You’re scratching your head over the title – I’ll explain that later, so bear with me, okay?
This week’s Photo Challenge is “Plant Life in the Great Outdoors” and in Michigan, by mid-June it is easy to find some pretty flowers to photograph. Sadly, it was not going to be happening in my yard, even though I reached out to a local landscaper in early March about reconfiguring my backyard and getting a butterfly garden planted. They acknowledged my e-mail and promised to get in touch when they opened up after their Winter break; I’m still waiting. I stewed over that a bit … “should I contact them again and ask ‘did you forget me?’” In the end I was defiant about not doing this, plus the long-term meteorological predictions for sizzling Summer heat began to surface, so I tabled the butterfly garden plans until 2025, declaring “if I want to see butterflies, I’ll go to Heritage Park or Memorial Park. Pfft with having my own butterfly garden – been there, done that already and it was a lot of work!”
So, in search of beautiful blooms, Your Roving Reporter did the next best thing and headed up to Heritage Park and did some double-dipping, i.e. one long walk for two upcoming posts.
I plunked my wide-brimmed sunhat onto my head and, with camera in hand, I got in a five-mile walk on a delightfully sunny day while gleaning lots of photos for both the virtual Fish & Loaves 5K AND bopping by the Botanical Gardens and Woodland Trails gathering shots for this “Plant Life” post. Whew!
I enjoyed seeing the early bloomers.
I was amazed the Gardens were looking so good for June 1st – even some of the perennials were blooming. The Cottonwood tree fuzz was flying and was embedded in some of the flowers.
In the Conservatory area there was a greeter, so I stopped to take his picture.
The metal openwork feature of the Conservatory cast a shadow on the paver bricks.
There are a hundred or more paver bricks dedicated to deceased loved ones, or honoring events or achievements – there are lots of paver bricks awaiting inscriptions. I suspect some are dedicated to the many volunteers at the Gardens as quotations like these would fit a flower lover to a T.
While wandering around the Conservatory area, I paused to photograph the prettiest potted plants first and this is where my featured image and blog title originated.
This stunning flower is a Begonia known as Bossa Nova® Pink Glow.
I am going to date myself by saying that upon learning the plant’s name I immediately thought of the song “Blame it on the Bossa Nova” a tune from the early 60s by Eydie Gormé. The Bossa Nova was a dance. I remember the song from my past – did my parents listen to it? Was the tune turned into a commercial? Most likely I heard it on the TV series “Mad Men” – I can’t tell you that, but it’s kind of catchy, so if you click here to listen, please don’t blame me for the resulting ear worm.
So, I “blamed” Terri’s Challenge “Plant Life” for my visit to the Botanical Gardens as I usually don’t wander over here until much later in the season when all the flowers are at peak, but this beautiful Begonia Bossa Nova® Pink Glow had me dredging up this decades-old song for my blog post title.
Here are a few more of the pretty flowers and/or plants displayed around the Conservatory that day.
A bonus glimpse of critters at and near the Woodland Trails.
Along with my original intention to see and photograph some beautiful blooms for this week’s post, I assumed on such a hot, sunny day, surely I would find some delicate winged creatures to accompany the flowers in this post.
So, were hummingbirds humming?
Were bees buzzing?
Were butterflies dancing and hovering amongst the blooms?
No, no and no!
However, once again, I was graced by the presence of multiple escapees from Heritage Park’s Petting Farm.
Now, not everyone goes tripping along these newish Woodland Trails located near the Woodland Gardens (where I took photos of the Dogwood, Crabapple and flowers for my recent “Pretty in Pink” post). It was peaceful and not only did I get several mosquito bites in record time, but I gleaned some fun shots too
I was lured by the crowing of a very loud rooster, which I suspected was inside this woodsy area and not where he belonged at the Petting Farm.
I let my ears be my guide on the mulched paths and sure enough, there he stood in the dappled sunshine of the woods …
… along with his peckin’-and-scratchin’ girlfriends.
After our little photo session, I stepped over to the “Rock Lounge” in case any more critters were lurking there.
When I returned to the pavilion area of the Gardens, I found these three domestic ducks that similarly decided to escape the confines of the white wooden fence and sample life “outside of the pen!”
The Three Musketeers were enjoying a ducky day, having ducked beneath the lowest fence board and having made a run, er … waddle for it.
The trio of ducks made me decide butterflies, bees and hummingbirds are just so yesterday and luck was with ME, who didn’t have to pay the $5.00 entrance fee to the Petting Farm when all the critters seem to stray beyond there.
I still had the historical area and surrounding Coan Lake to photograph for my Fish & Loaves virtual 5K, so I will leave you with this artwork featured at the Conservatory entrance because we need more peaceful thoughts.
I am joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills Photo Challenge: Plant Life in the Great Outdoors.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
The Conservatory area has some lovely pants and flowers. The walk in the summer sun was nice and finding some chooks doing what is natural was a bonus
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Walking around the Conservatory I imagine is the same as you walking in your backyard Brian! You do have many more exotic plants though. They will have more tropical plants and perennials as the Summer progresses. I learned a new word “chooks” … they do like wandering around the woodland area, as do the domestic ducks. It’s the first rooster sighting there though.
I don’t know if you have Guinea Pea Fowl, but I was at this park a few years ago, nowhere near the Petting Farm and four Lavender Guinea Pea Fowl were running around together and they were loud. The Farm was alerted and someone came to “fetch” them and did so by shaking a bag of grain and the four birds ran over and followed him back to where they belonged. 🙂
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A 5 mile walk, impressive, Linda. Glad to have inspired you with searching for plant life. You found a bonanza! The begonia is so pretty.
After I comment, I’ll go back and listen to the Bossa Nova on my phone. Off hand, I can’t remember the tune, but I know the name. No doubt my parents played it on the radio in the 60s.
I liked the park area with the memorial bricks. We memorialized my mom in 2020 at a park area near where she lived. It’s nice to walk through there when we visit San Diego.
I also wanted to say that having your own butterfly garden would be a lot of work. I can barely keep up with my petunias! Probably best to visit those gardens like you did and leave it at that. Hope you have a great week!!
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Terri, I have not walked as much this year, surprising since I am now retired. I have to catch up to reach my 1,257 mileage goal by year end. This week, with the exception of two storms, it is cooler and I have to make up for my poor mileage this past week.
That begonia does not look like any of I have had in the past – just stunning with its color. I will be going back there the end of July when all the perennials are in bloom. Butterflies are scarce this year – I’ve only seen Cabbage Whites. We have another beautiful public garden and I’ll go there for sunflower pictures in late Summer.
I like those paver bricks with inscriptions too. That’s a nice way to honor a loved one.
I agree as to the butterfly garden. I planted my perennials back in 1985 and decided to expand the garden in 2010 to include three butterfly bushes, plus butterfly houses, sunning rocks and puddle dishes – it was great, but the butterfly bushes alone required daily pruning. I lost everything in the Polar Vortex the Winter of 2013-2014, even the well-established perennials planted thirty years before. When I had the downed wire fire, I lost the entire back garden, lilacs mostly, some evergreens. Over the Winter I decided to have another garden, then I think not now. Between the groundhog, opposums, raccoons and whatever in my backyard, I’m no longer comfortable working out there. Best to leave the hard work for younger folks than me!
You enjoy your week as well!
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This is such a welcome delightful post, Linda! As fas as the title I knew you would be leaning into one of Terri Webster’s prompts, but never heard of Bossa Nova, even though I am very close to your age and I recognize the begonia.
Actually, I believe it is a blessing that the landscaping company did not call you to put in a butterfly garden which is really too much work to maintain. At this phase of our life, so much other important things take our energy, attention, and time. My mind often wants to recreate what I had in my younger years, but I must remind myself that I’m not that youthful strong energetic person anymore.
Yes, I understand that you want your home and grounds to be beautiful. And I believe that it can be! But I’m hoping that a low maintenance, low cost, landscaping will appeal to you, different than before, and another landscaping company that might be worth looking into this summer.
Your photo of the rose and the Shasta daisies had me pause to enjoy their beauty. I’ve never met a rose that I didn’t like. I could smell the scent of the rose. Although I know that I truly was not smelling it. I know it’s fragrance so well, my memory brought it to me. Wild!
I love your story! And the line “along with his peckin’-and-scratchin’ girlfriends.” That roster and chicken just brightened my day!!
And the three escapees, a winning lottery!
Now that ending of your post put a tear in my eyes “Find Peace from Within”. I must make it my mantra for the rest of my life!
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Thank you for your comment TD!
The song came to me when I learned the name of this begonia. I have only seen small, more compact, types of begonias before, not this beauty.
It took me all Winter to make a decision on the garden – should I embark on a butterfly garden and restore the yard to its former beauty or get grass or bushes? It looks bad out there due to where the back garden completely burned from the downed wire fire and I never replaced any of the perennials, nor three butterfly bushes lost in the Polar Vortex the Winter of 2013-2014. I had to cut down the two trees that DTE hacked up the day following the fire. And my yard is small, so the treecutters could not remove the stumps … so that looks unsightly. But the landscape company would have had that job, re-doing all the perimeter gardens as the wood has rotted … I made those gardens in 1985, lugging wood, dirt and mulch in the back of my Pacer. So it probably is for the best. I don’t like what I see in the yard now – my neighbor says he sees raccoons, I see possums – caught two of them in the backyard and there was the groundhog with its big burrow. I don’t like messing around with dirt and planting things knowing those critters are out there. I also catered to the birds back then with birdfeeders, bird block and four birdbaths … that’s all gone now after a new neighbor in 2008 brought us rats, so we hired a pest control service and never fed/watered the birds again.
And what you say is true – we had much more energy in those days … I used to spend every weekend out in the yard, from May until I put the garden to bed in November. I can’t even start on hobbies now as I have stuff to get done first, then when will I do those hobbies if I spend all the time in the garden? I did that when working full time, working in the yard and dong other things and still read, watched TV … I see time zipping by every day now.
I like roses too TD. I started with tea roses on one side of the backyard. I found they took forever to bloom, then died and you waited forever for new buds, so I removed them and planted shrub roses. When my mom passed away I bought three climbing roses which I ordered from Jackson & Perkins called “Stairway to Heaven” along with an umbrella trellis. I spent time and a lot of money on those roses and they were prone to black spot. I was constantly spraying them with fungicide so I finally removed them and planted a hydrangea, then the groundhog ate all the flowers last year.
I like the art sculpture and always try to take a photo of it when I go to visit this venue. The other side has a saying for those who are no longer with us.
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Thank you for sharing your gardening stories! I have done so much gardening in my younger years too and I enjoyed it then. Yes, there are other things that we want to focus our time and energy on now! We’ve done those enjoyments and now it’s time to focus on other things.
I spent this day cleaning Lucy’s area which is a room 12 x 25 that was the original back porch which some previous owner of the property enclosed to make it part of the house. Because of the congestive heart failure condition, I can only do about 20 minutes of work movement of my body, then I need to rest for about 10 minutes. So just one room to clean it took me all day! But it is done now and I feel good that I accomplished that!
My mom used to advise me to clean one room a day then the next room. But now I’m advising myself one room a week will have to be good enough.
I think you might remember that I don’t have any landscaping as I paid to have it all removed when I purchased the property four years ago. I have two 50 year old oak trees that I had professionally trimmed. I only have grass, a mix St Augustine and Bermuda and I pay a man $40 to mow when I need it done which is about once a month. I like it! I’m not trying to impress the neighbors or anyone really, not even myself. I do have to rake and bag leaves twice a year and that is physically challenging for me! I can’t find any one to pay to rake and bag, as they just want to use blowers to spread it all over the grass because it’s quick but not healthy with that thick of leaves for the grass. Funny what people won’t do (even for pay).
Keep thinking about something that is low maintenance and low cost for your backyard. I’m sure that you will come up with something that will be comfortable for you!
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TD, Barbara (Rodgers) suggested awhile back (shortly after I lost everything in the back garden due to the downed wire fire and I was pondering what to do) that I should put in arborvitae along the fence line. I had intended to do that, but put the butterfly garden in raised beds or in the existing perimeter gardens (also bare now, partly from the fire). I guess I will contact them next year, but for something simple, not for the garden to the extent I had been thinking of.
A Facebook friend of mine posted a story today about climate change that really knocked my socks off. I know how warm it is getting and I agree and believe in climate change, but the article’s author, paints a very dire picture. The author was Bill Nye, the Science Guy. I really didn’t like his dire predictions.
I now will have nearly a year to plan ahead – maybe contact someone about the stump removal too. Thinking of removing big bushes too. I don’t like the idea of all the wild animals in the backyard … that freaks me out just a bit and I don’t really don’t like that idea that they are using the bushes for cover. They are not going to be out there the same time as me, more so at night, but they carry germs, etc.
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This stunning flower is a Begonia known as Bossa Nova Pink Glow. I much like.
wow so beautiful photos. Excellent photography. Beautiful thoughts.
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Thank you Raj – that was a pretty flower, especially the vibrant color. I like the sayings on the paver bricks and also on the artwork in the Conservatory.
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Most welcome, Linda, Yes,I like the paver bricks and also on the artwork.
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The best thing about summer is all the lovely flowers! They love the heat and humidity, even if we don’t. 🙂 I love those daisies. The Woodland Trails look so lush and green and inviting, except for the unseen mosquitoes. 😉 It’s not every day one sees a rooster in the woods and those ducks are so pretty. The petting farm animals are real escape artists, aren’t they? The “Find Peace from Within” sign is beautiful and very apt for all of us these days. Thanks for sharing this very peaceful walk.
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Glad you liked this peaceful walk Barbara. The daisies and roses were the only perennials out and both looked very good that early in the season. The potted plants were so vibrant and I’d never seen that type of Begonia before. My first sighting of a rooster – ever, in the woods or otherwise. He was so loud! Before 2024, whenever I go to this park, I always cut through the grassy area where they have the fenced-in Community Gardens (where people pay for personal garden plots to grow flowers or veggies and also people doing community service raise produce for Fish & Loaves Food Pantry). However, I am reluctant to do that now due to the abundance of ticks we have due to our warm Winter. So I have to go the long way around to avoid the grass. Every time I pass the Petting Farm now, that rooster is crowing. It does make me laugh that those animals keep escaping to go to the Gardens or historical part of the park. I like that sign too – in fact you can buy it online. I always thought it was created by an artist for the Gardens, but I found the same artwork as featured and it has four sides … the other side is about those who have left us.
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“So, were hummingbirds humming?
Were bees buzzing?
Were butterflies dancing and hovering amongst the blooms?
No, no and no!”
The same thing is not going on around here. I’m usually enjoying hummers, bees, and butterflies about now, but nary a one. I like your photos of flowers.
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Sad, sad, sad Ally. I’ve seen a bee here and there, no hummingbirds and only Cabbage White butterflies – there are lots of them. I follow a macro photographer who lives on the edge of a forest and for years he has posted the beautiful butterflies he sees. He says the same thing … last week finally he had a butterfly post, but it’s more like bees and fungi these days. I’m glad you like the flowers – they had a lot of blooms considering it was only June 1st!
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I haven’t seen any hummers yet either. Not sure if they don’t like my choice of flowers or have found a better restaurant to nosh. Sorry your yard won’t get done with year but I agree it’s kind of hard to do now. Maybe in the fall. BTW I would have called again. Sometimes they (legitimately) lose phone numbers.
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Kate, I just commented to Ally that I’ve still not seen any hummingbirds, bees or butterflies (just Cabbage Whites) since that day (June 1st). They usually like the heat. It took me all Winter to decide to do another butterfly garden, then he dashed my intentions. I admit I should have called back, however, when I reached out to them on their contact page. I got a response right away and the owner said he printed out my request to give to the designer to contact me when they opened in the Spring. I decided to follow them on Facebook thinking they might post “hey, if you contacted us, could you reach out again”, but nothing.” I also wanted the side of the house redone too, although I could have done that 25-foot garden myself – just removing the black vinyl retainer, putting in a small retaining wall, landscape fabric, mulch and flowers – I figured rather than having everything delivered and plunked in the driveway or side of the house and breaking my back doing it, I’d have them do it. I’m not happy how things look right now outside and the bird deterrent is the icing on the cake!!
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That side job sounds like a lot of work!
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You know it is a lot of work Kate … I redid it about three or four years ago, but left the black vinyl in there, but ordered 35 bags of mulch and split them between the front garden and that side. I was so tired of hauling the bags from the back patio to the front, I didn’t care how it looked but I thought the bags would be easier than a load of mulch on the driveway in case it rained. I was like a cartoon character doubled over … I decided I didn’t need to use my garden cart to haul them around … that was my first mistake!
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The “rock lounge” looks inviting and a little mystical. I wish the fence wasn’t right behind it, to create more of a look of being way out in the forest. And for all the reds and whites in your flower photos, my favorite is the purples, whatever those are. Nice day for a five-mile stroll!
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You’re right Dave, plus the “rock lounge” looks more like a set from The Flintstones. 🙂 The Woodland Trail is fairly new and it is not all that dense. The densest part is where the rooster and his lady friends were. That is the Petting Farm wooden fence in the background and there is no way to shoot around it so it looks like I happened upon the “rock lounge” in the forest. The Botanical Gardens has trucked in mulch for the pathways, so it is more of a created woods, than a natural area. The purple flowers are pretty and they are Campanula. I had them in the garden before and as a house plant years ago.
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I always feel sad about your garden but it’s true that you could have something beautiful but lower maintenance. I want flowering bushes and trees. For some reason my peony bushes never get any bigger. I think people mowed them down at the end of the season for too long and they gave up trying.
On the other hand! How wonderful to have a place to wander and enjoy the flora and fauna. Where the petting zoo comes to you! I wonder if they make an attempt to find those chickens or if they’re smart enough to go home to roost where it’s safer from the less friendly fauna.
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I feel badly too Zazzy – in fact my next-door neighbor cut down every bush in his backyard (like that Wisteria I mentioned to you with your artwork), some Magnolias and a gorgeous Weeping Mulberry. He went on a tear last Fall doing that, then he suggested I do that to be like him, i.e. primarily for avoiding groundhogs, opossums and raccoons seeking refuge in the backyard. I thought “well that’s going to look terrible.” However, he has been buying a rose bush here and there, some perennials and when I went out this morning there were five or six hanging baskets he got yesterday. It looked gorgeous … my house, looks bare and unloved, back and side.
It IS too tempting to just abandon the idea altogether when I have three or four places where volunteers take care of beautiful flowers. The Emily Frank Gardens at the Trenton Cultural Center is about six miles away and they have a whole crew of volunteers (a/k/a “Garden Angels”) that plant/grow produce behind a big red barn for the local food pantries and also maintain a huge garden adjacent to a farmhouse which takes up a large part of a city block. They have volunteers solely for the moon garden, the butterfly garden and the children’s garden and one volunteer’s job is to maintain the Koi fishpond. It is too tempting to just visit and forget about having my own.
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When you listen, deep within yourself. What do you want? What do you need? Not what does your neighbor want or what does a well meaning friend think you should have. What do you want? At the core of you, what do you need?
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You do give me cause to pause to answer … I go back to dwelling on what I dwelled on all Winter, before I contacted the landscaping company, likely after I went out back and shook my head over how bad it looked.
I DO want to have a beautiful garden again, something I enjoyed in the past, albeit more than a decade ago now since I lost the butterfly garden in 2014 when Spring arrived, but everything had died. I still have the butterfly houses, sunning rocks, puddling dishes … all that is “move-in” ready for the butterflies, now three hummingbird feeders (not even up this year due to either too cold, too windy or too hot – no shade anymore in my yard thanks to the trees being cut down).
But, I’m not sure what niggles at me the most … is it “can I handle all that work and still try some of the hobbies that I’ve put on hold until 2025 to try to contain the clutter inside – do I have time for everything: walking, photography, blogging, then incorporating drawing/painting (leaning toward drawing), learning French (as I loved it when I took it for years, but I don’t think I will ever travel, though I would like to) and maybe picking up the guitar my parents bought me in the late 70s (because I wanted to be like the people in the Creative Department at the ad agency who got together for an impromptu jam session, but my guitar teacher only wanted to talk about himself and his band so I quit him) and self-teaching myself how to play?
I think of all the books I’ve bought the past few years, plus more in Rubbermaid tubs downstairs that my mom read but I have not; I haven’t opened one of them and I’m retired almost three months.
But most of all these days I think (and worry about) this weather. Last week with torrential downpours – twice in one day, “build-an-ark-type rains and today we had another torrential downpour – a couple of hours’ worth and lightning and thunder to accompany it. We have another storm in the next hour or so. When I had my butterfly garden, I had yard art all over as I’ve mentioned before … I painted and decoupaged a chair and milk stool to match the house. I had a rocking chair and put an oversized Raggedy Ann in it … all to make the yard look nice, inviting. So every time it was going to rain, I’d run out and put everything away – into the garage. My mom said I was crazy. The weather worries me and what it would do to a garden – after all I lost everything in the butterfly garden due to a Polar Vortex. But years ago, I was at a farm market and bought about a dozen small mums to plant. Planted them the same day – the next day we had a bad storm and they all got root rot, over-saturated with rain and they died. I think about that too.
So I don’t know what to do … I wrestled with the decision all Winter. Yesterday when I went out, not only did I notice my neighbor’s beautiful hanging baskets all over the front and back yard, (all which put my house to shame), but I noticed his Magnolia bush out front (he let that one live) was in bloom. This is the third time it has bloomed this year … people scoff at the notion of climate change … Marge planted that Magnolia bush and the other two in the backyard in the 90s … they bloomed once in late April/early May … once and done. This is not right. It’s been blooming multiple times a year for about five or six years now, definitely since she has been gone (August 2017), or she would have mentioned it to me in an e-mail/message. I always think of climate change happening the year she passed away – I don’t recall anything specific before then, but on December 3, 2017, it would have been her 80th birthday and I remember people were stringing up Christmas light, putting up decorations in shirtsleeves … not normal.
What would you do if you were me?
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It’s not about me, Linda. Don’t let someone tell you what your heart wants. Don’t let them tell you to be sensible.
The one piece of advice I have is find a different landscaping company.
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Yes I guess I should not have asked you as a final thought … I have a good nine months to dwell on it some more. But this time I will at least have someone come out, maybe this Fall and see what I can do to restore some/all of the beauty, then ruminate over the Winter. After all … I have a turtle that is looking to escape to the great outdoors.
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I’ll help you dream if you like. Just don’t adopt my dreams unless you really want them.
I want hydrangeas. Big ones. And wild and crazy lilac bushes. I don’t think I have any pictures of that house. And Azaleas in many colors. I want dogwood trees and maybe crab apples and a ton of those harbingers of spring – tulips and daffodils and lillies and crocus. I don’t want grass. I want violets to spread between the bushes and trees. And I want little fairy houses perhaps some turtles and hedgehogs. Could they live outside there or do I have to settle for the artificial variety? I want a comfortable rocker and some citronella plants to help keep it comfortable. A table for my tea, big enough for two. And a friend to visit.
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I do like all of that Zazzy! I have screenshots of what I wanted that I kept through the years and in those screenshots. there actually was no grass, there were mulched paths and raised gardens. I love hydrangeas … I have only one though – it is called “Twist and Shout” … depending on the soil acidity, it either turns pink or blue. Mine is blue (or was until the groundhog ate the blossom last year). I do have a turtle (as you know), actually two turtles – I have a small green cement one my mom bought for me. I have a ceramic frog and … I have calico chickens. The calico chickens I never used. There are three of them and they are metal and all different types of calico prints. I bought them years ago from Gardner’s Supply because I wanted to make a country-type garden at the side of the house. I had a child’s white rocker with a basket of flowers on it, but I also had a large Raggedy Ann doll to sit in the rocking chair as well. I have a few Precious Moments statues as well. The Crabapple and Dogwoods at the Botanical Gardens are gorgeous … I would not mind those either. I had some yellow lilies years ago – they were bright beacons in the yard. And I lost a Lilac tree and bush in the downed wire fire. I liked the ideas that you filled my mind with.
A couple of times I have gone to a butterfly walk at a woman’s house the next city over. She has an amazing yard, just like you dream of. She has a Koi pond too. Once a year she opens her yard to butterfly enthusiasts and they gather to take photos or just see all the perennials with butterflies around. She has a lot of yard art too. The price of admission is to bring one item that can be used for an animal shelter and she posts the list. I usually take a six-pack of paper towel or paper plates. She started doing a second butterfly walk just for Monarchs, but then COVID arrived. Her yard is beautiful.
[I’m sorry I did not reply earlier – I had some internet trouble last night after about 8:30 p.m. and it was very slow when I got on so I’ve rebooted a couple of times.]
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I have two posts of the flowers and the yard art below.
The last time I went to Verne’s Butterfly Walk was 2019, the year before COVID. Here is the post and her beautiful backyard.
And before that it was 2017, also a time for raising funds for multiple animal shelters and the plight of abused animals:
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What a wonderful walk! You are so right, butterflies, hummers and bees are so last year. Giggle.
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Yes, very pretty Dawn and I’ll be back there when the perennials are at peak, maybe in July. I have another virtual 5k at that park. Yes, it’s not every day you go to the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and see a rooster and his gal pals. 🙂
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I’ll skip the ear worm, but enjoy the flowers and critters…and your cute narrative.
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Thank you Eilene – I’m glad you enjoyed it. P.S. – Good thing you skipped the earworm!
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That looks like a great outing. How nice the Petting Zoo came to you! Like Eilene, I’ll skip the earworm… I already have too many of them roaming around in my brain.
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Yes it was Janis – an abundance of flowers for so early in the growing season. I like having a visit from the Petting Farm animals – no strings attached! A few years ago the Lavender Guinea Fowl wandered away from the Farm and were strutting around – they are very odd looking birds and the four of them were running in unison, squawking their heads off the entire time!
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You are so darn fit Linda, it is like it isn’t even exercise with all the nature pictures you take. The flowers were so gorgeous!
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Thank you Diane! I will tell you that I am losing walks, right and left. This Summer has been horrible … like today, it was going to be a severe weather day, so I didn’t go out. The severest weather headed south, so no hail, high winds, but we had torrential rain that lasted a couple of hours along with thunder and lightning. And sometimes when I check the online weather in the morning, it seems it is either going to rain, a thunderstorm or 30 mph wind gusts. I will have to bulk up on my miles in July, that’s for sure. The beautiful days have been few and far between. We did have one yesterday … and a couple later this week. I’m glad you liked the flowers – I thought you would since you love gardening and flowers. I will go back in July when the perennials are at peak and I have another location I go to as well – I’m going to go there for sunflower shots in August.
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I enjoyed every flower, Linda. Isn’t it amazing, not only do most of us never tire of viewing real flowers, even pictures of flowers bring us pleasure! God sure let his creativity shine when he made summer blossoms–so many colors, shapes, and sizes!
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Thank you Nancy – I am glad you enjoyed these beautiful flowers. We have another display of beautiful flowers called the Emily Frank Gardens in which a woman left a farmhouse and a barn which have been turned into almost a work of the art – it was very peaceful to go there. I am holding off visiting that venue until the sunflowers arrive.
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