Orchids

Orchids come is so many shapes and sizes. Aside from being interesting as flowers - they tend to remind me of other things.

My favorites are the slippers. See the pink one in the upper right - with the rounded toe and plush padding with long ties for around the ankle. And what about the green on the upper left with a more pointed toe. The lower left has the most pointed toe. And finally the white ones on the lower right - bridal slippers.

Next come the ruffles and frills…wrapped into shapes that can be trumpets or cornucopias. The edges of these petals remind us of party dresses and café curtains. It’s the edges that make the flower.

The last grouping reminds me of aliens…with full skirts and wild headdresses and appendages. Many of them grow in groups so the figures appear as if lined up for a parade (see the white ones in the middle left below).

The pictures were taken over the past six months at Brookside Gardens in Maryland and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Enjoy!

Brookside Gardens Turtles

Back in mid-March we had some very warm days here in Maryland and the turtles were very active in the pond at Brookside Gardens. Some of them still had a layer of mud on their shell from being buried in the silt. One hauled herself out onto the rocky shore and surveyed the scene. Have you ever noticed that turtles have no chin and that their eyes protrude? It gives them an ancient look.

This turtle was one of the larger turtles in the pond and had an entourage following her as she swam near the surface. Was she climbing onto the shore for a few moments of solitude?

It was not to be. Soon there was another turtle headed for the same rock.

With great effort, he pulled himself out of the water.

Are they posing for a picture or sending us a message that they want us gone?

Do they look more annoyed here in profile - as they turned to get back in the water?

They slipped back into the water and, presumably, continued their spring-time games.

Brookside in Early April

There was a Camellia Show at Brookside Gardens this past Saturday. I enjoyed walking through it and taking pictures. There are a number of aspects to the flowers that I was trying to capture: many yellow stamens, vein patterns in their petals, varying colors of the petals, and the slight variations of the petals themselves.

Many of the ferns had already unfurled with the earlier warmth this spring but there were still a few fiddleheads.

The tulips are also most their prime so I found myself looking at the color variations in their petals - like the purple and white below. And then there are other springtime flowers - Jack-in-the-Pulpits, wisteria, dogwood, azaleas and other bulbs. Spring has sprung!

Frosty Tulips at Brookside Gardens - April 2012

We had a frosty morning yesterday (April 3rd) here in Maryland and the tulips at Brookside Gardens still held the misty crystals when we got there. Enjoy my collage of pictures below…along with a rather scruffy looking robin.

The azaleas are also beginning to bloom at Brookside although not quite at their peak just yet.

April Celebrations

April is just about here. What is there to celebrate? Here are some ideas:

Wild Flowers. This is the time of year that many wild plants bloom; hikes to photograph then are a beautiful way to celebration spring. Don’t forget the flowering trees as well - dogwoods and redbuds are my favorites. Information about the wild flower festival in Smokey Mountain National Park can be found here. The one in Shenandoah National Park is planned for early May but the program schedule is already published and could be used to plan your own hikes in the park in late April.

Kites. March is the month most associated with kites but many communities hold kite festivals into April and early May when it is a bit warmer and still breezy.

Palm Sunday on the 1st, Good Friday and Passover on the 6th, and Easter on the 8th.  Observe the days in April that sustain your spiritual health.

Gardens. Formal gardens are greening in April too. Depending on the area of the country - there could be rows and rows of tulips or iris just getting ready to bloom of camelias. This time of year orchards are quite beautiful as well - full of blooms. Just as with the wild flowers - noticing the unfurling of spring is a great way to celebrate spring time.

Spring Break. Some schools have already taken a spring break…others have it early in April. A mini-vacation before the sprint to the end of the spring semester is always welcome. Celebrations can be as simple in a picnic in a local park on a warm day. In many parts of the country, showers are frequent in the spring so have a backup plan for if the day turns rainy and cool (or cold!).

Earth Day on the 22nd. Some communities have celebrations or festivals associated with Earth Day. One in my area is at Brookside Gardens.

Amaryllis

Two amaryllis bulbs were blooming in the Brookside Gardens Conservatory recently. I enjoyed creating a series of macro photos of both plants. The buds and flowers are quite large so the detail of the coloring is visible.

In the red flowers - I particularly like 

• The veins that carry the color (middle picture and upper right)
• The curves of the petals and buds (lower left and upper right)
• The green at the center that extends up the underside of each petal (upper right)
• The ruffling of the petals near the center (upper left and center)

The white flowers are more nuanced. In this series notice

• The pleats and puckering of the petals (lower right)
• The dots of red against the white (two lower photos)
• The extension of the green center to the tip of the petal’s underside (upper right)
• The sunlight through the petals (upper left)

Brookside Gardens Conservatory - Feb. 26

Yesterday I posted about the outdoors part of our walk around Brookside Gardens and Nature Center. Today the post is about the Brookside Gardens conservatory. As always it was a lush, moist stroll.

The banana palm has a bunch of green fruits and the bird-of-paradise is blooming. I photographed them so many times before that I focused on other plants this  time. The colors nestled in the greenery were a delightful contrast to the browns still outdoors.

Colors that blend and mimic sunrise/sunset...colors that are delicate and hint at fruit to come...luxurious purple. Petals delicate and sturdy - some that look like dragons that can snap or start out like folded oragamy papers or unfurl to flutter individually from their interlocked bud.

And then there are the plants that point their flowers downward...to the side...or upward to soak in the sun.

The conservatory always has something worth seeing. 

Brookside Nature Center and Gardens - February 26

It was cool but sunny at Brookside Gardens and Nature Center in Montgomery County Maryland today. The nature center held a Maple Sugar Festival...complete with tasting of the clear sap from trees as well as ices made with the finished maple syrup. The contrast in sweetness between the sap and the syrup is pretty dramatic. The day should have been good for sap dripping into the buckets on the trees (cold nights, warmer days) but none were dripping while we were there. The event was well attended; we were fortunate to find a close in space in the parking lot for the Gardens visitor center. 

There are the beginning of spring in the garden with some fruit trees blooming...and the very early blooming bulbs (snowdrops and crocus). Lenten roses are blooming too. Daffodils are starting but now near their peak. The tulips have barely sprouted. At this time of year the shelf fungus on fallen trees is particularly noticeable because there is no foliage to hide it.

I'll post some photos from the Brookside Gardens Conservatory later in the week. It was a great day for for an early spring photography outing.

Rose Bouquet

A dozen roses wrapped in cellophane and tissue paper…or maybe in a large crinkly glass vase with a florist's bow.  I like the ones that: 

• Are the colors of the sunrise. There are so many colors to choose from and it is not even necessary to use a florist; larger grocery stores have a selection.
• Smell like roses. This is more challenging. Somehow the breeding for beauty and durability has reducing the fragrance in most cases.
• Start out as slightly opened buds and then unfurl. The partially open flower is the most beautiful to me but I also like the flowers to unfurl and drop their petals so that I can scatter them in a favorite flowerbed.
• Have healthy stems. It is always a disappointment when the stem begins to bend just a few inches below the flower - either from the weight of the flower or because of some damage to that part of the stem. I cut the stem past the flower end of the bend and float the flower with its shortened stem in a bowl of water.

They are a welcome occasional gift; I’d not appreciate them as much if they were bought too frequently. As it is, I get them once or twice a year and they act as a spark to remember the event.

I like roses on their bush even more. I enjoyed a trek through the rose garden in Tyler, Texas a few years ago even though it was a very cold morning (and I did not have a coat with me). And the rose garden is one of my favorite parts of Brookside Gardens….but that will be another post and will have to wait until the roses start their 2012 blooming.

Brookside Gardens Conservatory - Feb. 1

The conservatory at Brookside Gardens in Montgomery County, Maryland is a warm moist building full of plants that need protection from winter. It is one of my favorite plant places, particularly when the plants outdoors are still mostly dormant from the winter. Yesterday was warm enough to enjoy outdoors but the plants were still braced for winter….so the conservatory was the place to get the ‘green plant’ fix. One side of the conservatory was somewhat in disarray…not quite recovered from the model train exhibit that is always there for the winter holidays. Even with that work going on, the conservatory is a mass of greenery. There are orchids and bananas and bird of paradise; there is even a corner of cactus. The water trickling through and the smells of lush vegetation make this a place to savor. Enjoy my photos from yesterday!

 

Pictures from the outdoor part of Brookside Gardens posted here.

Brookside Gardens on Feb. 1

It was a sunny, spring-like day in Montgomery County, Maryland - a perfect day for a walk around Brookside Gardens. Crews were out trimming trees and taking the holiday lights off bushes and trees. The beds of bulbs were covered with nets to keep the squirrels at bay. Enjoy the photos from my walk. I’ll share photos from the conservatory tomorrow.

Lacy and wonderful even after exposure to the winter cold. This kale actually looks better now than it did earlier in the season.

The only tree blooming profusely....doesn't this scream 'spring time'?

I've been taking pictures of this shelf fungus growing on a stump since last fall. I love the green in it.

Soon there will be loads of daffodils but there are only a few this early. These were in a sunny but protected bed along one of the forest paths.

Brilliant colors...before the leaves appear.

Like the kale - the nandinas have been through the winter and still look beautiful.