Well, it's now Memorial Day Weekend!

And here I am!

Yesterday I went to Genesee Country Village and Museum with someone who'd not been there before!  It was blistering hot and I went through my water bottle faster than anyone SHOULD go through that much water.  BUT it was a great day and completely unlike this time last year.

I am going to post pictures of flowers for the most part.  I'm not a good enough photographer that they're going to be wonderful, but oh goodness, the poppies!   And the heirloom peonies!  And the foxglove!  Not to mention...

Okay - I'll be semi-quiet now...Stop it!  I CAN be semi quiet!  Sort of.  If gagged.

This is the blossom of the tulip tree.  No, it's not a tree full of tulips, but the blossoms DO look very much like a standard tulip.  To my surprise (mostly because I usually arrive at the museum after the last of the tulip trees is just about done blossoming) there are several of these trees on site!

Here is a shot of the tree - can you spot the individual blossoms?  I tried hard to get back light enough so they looked as illuminated as they did in real time, but the tree is quite high and I didn't have an extension ladder to get closer.

The tree's formal name is the Liriodendron, and they are related to magnolias.  But Tulip Tree is kind of a neat name and fits...sooo...

There were several spikes of foxglove in the formal garden at the Livingston-Backus house.  The colors were lovely, and I thought this one was the most striking of the group.  The flowers almost looked artificial, they were so perfect.

These are double peonies and very lovely.

I've put in several pictures of the heirloom peonies that can be found in the garden in front of the gazebo behind the Octagon House...There were banks of them and many were just ready to bloom.  It was a really spectacular sight!

The biggest show offs were the poppies.  And I don't mean maybe - I just wish I could have captured them better...!

This is the blossom of a horse chestnut.  The center of each little bunch of flowers is pink and quite festive!.  Remember, however, that horse chestnuts are not edible, unlike their non-horsy cousins...

Iris aplenty...

More forget me nots than there had been two weeks ago, and there were bunches then!

And the tiny flowers that can appear underfoot when one isn't looking!

There were even flowering things in the vegetable garden - these are, possibly, the blossom of the chive although I could be way off in left field on that one!

That rarity, a shy peony!  It was, I have a feeling, somewhat overwhelmed by its bright orange cousins next door!

And there you have some colorful creaturse that defied the heat, the wind,and the presence of any number of school children visiting the Museum for the day.  There were many more, but I don't think my pictures did them justice, so these are what I decided to post today!

Next time?  A Japanese meditation garden in Gateshead, England!  

Hugs to you all!  Have a most excellent day!

I didn't post yesterday BUT

here I am today.  Actually, I'm old fashioned.  When the lightning started whizzing too close to me last night, I decided to back the heck out of Dodge and post today.

As requested by the various trees and bushes of Highland Park, I'll keep comments to a minimum (stop laughing - I can TOO keep comments to a minimum!) and put pictures up.

I was going to divided everything by type of picture (plant, tree, landscape-y stuff) but that's not me...soooooo

Here we go.

Remember where I was on 4/17 .  Now, across Reservoir Drive from there is another part of the park.  Lamberton Conservatory is behing me in this picture, and I'm looking at TREES!  LOTS of trees!

They look like "trees". But virtually all of them are of different species (Highland being an Arboretum and all).  This one is a Northern Red Oak.  How do I know?  I'm glad you asked.

Most of the plants have tags of some kind.  So if I'm saying something is a "such and such" it's not because of my tremendous knowledge (I know that's depressing...but....  :)

This mammoth beastie is a Hackberry tree.

To give you an idea of the height of these things, I decided to do a straight up shot.

Tree bark is incredibly varied and interesting (remember as you roll your eyes that I love rocks as well)

However, lest I make you insane with too many trees in a row, I'm switching for a few minutes to May 2.  These are rhododendrons (rhodies).  The day was grey for the most part, so the colors seem a bit flat...but I decided to take 'em anyway.

Flowers for the next few pictures:

Azaleas as well!

And rhodies.   I've just posted 'em any whichway so your minds can stay nimble while you try to figure out which is which!

This is a dogwood...(picture above)

A white lilac, variety Mildred Wilmont (my spelling is questionable...)

Just a pretty view.  The little burst of pink added some interest...gods, I sound like an interior designer.   No WAY!  

A regular gang of azaleas!  I had to squint  - the color was too bright!

This is another paperbark maple.  And friends.  Rhodie in front, cherry to the rear...

This little rhodie is only about two feet tall - talk about a lot of bang for the buck!

The sun was in an out - this is it being a little out on the azaleas!  MOST excellent!

Well, between Photobucket dieing every three minutes and now blogspot having a coronary, I'm going to post one last picture for today and try again either later tonight or tomorrow.  Thank heavens for "draft" functions, you know?

This is  a look down that little walkway that starts in Azaleas and walks out into Lilacs and others that are well up on the flank of the moraine (hill left by a retreating glacier).

I hope you've liked the pictures (and the fact that I didn't talk too much!   Yeah, the sound you hear is the trees, bushes, flowers and individual boulders clapping in relief!).  Have a great day!