Out and about: Arboretum

[bironic]

Yesterday Dee and the wee Laundrys and I went to a couple of parks in the area. One, Glen Morgan Echo, had an unexpected mix of woods and carnivalesque remnants of decades past. There was also this butterfly, which the littlest Laundry made sure to count to three for before I snapped the shutter.


(click for bigger)


She and I saw Star Trek after dinner—her first time, my second—and I think I did like it more the second time, although I'm still not very happy with it. More on that another time; I don't want to put spoilers in this unrelated picture post.

Today I ventured out on my own. It was a toss-up between the National Gallery of Art and the National Arboretum, and since the weather is so nice, I chose the Arboretum. Started with a relaxing tram tour of the grounds, walked around the herb gardens and a special exhibit called "Power Plants" with samples of plants either being used or being considered for alternate energy sources, wandered through a beautiful international bonsai exhibit, ate my little packed lunch in the picnic area beside examples of all fifty states' official trees, and finished up with a hike into the Asian gardens and dogwood area. Pretty. By then it was on the uncomfortable side of warm, and I'd just about run out of water, so I came back. And here I am. With pictures:


































One of the trees in the Japanese garden had wonderful peeling bark:





I had no idea how much I was going to love the bonsai area. There were all kinds of exotic-looking trees (and familiar trees turned exotic because of the size and shape) pulled and pruned to exquisite balance. These pictures don't do the art justice.

















Inside, there was a special exhibit on blossoming bonsai. I have to say, I liked the non-flowering ones more. Because the plants are so small, the blossoms overwhelmed them; they looked out of proportion. The blossoms also covered up the intricate twisting branches and tiny leaves. This one was nice, though:





Beside the bonsai were stone sculptures; often found rocks with evocative patterns or shapes, arranged together to make a landscape, or set alone, like this one, shaped like a bag of rice:













 

Comments

[yevgenie.livejournal.com]

Beautiful photos! :D

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It was a really nice park.

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

My Dad had a bonsai garden in front of our house when we were growing up. I used to love helping him repot and trim the trees every spring. Bonsai is a lot of work, but the results are sure beautiful!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I like seeing them on display in parks and museums -- none of the work and all of the enjoyment. :)

[bell]

I love the sharpness, colors, intensity of these photos. Looks like it was super-sunny. :D

[bironic.livejournal.com]

It was! First sunny day since maybe last Monday, and into the 80s too. Little too hot for me, but I was glad for the sun at the park.

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! The freckled fish and that poppy and those sunflowers against that blue sky are so beautiful. And the grove of tiny bonsai maple trees is just amazing.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

There was a koi pond by the visitors center, and a young mother was tossing pellets from a coin-operated machine so her baby could watch. They all crowded over and splashed around trying to get some of the food.

I love those mini-maple trees so much. So much.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oooh, bonsai! You (I) just want to put teeny-tiny models of people around them for no very good reason *g*. And the photos are wonderful.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Some of the stone landscapes did have little figures -- boating in the "water" between rock formations, etc. *g*

Thanks!

[roga.livejournal.com]

You met the little Laundries! That is so cute :-)

Photos are really beautiful.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I should start calling them the Laundrettes, except I watched My Beautiful Laundrette over the holidays and hated it so there's a bad association there.

Thanks! I thought of you in particular with some of the barley shots I attempted.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

how gorgeous! where is this?

[bironic.livejournal.com]

It is at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.: http://www.usna.usda.gov/

Very pretty.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I've done a lot of traveling but I've never been to DC. I should check it out, I've always been interested in history and politics.

[purridot.livejournal.com]

The arboretum looks fantastic! I just love gardens. (I am not really the uncultivated wilderness type). I went to a seminar last week about how to grow bonsai -- fascinating.

I melt at koi ponds! I even have a koi pond app for my iPhone to relax me when I am tense :D. We used to have a koi pond. The neighbourhood cats used to come look at it (but the fish grew too big to be caught, so there was no danger there). However, this being Canada, the fish had to come indoors in the winter. My dad put them in a tank in the waiting area of his law office. However, one of the fish found this too stressful and (apparently) tried to commit suicide by jumping out of the tank, to the panic of the waiting clients. But he was rescued and the tank was moved to a quiet area of the office. However, my dad, who has a heart of putty, worried that they were unhappy so he gave the fish to one of those big corporation-type places that had a huge fountain/koi tank in their building.

Er, what a long boring story.

ANYWAY I hope you seek out the arboretum whenever you are feeling stressed. It looks so peaceful. Now I want to go for a walk in the park!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor suicide fish. One of the little goldfish in my mom's dentist's office once threw itself over the edge, so that my sister and I found it all dried up on the carpet. Also a guppy in my own fish tank once took a dive, but I'm pretty sure I found it in time and put it back in.

You are welcome to come with me to the Arboretum any time you like. :D