Return to the Peony Garden

So yesterday I went to the peony gardens because I heard that the flowers were blooming.  I checked it out about a week ago and it was not blooming then.  As I got there, it was busy but it wasn't as busy as in years past, so I stopped.

 It's always nice to see the peony gardens because there is a nice variety of flowers and colors.  I think I caught it at just about the right time this year.

 I think some of the flowers here are over 100 years old.  Well not the flowers but the plant that the flowers are on.  It would be a shame if we lost them.

 I think this kind is my favorite.  It looks the closest to being a flower.

 This was another of that type.  I think this one might be on the way out.

 It seems like many were just coming into bloom.  Which is funny because I think this is about the same time I caught pictures of these last year.  I do know that the time I have to get pictures of these is pretty fleeting.

 I'm always amazed and how many different flowers can be considered as peonies.

 I love it when there are some other colors mixed in.  I like to think that they are doing some crossbreeding.  But it may be something as simple as the bees moving some of the genetic material around.

 I love the pink highlights on this one.

 I took the picture from a different angle.

 I like these from a different angle as well.

 Another one.

 Sometimes its nice to pull the camera out.

 One with some subtle pink highlights.

 I really like this flower.

 I think this is another one that is fading on me.

 A pink version of that flower.

 Another pink flower.

 I kind of wish I knew the differences because I think all of these have different names.

 I kind of like this one with the bug in it.

 A pair of flowers.

 Another pink flower.

 Getting that from a different angle.  You can notice a little striping in the flower.

 And another angle.

 I think this is another new one.

 And a different angle.

 One of the ones that I like but it appears to be still blooming.

 I also like these.  They look like they have little tendrils that are ready to kill something.

 One with yellow.

 And pink.

 Another pink flower.

 A bloomed flower and one that still needs to bloom.

 A more reddish flower.

 Another angle.

 And from the side.

As you can see, there were a few people here.  there were a couple of people painting to the left.  It almost looks like the couple on the right saw a camera but they were too far away.

Anyway, I may try to come back later.

A While at the Botanical Gardens

I decided to head over to Matthei Botanical Gardens today.  Their agave plant is blooming now.  Besides, it felt like a good laid back thing to do after yesterday.  Again, I make no claims of knowledge about the flowers.

 These flowers kind of remind me of fireworks.

 I think this one is some kind of orchid.

 I kind of wish I could capture the shade of blue on this one.  This one looks appropriate for Michigan, I think.

 These flowers were attached to a pitcher plant of some sort.

 This is the agave plant.  I think the blooms are at the edges here.  This plant blossoms after 100 years.

 The wollemi pine comes from Australia and is believed to be related to a plant that is over 200 million years old.  This gives it the classification of living fossil.

 A bonsai tree.

 Another bonsai tree.  This one almost looks like it could be put into a model train display.

 One of many cacti there.

 I really like the looks of this one.  Looks like it could attack you.

 This one is pretty cool too.

 Some sort of palm tree.

 I believe these were called Egyptian star flowers.  I kind of liked the way the water was beaded on these.

 The mosaic plant.

 This was also called star of something.

 This one reminds me of a Chinese dragon.

 I kind of liked this one too.

One of the koi in the koi pond.