Category: Nature Coast Botanical Gardens

'scene' along the way, a second look, attention to detail, bugs, Florida landmarks, flowers, gardens, life goes on, making memories, nature, Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, perseverance, photography

A quick trip through the botanical gardens…

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I had to go to the bank the other day, and since it’s practically next door to the Spring Hill Botanical Gardens a stop seemed in order. But, unfortunately, the butterflies weren’t very plentiful while the no-see -ems certainly were. Consequently it was a quick trip, but not so quick that I didn’t notice all the changes that they have been making at the garden. First of all this sculpture, which is in progress. At the base of the wing you see a disruption in the tree trunk, which I’m sure is why the tree was sacrificed and this sculpture is being made. A beautiful solution. I hope it will be finished the next time I’m here.

Not everything was new however, just seemingly rearranged enough to make it look new. Namely the castle in the feature photo, I hadn’t ever seen it from that side before. I liked that picture.

I love this little scene and take a shot of it every time I go here, but I never sit down.
I suspect that this is a moth, they only flying insect that posed for me.
Just one of a few angels…
Looking for dew on the flowers…
This little scene is one I wish I could walk into and sit a while.

By this time my ankles were so itchy that I was ready to leave. I need to actually use the bug spray that is always in my car, but I forget it’s there. I’m hoping that the hot weather will let up soon, it has been keeping me close to home for a while now. I shouldn’t complain, soon we will be enjoying the weather that drew us to move to Florida in the first place…

'scene' along the way, a second look, butterflies, flowers, gardens, Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, perseverance, photography

Model trains…

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Not too long ago I was at the Nature Coast Botanical Garden when the model train was running. The conductor said that his grandchildren were coming soon so he had to hurry up and finish his work on the train village. I think he did a great job. And the last time I was at the botanical garden the shrubs had just been cut back, so there were very few flowers and not so many butterflies. My how things have changed in a few weeks.

The village is next to the waterfall these days.
And this little house along side the waterfall looks inviting.
I love the church garden.
The flowers are lovely.
And so are the butterflies.
Cactus buds reaching for the sky.
This one is past it’s prime.
A natural bouquet.
I must be drawn to pink flowers.
And lastly a zebra butterfly, there were many of them.
'scene' along the way, a second look, Florida landmarks, flowers, fun, gardens, life, making memories, Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, perseverance, photography

Purple flowers…

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Purple flowers weren’t always my favorite, but purple and black were Charley’s high school colors, Mt. St. Joe in ‘Bawlmer’, and then when we got a football team after a long stretch without one, tough for a town like Baltimore who supports its teams, purple and black turned out to be the Raven’s colors, too. So when we moved to Florida Charley wanted only purple flowers in the yard, and I guess it rubbed off on me because that’s what catches my eye these days. I’ve been seeing photos of flowers lately, and I guess that’s what gave me the idea of going to the Nature Coast Botanical Garden today, and my first view didn’t give me a clue that there had been so much pruning going on in the garden. But once I was inside I saw all the trimmed up plants and knew that it will be a lot more colorful in the coming weeks. But it was beautiful, and there was a surprise in store.

There were lots of amaryllis everywhere I looked, not purple but gorgeous.
Shady, cool paths draw you in.
The train tracks have always been there, but on a Saturday you have a chance of catching them running the train. The conductor says his grandchildren will be visiting soon and he has lots more restoration of the village to complete before they get here.
It’s a work in progress. The train is heading for the tunnel. There is a post with a button that the kids can push to hear the train’s whistle as it passes through the town.
There are not one but two waterfalls that the train travels around.
The landscaping and plantings look freshly done.
I waited for people to walk over the bridge to take my shot. Another pretty spot in the gardens.

I will return before too long because there is a nice butterfly garden here also, and in a few weeks the flowers won’t be the only colorful photo ops here…

adventure, bubbles, childhood, fantasy images, fun, gardens, Just do it, just imagine, let it go, life goes on, moments, Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, perseverance, photography, silliness, simple things

Float away with me…

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Float away with me to a magical world…

Where down maybe be up, and up may be down, and blue bottles grow on trees…

To a place where seashells aren’t always found by the sea.

You might wave to your neighbors as you float by.

Where tiny bees buzz…

And ladies don’t always wear the colors you might expect.

Float away, it’s time to play…

Leave your worries for another day…

a second look, butterflies, fantasy images, fun, gardens, nature, Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, perseverance, photography, simple things, weather

Fall in Florida…

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There has been lots of fall foliage in my Facebook feed lately, but mostly from New England and Michigan. And just today my Facebook memories reminded me of the trees I used to see on my way home from work that I used to claim as fall color, Florida style. So today I rode up to Spring Hill to find the trees, and then headed to the botanical garden to see what was blooming.

I think the color of the trees disappointed me a little, it’s more brown than red. I think that the glimpse of those trees that you see behind houses, or hidden among other trees, always seems to be brighter fall colors. But when I haven’t been up north for a while it feels like fall to me.

The botanical garden was a surprise today. It was early and the flowers were plentiful and loaded with water droplets, and butterflies.

That orange butterfly must have been hungry because he let me get a lot of photos of him. And one photo was straight down on his back, and when I viewed it blown up in the computer all I could do was say, “Boo!” Halloween will be here soon…

And while I was zooming and cropping I loved these droplets too!

a second look, butterflies, fun, gardens, life goes on, nature, Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, perseverance, photography

The good sport…

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This butterfly is the last of the pictures I took the other day at the botanical garden.  He was last because he teased me the entire time I was there, zooming past but never lighting anywhere for long enough for me to get a picture.  Maybe he wore himself out because when I was ready to leave he showed up and stayed put.  I took pictures immediately, even though it wasn’t the best angle for taking a picture.  But facing away from me as in the feature photo we can see that he seems to have been through some hard times.  A big chunk of his left wing is missing, both top and bottom.  I doesn’t seem to have slowed him down any though.  And he hung around long enough to let me circle around him for some different angles for photos.  What a good sport he turned out to be after all.

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