peppers.  Does anyone know what these are?  They come in red, orange and yellow color.

I really liked this trellising system that had birdhouse gourds growing on them. 

These are really neat!  Like I said above, I'll have to grow these gourds one day, they are so cute and would definitely make nice birdhouses!

There was a lot of whimsy in this garden.  Check out the wheelbarrow with flowers growing out of it.  Adorable.

And they had this really cute homemade wind chimes.  Can you see what this wind chime is made out of?  How adorable!  This Idea Garden has definitely given me a lot of ideas!

My favorite whimsy item in the garden is this garden border made out of glass beer / wine bottles.  I love this look.

After the walk around the park, we were so tired that we decided to order some food rather than cook.  We went to Portillo's and got some Italian Beef Sandwiches with hot peppers.  Delicious!  A perfect meal for a perfect day!