The Hoosier State is a nickname for the midwestern state of Indiana. I’ve lost track of just how many times Papa and I have traveled through there over the course of our 47-year-long marriage.
When we lived in Oklahoma and Kansas, traversing through Indiana was on the way back to our home state of Pennsylvania to visit our family and friends. We zipped through Indiana usually only stopping for meals, gas, or maybe to spend the night at a hotel.
But as far as sight-seeing, that just didn’t happen until our road trip west last summer. On our way back home, we trekked through the Hoosier State and found some worthwhile surprises.
Today on our Tuesday Tour, I’ll begin to showcase an eye-pleasing “trail” we found quite unexpectantly when we opted to stop at a visitor’s center in Elkhart, Indiana.
Every year, Elkhart County sports a colorful display of Quilt Gardens along its “Heritage Trail” from May 30 through September 15.
Three creative aspects – quilting, artwork, and gardening – are used to form amazing flower gardens sporting more than a million blooms designed in quilt patterns and hand-painted quilt-themed murals located at various places throughout the county.
Every year, volunteers plant the gardens on May 30 using a different pattern than the year previously. The gardens become more vibrant and lusher as summer progresses.
Since I’ve always been fond of quilts (my mother was an avid quilt-maker) and both Papa and I love viewing flower gardens, we eagerly picked up a map showing all the locations of the 2023 gardens in Elkhart County.
We spent several hours driving to county communities (Bristol, Elkhart, Goshen, Middlebury, Nappanee, and Wakarusa) to view as many quilt gardens as we could, and it proved to be a memorable experience.
There were 16 gardens and 21 murals available to view during daylight hours. Fortunately, since it was summer daylight lasted long enough for us to make the 90-mile long loop.
We started our driving tour of the quilt gardens at the Ruthmere Mansion, a lovely 1908 former home called the “Jewel of Indiana” now a museum housing historical and art collections and open to the public for guided tours and events.
It was closed when we arrived, but we primarily came to view the quilt garden located on the east lawn of the estate.
After parking, we walked along the sidewalk admiring the architecture of the mansion and the conservatory greenhouse.
The quilt design used to plant the garden was inspired by artwork found inside the museum, a parasol with pink flowers painted on the ceiling of one of Ruthmere’s bedrooms.
Parasols were a popular fashion item during the Victorian era when they were used not just as accessories but also to protect ladies’ skin from the sun. Some 19th century parasols are on display inside the Ruthmere mansion.
So, it seemed natural that Ruthmere’s quilt garden design would be The Parasol displayed in white, dark pink, light pink, black and light green.
For those of you who are gardeners or just love flowers, the flowers and plants used in The Parasol were: Super Olympia White Green Leaf Begonias (white); Cocktail Tequila Rose Bronze Leaf Begonias (dark pink); Super Olympia Pink Green Leaf Begonias (light pink); Ipomoea Blackie Potato Vines (black), and Ipomoea Floramia Limen Wedge Potato Vines (light green).
The lovely flower garden enhanced the beauty of the mansion quite nicely and we were off to a great start on the Heritage Trail’s Quilt Garden Tour.
This year (2024), the quilt garden’s theme at Ruthmere is Discovery in Bloom. I’m certain it will be just as spectacular and will draw a lot folks to view it.
Next week I’ll highlight the second quilt garden we enjoyed.
“Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together, drawing them from their homes.” ~ Clare Ansberry
©mamasemptynest.wordpress.com 2024
Mama's Empty Nest 
This is fascinating. I’ve seen plenty of barns decorated with quilt patterns, but I’ve never even heard of a quilt garden. I really don’t enjoy formal gardens, especially those constructed in the English tradition, but this is something different. Using cultivars allowed for some interesting color combinations; now I’m wondering if you found any that used wildflowers.
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We managed to visit almost all of them, I think. And I’m going to show them to my readers in the days to come. I can’t remember if any of them used wildflowers. What fascinates me about these quilt-design gardens is every year the designs change. I’d love to go back again this year and see the different ones. When we were there, it was early June so some of the gardens weren’t fully blooming quite yet. I imagine by September they are just even more beautiful.
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I have to say I’d never heard of a quilt garden. I like it!
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I wondered if you would find it interesting. And there’s more to come as we visited almost all of the quilt gardens along that “trail.”
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