US Botanic Garden Conservatory in Early October

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The conservatory of US Botanic Garden in Washington DC always has beautiful plants. On a visit early this month, the shapes and colors drew my attention the most. 

The spirals of the unfurling fiddlehead - along with the pink and green coloring.  

Bromeliads with blooms that are splashes of vibrant color and thick fitted curves.

Petals that are paper thin

Flowers that look like they’ve sprouted wings

The pattern of fibers on a tropical trunk

 

 

A flower petal that looks like a spider is attached

A slipper with just a touch of color

 

 

 

 

The unfurling of a tightly pack bud in purple and pink

The Beauties of Early Fall

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As we walked around the Smithsonian Mall and the US Botanic Garden in Washington DC, the plantings were representative of ones that are truly at their best in this area just before the leaves turn and then fall. The roses like the cooler weather. The grasses have full seed heads. The asters show their blue and purple color liberally. The dogwoods lead the color change and the winterberry has bright red berries that contrasts with the green leaves still on the bush. There may not be as many butterflies but the ones that are still around may be easier to see because they don’t flutter as rapidly in the cooler temperatures. Enjoy the slide show of these beauties of early fall and celebrate fall!

US Botanic Garden - Insectivorous Plants

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The insectivorous plants exhibit at the US Botanic Garden runs through October 8th. We went to see it this past weekend. The exhibit is a clever mix of sculpture and real plants. I can remember being fascinated with Venus Flytrap plants as a child. The pitcher plants (at right and included in the slide show) were the highlights of this exhibit for me - particularly the outdoor sculpture grouping of them. The sculpture of the Venus Flytrap was mechanized; push a button and it snapped shut!

There are several more posts from the Botanic Garden visit…they’ll come out over the next week or so. I posted about the landmark building models in the conservatory at the US Botanic Garden last November.