September 16, 2021

Brookside Gardens in September 2021 – Plants

September 16, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

Of course – the plants are always a big draw for a visit to Brookside Gardens – never an exception to that. I did a landscape shot of the garden area the hummingbirds come.

There was a plant in that garden with various stages of flowers that captured my attention while I waited from the hummingbird.

I never was able to find the hummingbirds perched in the magnolia even after I saw them fly into the tree…but the tree’s developing seedpods were good subjects too.

There was hibiscus blooming in a big pot to the side of our position.

Turning around – I tried to capture the colors in the castor plants – leaves and seeds.

It was beginning to get a little hot, so we walked toward some shade. I was glad I had my water bottole in the back pocket of my photovest. I can easily shorten the monopod for carrying or keep it extended to use as a walking stick. As we walked toward the rose garden – I took a zoomed picture of a datura flower. I liked the white color…gentle curves.

Maybe I was a little fixated on white since I photographed white roses as soon as we got to the rose garden.

I opted to sit on a bench in the shade under the wisteria arbor and took the rest of the photos of the morning for there! The zoom capability of my camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS) is one of my favorite tools. I love to experiment. As I zoom beyond the optical zoom, the images tend to get a softer focus (for example, the very magnified underside of a rose below….which is my favorite flower picture of the morning).

And that was (another) enjoyable field trip/photography session to Brookside Gardens!

August 23, 2018

Outdoors at Brookside Gardens

August 23, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

I try to take a few minutes before each shift volunteering at Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy to walk around outside in the gardens. There is a lot going on in August. I am featuring some of my favorite things I noticed and photographed in this post.

Button bush and cone flowers and sunflowers – with and without bees.

Joe Pye Weed in bloom…very popular with the tiger swallowtails. One morning I photographed a dark morph female with several of the yellow and black versions.

Monarchs are more prevalent in the garden than they were earlier.

I can never resist checking the gingko tree near the conservatory. I like the way the leaves look outlined in gold of the morning sunshine.

s 20180813_IMG_3151.jpg — The sumac is a plant I am tracking this year. I recognize the seed heads but want to capture how the seeds develop. This will take me further into the fall since they don’t look like they’ve changed too much during this month.

There are always a lot of funnel spider webs in the low pines around the conservatory….and sometimes the spider is visible.

2018-07-30-Brookside butterflies-001.jpg

There are several kinds of datura in the garden.

I had never nptoced what the seed pod looked like before.

2018 08 IMG_3229.jpg — Some of the trumpets hang downward and I appreciated that the screen on my new camera can pivot so I can see what the camera is seeing when it is point straight up! I’ve always wanted to photography the unfurling flower.

The bald cypress has the scale insects like it did last summer but seems healthy enough to survive. The cones are beginning to form.

c 2018 08 IMG_3218.jpg — The cannas are beautiful this time of year. Some are producing seed pods.

This is the view from the ticket taker table for Wings of Fancy. I ended up doing the job when no one had signed up for it….a last minute change of plans.

There are milkweed plants close to the entrance to the caterpillar house and there are often insects on the plants other than caterpillars. When there are no visitors in the area…I roam around and take pictures; more on the caterpillars tomorrow.

December 06, 2017

San Antonio Botanical Garden – Part 2

December 06, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

Like most botanical gardens, the San Antonio Botanical Garden is segmented. The Kumamoto En Japanese Garden was probably my favorite: the water feature surrounded by plants and rocks, a mockingbird scolding us (wanting the garden to himself), a sun and moon ‘lantern,’ and stepping stones for going off the trails.

The Sensory Garden was colorful and included sculptures (like the armadillo below) that were positioned to be touched.

The Fountain Garden included ‘Christmas balls’ floating in the water and a metal flower sculpture surrounded my greenery.

We came a garden that attracted butterflies. I managed to photograph Gulf Fritillary and

Queens.

2017 11 IMG_6691.jpg — I’ve always wanted to get some close-up Datura flowers and seeds…and there was a plant that was well positioned for that!

Two little surprises in the gardens: a design made with pumpkins under some trees and

A chess set in the well of the amphitheater.

2017 11 IMG_6728.jpg — There was a special display of scarecrows while we were there – created my local organizations.

The garden has several areas that talk about the various water situations in Texas: Hill country, East Texas, and South Texas. It was more rustic than other areas of the Botanic Garden.

We didn’t see very many birds – but I did manage to photograph a hermit thrush in a tree (right off the trail in the East Texas part of the garden). I was pleased since I am rarely fast enough to get a good image of forest birds.