We were promised a weekend of perfect weather and that came true, but with spring break in full swing, an AirFest at McDill AFB for the first time in a couple of years, plus a Pride Parade, all happening in downtown Tampa on Saturday, we were worried about traffic. So we wimped out and the Florida Botanical Garden was our destination yesterday. There weren’t so many flowers, but the scenery was pretty.
Gorgeous weather, high 70’s and low humidity.That must be perfect water lily weather because they looked like they were taking over the world.It’s free to come here and sit quietly and read a book, which is what I saw people doing.Okay, there were some flowers. Light Bulb Clerodendrum with a few pinwheel jasmine thrown in.The bougainvillea are coming back from a cold couple of nights not long ago.There were full trees of bush allamanda.Yellow hibiscus. Yellow flowers took the day I think.I love it when bumble bees land on purple flowers.The lilies were so pretty that I just had to take their picture along the water, but even as I took the picture I knew they really wouldn’t show up.A cardinal serenaded us.Mama alligator, which I might have ignored if people hadn’t been excited to see her babies. I know I’ve been pouting about not seeing babies/chicks lately, but these babies aren’t the ones I’ve been looking for. I suppose their mother thinks they are cute. People said their were three little ones, I only saw two.Here she is from an overlook on the other side of the water. A couple were there looking down into the water, so I pointed her out across the way. “Oh”, they said. “That’s where she moved to. She must have had 65 babies right underneath the overlook the other day.” They were disappointed to hear that there were only three of them.Mirror, mirror on the wall…You might choose to peek through this pretty opening into the wedding garden. We had seen chairs being put into place earlier. But we arrived just in time to see the ring bearer run back to where he came from, and then get picked up by the man who eventually walked the bride down the aisle and deposited into his seat. I wasn’t ready to capture that moment.I was ready for this one though. The first flower girl dutifully throwing flower petals, and the little one racing up behind her wailing away.Then came the bride, who wore a smile almost as big as her dress, which drew oohs and ahhs from our little group of wedding crashers in the doorway. She was followed closely by the photographer who was being paid to take pictures. I think the kids had calmed down by this time.And she joins her groom. If you are wondering about the pattern on her escort’s jacket you are not alone. I can’t figure it out.
Maybe my title of Much Ados in the Gardens should have read much ‘I dos.’ As things do tend to happen, you just never know exactly what you’ll get when you head out to go shooting. So just keep heading out the door, and be sure to take your camera.
Living on the Nature Coast of Florida provides constant photo ops, and I need an outlet to share what I see. And sometimes what I think...
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