The
outing I signed up for with the garden club last Thursday was to the
Mercer Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in Humble, an almost 2 hour
drive to get there, and lunch.
It
was an overcast and sprinkley day but it didn't ever really rain on
us.
Previous
outings have been by caravan and car pooling. Last fall, the club
experimented with renting a bus to cart us all together. We went to
the Antique Rose Emporium then and I never did post about it though I
got some good pictures. Anyway, the bus worked out well even though
it adds about $25 to the outings so we went by bus again this time.
The
group divided itself in two and headed in different directions with
tour guide docents. Well, except for my sister and I. We struck out
on our own.
The
central garden and the color garden was mostly petunias, and while I
like petunias well enough, they aren't something I ever plant, or
rarely. They seemed particularly enamored of the black, or deep
maroon, petunias.
Here's
some of the things that caught my eye.
foxglove
the
bloom on a type of agave (and the picture above)
I
was surprised this little guy posed for me for so long
a
lace tree, which I have never heard of before,
and
it's blooms
little
violas
a
section of the color garden, black petunias in the distance
a
type of banana tree and bottle brush
some
unusual petunias (and more black ones) and Tweedia
caerulea (don't know it's common name)
indian
pink
apricot
globe mallow
don't
know what this is
or
this
the
Renaissance garden
the
concrete floor of one of the gazebos had leaf imprints in it
oak
leaf hydrangea
a
yellow version of the bletilla ground orchid (I think) though my
purple ones bloom much earlier
bird
of paradise shrub
I
hope you enjoyed my little stroll through the botanical garden.
love your photos. hope you and your Sis had a splendid journey in the abundance of beautiful flowers.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics! Our local arboretum has started charging a fee for professional photographers and their description of professional is someone with a tripod. Very unhappy about this development.
ReplyDeleteit's really beautiful! i'd not know most of those blooms.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun trip. You are lucky to have your sister to go with. My father planted petunias every year along the front sidewalk and so I've always been fond of them.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy your little stroll. I am impressed by weed free gardens.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the stroll. Oh, the colors! You remind me I need to plan a trip to the botanical gardens about an hour from here, though our growing season is just getting started.
ReplyDeleteSo exotic! Looks like you could be on a remote island. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteThe lace tree - wow.
Not surprised the lizard posed for you. You have a way about you, you do.
Fabulous.
Foxglove is one of my very favorite flowers. Loved taking this stroll with you!
ReplyDeletePretty. I would have gone out on my own,too.
ReplyDeleteLove all your photos. I too have not heard about the lace tree. It looks good. Foxglove flower attracted me so much!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely area. The true blue flowers are a type of delphinium. Love the lace tree, a unique specimen.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous filled day. curious tree things - love the little lizard! Foxglove grows up here, as you know. in the wild,taller than a five year old child, the blossoms as large as the palm of you hand! When I first came here I felt like Alice!
ReplyDeleteI love gardens and arboretums. I've seen lace trees before and was quite taken with them. The little brown anole is an invasive from the islands. The buggers are all over Florida now. Nothing against them except they seem way more aggressive and prolific than our native green anoles and I fear they will crowd out the natives.
ReplyDelete