Blooming in the butterfly garden

On August 24, 2026September 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

The butterfly garden at Wall Springs Park was in full bloom in late April.

I only saw one butterfly though.

A squirrel was posing for me (he was probably checking to see if I had snacks).

I walked past the natural spring (you can no longer swim in it).

Many of the trees were still bare from the hurricanes in late 2024. I’m not sure if these will grow back.

A climb up to the top of the tower is always fun. I take the stairs up and the ramp down.

The view from the top looking west and then east.

A mangrove tunnel out to the lagoon.

The only bird I saw this morning was a Cooper’s Hawk high up in the pine tree. I was wishing I had my camera. He preened for a few minutes and then took off.

Blooming in Atlanta

On September 5, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta9 Comments

While Brett and I were in Atlanta in June we spent a morning at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. It’s funny that in the 17 years I lived here I never visited the gardens and now it’s my favorite place to stop when we are there to see friends.

I was expecting to see a ton of butterflies but only saw a few.

I love hydrangeas. Tulips and hydrangeas are the two flowers I miss the most from Atlanta. Neither do well in central Florida. I saw the above oriental lace hydrangea and don’t remember seeing this type before.

The lotus was in full bloom.

They had fields of pitcher plants. I wish I could get them to grow in my yard but the one I have in a hanging basket is not doing well.

There was a display of Alice’s Wonderland Larger Than Life topiaries around the gardens.

All of the characters from the book were there. Above are just a few.

The view from the vegetable garden. You can’t take a picture of the Atlanta skyline without a few construction cranes in them.

The earth goddess is my favorite spot in the gardens. I think this is the first time I’ve seen her hair blooming in so many colors. We spent most of the morning here and I took a ton of pictures so more to come.

Plants and baby ducks at Lettuce Lake Park

On December 30, 2017December 5, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Some of the many plants at Lettuce Lake Park.

I caught a quick glimpse of a black bellied whistling duck family. They were passing through under the boardwalk and headed into the swamp. They paused for a few minutes and I snapped the above. The babies are so cute. They look like little bumble bees.

More rainy day flower pictures

On October 18, 2017October 18, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants4 Comments

Pictures from a walk around the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo during a morning summer rain shower. Most people say the rain never lasts long in Florida in the summer but sometimes they last most of the day. This morning in August it rained all day. At least it wasn’t hot.