Cheers for a Gloomy Day

Summer sure is not going out in a blaze of glory around here. It's cool out, typical to season, but cloudy and rainy. Gloomy. With the dreadfully hot summer we endured, we weren't really treated to beautifully-blooming gardens bursting with color or lush green grass. Now, with Fall making its entrance tomorrow, I feel like I am missing flowers... Missing the Summer that lives in everyone's mind... perhaps a reminiscence of childhood... of riding bikes, playing in the sprinkler, watching mothers in the garden... Of being just plain outside, with nature, allowing ourselves to simply breathe and be. Enjoying beauty on the most primitive and fundamental scale. Nature. Creating memories, not aware of it at the time, but fleeting instances which would be recalled in adulthood.

Today, to brighten myself up, I bring out some photos of Summer - and of the blossoms and general beauty I did see... These photographs were taken at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. As you can see, lushness and the vibrancy of life abound. (I'd hate to know what their water bill was this summer!) They have multiple themed gardens (rose, perennial, herbal... you get the idea) and a spectacular Thai Pavilion, from Thailand itself as a gift to the city. It is the only such pavilion in the United States and one of only four pavilions in the world outside of Thailand - indeed a very special piece of architecture. The gardens are fastidiously maintained and are extremely well done. In fact, Olbrich Gardens is rated by Horticulture magazine as one of the top 10 most inspiring gardens in North America. Well worth a trip. Visit their website here. I could go into detail about the pavillion as there is quite a bit of interesting history to it, but it can best be read on Olbrich's site here.

So farewell Summer, Bonjour Autumn. May you bring beauty into our lives.

Oh, and by the way, aside from cropping, my photographs are not Photoshopped in any way. Although it is a common and accepted practice for many, I am against it in that I prefer to have my work be the result of my own efforts and not a computer program's. With Photoshop and other programs, anyone can be a star photographer. I'll leave the false perfection to those who feel it is needed and strive to achieve perfection on my own... always a work in progress.

Enjoy the beauty... Cheers!

This is a multi-colored pepper plant... Count the colors!
Yes, that's all one plant, I promise.



The Thai Pavilion



Light streaming through large, delicate ferns



Butterfly resting on milkweed



Swallowtail on butterfly bush



Awesome orange zinnia



Let's go to the circus... this dahlia looks like the big top!



Did this dragonfly's wings get dipped into gold?



Waterlily

Water captured in the middle of a bromeliad



A tiny lavender blossom breaks the surface of this reflection inside
the pool of water caught in this bromeliad



Light streaming through gigantic tropical leaf...
Notice the swirling design within the veining...

 



Sunlight hitting the water lilies




Not sure about the name of this flower... I just could not pass up
its color and shape. Truly exotic and wonderful!