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A mystery topiary, a really big tree and talking with the expert.

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Continuing on with our exploration of the Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, we left the garden proper and strolled past the house.

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Which was lined with impressively trimmed shrubbery.

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Sadly the home is not open to tours…

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But there’s a big porch with comfortable chairs where you’re invited to sit.

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We opted for a bench under the shade of a giant tree.

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The lawn slopes down to Narragansett Bay, where we spotted another topiary.

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A rather oddly shaped topiary that my husband and I pondered greatly.

I said long legged turtle.

He said hunchbacked manatee.

What say you?

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Walking back around the house we saw some ornate wrought iron and walls in much need of scraping and paint.

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On the other side of the house… a truly magnificent tree.

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A grand old gentleman who no doubt had outlived many of the home’s owners.

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Husband, for scale.

We were so impressed by the tree we asked one the attendants how old they thought it was…. which was when he directed us to the resident expert of all things.

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This charming young lady of 91 actually worked on the estate as head housekeeper for the last living owner. She had some wonderful stories about the place and informed us the tree in question was over 150 years old.

She lives right up the road and walks down to the gardens every day to help the docents …. as well as socialize. She told us she was quite unhappy with the current crew of topiary trimmers. The policeman was too fat, the giraffe was too short and the goose looked like a duck.

Knowing we were talking to the authority, we asked what the mystery topiary down by the bay was supposed to be.

Not a turtle. Not a manatee.

It was a bear.

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Wow.

No wonder she’s unhappy…

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24 thoughts on “A mystery topiary, a really big tree and talking with the expert.”

  3. Wow. Very interesting and a lovely place.
    Had I been looking and wondering what that topiary was. I would have said the same as you. A turtle.

    (Please delete my other comment. I can’t believe what came up there that I typed and did not see until after I hit publish comment button.)

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