Return to Hidden Lake Gardens

My mom did a Pleine Aire contest at Hidden Lakes last Friday (May 12) and so she had to enter her piece on Saturday.  We headed over there so that she could drop it off.  Since we were there, we figured that we might as well look around. 

 The trillium was still out in full swing but I think the pink color means that they are about ready to leave us. 

 I'm not sure what kind of flower this is, but it looks pretty cool.

 Another trillium flower.

 Again, another that I'm not sure of.

One more trillium flower, I kind of like this one the best.

The Hidden Trillium

After catching the ships, I decided to head over to the Hidden Lake Gardens to see if they had any wildflowers there.

 It wasn't particularly busy and I've been wanting to get a picture of this part of the road for a while.  The wall reminds me of something you'd find in a fantasy novel. 

 As I was about ready to get back in the car, I noticed this trillium plant.  It was kind of the side of the hill and I really had to work in order to get the picture.  I don't really like the way it turned out but I'm posting it anyway because of its difficulty.

 This flower was sitting on top of the wall.

 It turns out that I didn't need to go through the effort to get a trillium picture because as I moved through the trails, I found several stands.

 I kind of like the hint of pink in this one.

 But then again, I like this one too.

 I think this one is a violet.

 Another pink trillium.

And one more before moving on.

Hidden Lake Gardens Holiday Lights

When I was at Hidden Lake Gardens a few weeks ago, I saw that they had a Holiday Light thing going for a couple of weeks.  I couldn't go last week but I decided to go tonight.  Basically they had a bunch of luminaries set up on the main hill in front of the vistors' center.  It was cool watching them get the luminaries ready, it was even cooler after they were all lit up.

 I had a little time before it got dark, so I wandered around the area in front of the conservatory.

 I got some pictures of the bulbs before it got too dark.

 These snowmen were pretty cool.

 Then I went inside the conservatory.  They had parts of it lit up.  I really liked this set up.

 One of the bonsai trees.  I'm not sure if they had all of them inside though.

 I'm not about to name the flowers.

 I really liked the candles around this little koi pond.

 I liked the way the had some of the trees decorated.

 I liked the little winding path through this.

 I'm not sure what the Christmas tree was.  It kind of like lichen on coral but I'm not sure.  The cart has poinsettias though.

 some lights wrapped around a birch tree.

 Kind of the view in front of the visitors' center.

 A little snowman shack.

 But the luminaries were the main attraction.  Someone put a great deal of work in these to make sure the angles were right.

 An angle.

 A candy cane.

 Depending on your angle, you got a different effect.  This was supposed to be a wreath.

 A gingerbread man.

 And now it looks more like a wreath.

Some more trees.

A Visit to Hidden Lake Gardens

I decided to head over to Hidden Lake Gardens next.

 The fall colors were mostly out.  The hills made for a nice effect.

 Another side of that.

 I kind of liked the framing for this one.

 Some flowers.

Looking up at the leaves.

Return to Hidden Lake Gardens

I decided to go to Hidden Lake Gardens today.  It has been almost four years since I went there and I think when I went there I probably wanted to get back at some point.  And since it's been this long, it's nice to see what I've learned over the years.

 I'm not sure what many of these flowers are, so for the most part, I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking.

 Some lily pads.  As I was driving through, I found a couple of pictures.

 I kind of like this shot.

 They have roads that allow you to explore the area pretty well.  I may have to come back to check some of the trails.

 I'm assuming this is the Hidden Lake.

 And the water lily.

 I had to take a few pictures of it, because it was so nice.

 A snapping turtle.

 The turtle made me decide to get my bigger lens.  That allowed me to get some closer shots.

 I'll have to say that I'm pretty happy with them.

 A beetle.

 A closeup of the beetle.

 Some pine cones.

 The Conservatory itself.

 And of course, there were some cacti.

 I kind of like these.

 They had a pretty nice selection of Bonsai trees.

 I think this is a lotus flower.

 At any rate, it looks pretty nice.

And one more before leaving.