NYC Photos - Botanical Gardens Greenhouses

This will be my last blog post featuring photos taken on my recent (early April) NYC vacation. I've posted so many already - skyscrapers, other buildings, street views, urban flowers, Central Park views, and lots and lots of pictures from the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx - that you're probably sick of all these posts. :) But for me, they're a nice chance to share part of my vacation with the world, as well as make sure I have a back up of my favorite photos, so that just in case something were to happen to my computer, my external hard drive, and my cloud backup of all my thousands upon thousands of vacation and flower photos, I also have this blog to house some of my photos too.

We were very fortunate when visiting the Botanical Gardens to get a sort of backstage tour, courtesy of my husband's cousin Eric, who is a horticulturalist there. He took us around the grounds in a golf cart, pointing out some of his favorite places and introducing us to his coworkers and students - and also took us into the staff-only greenhouses to show us what flowers they have growing/are keeping in storage there. Just like art museums have more to their collection than what is shown to the general public, so too does the NY Botanical Gardens have more to their plant "collection" behind closed doors.

Here are some of my favorite photos of some of the plants we saw on our whirlwind trip through the staff greenhouses with Eric (and some photos from the staging areas, where staff were getting ready to add plants to various gardens or planters around the grounds):

NYC Photos - Botanical Gardens in Spring

When my husband and I took a vacation to New York City at the end of March/beginning of April, one of the highlights was visiting the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. My husband's cousin works there as a horticulturalist, and he gave us a VIP tour of the place (including a peak inside some of the staff-only greenhouses)! There was also an amazing orchid show in the conservatory greenhouse and some nice spring color starting to bloom in the Rock Garden.

Because the weather was colder-than-average for much of March and April, there wasn't a whole lot else to look at yet, flower-wise... but I did manage to take some nice pictures of flowers in the Botanical Gardens grounds! My favorites are below:

I have a lot more photos of the Botanical Gardens to share, including pictures of the aforementioned orchid show, the other plants in the conservatory greenhouse, spring flowers growing in the Rock Garden, and even some pictures from the staff-only greenhouses - so make sure to check back! I'll be making future posts with more pictures soon.

NYC Photos - Urban Flowers

When I was on my recent vacation to New York City, I took a lot of photos of architecture - but I also (of course!) took perhaps even more photos of flowers. Because we went in late March/early April and because this year's spring has been more winter-like in its weather, there weren't too many things yet in bloom - but I still managed to find several opportunities to take photos.

Below are some of my favorite photos of "urban flowers" - that is, flowers that I just happened to see as we were walking around NYC: flowers in pots and sidewalk/windowsill plantings outside of apartment buildings, cathedrals, hotel entrances, and museums.

A little later on (once I finish organizing them all!) I'll also make blog posts of flowers in larger, organized gardens like the Rockefeller Center Channel Gardens, flowers in Central Park, and flowers at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx, where we spent a delightfully sunny (but still chilly) morning.

Summer Flower Photos 2017

With Labor Day weekend upon us, summer is officially over. As usual, I took several photos of flowers I saw over the summer months - with the goal of eventually using some of them to inspire future artwork. Below are some of my favorites.

I took these pictures in Rochester and Rochester Hills, Michigan - at the public library, at Yates Cider Mill, and in my own front yard. Other photos are from the beautiful landscaping at Angela Hospice in Livonia, where my grandma stayed for two weeks before she passed away at age 90 on July 31. I also took several photos of bouquets and flower arrangements - both from flowers my grandma received while she was in Hospice, to brighten her room, and from the funeral sympathy arrangements from family and friends.

My grandma loved flowers and had a wonderful garden for many decades. I think my own love of flowers was inherited from her sensibilities - if only I could have inherited her green thumb, as well!