Wednesday, June 3, 2009

U.S. Botanic Garden in D.C., Part 1

Whew! Well, we survived our whirlwind visit to DC. I did manage to get to the Botanic Garden and brought back a few photos. Interestingly, the kids seemed most interested in the outdoor Regional Garden that features mid-Atlantic native plants. It is not exactly a manicured garden- but there are lots of unusual plants surrounding a small creek and pond. This first picture shows the bridge over the little creek with the Conservatory building peeking through in the background.

This next pic, to the left, shows some sort of Beardtongue in the foreground. You may be able to read the first part of the name if you click the picture to enlarge it. Just behind the beardtongue is funny little flowering bush. I really wanted to get a shot of the name tag for that bush. Unfortunately, I had a great deal of trouble trying to balance on one foot while trying to hold back the shaggy bush away from the tag with my other foot. You win some and you lose some.

I missed the tag on this orange flower. I know I already know this one, yet for the life of me I can't recall it. I believe this is one of the natives often recommended for butterflies. I am not really and "orangey" person; but every once in a while I run across an orange flower in a shade I adore. This is one of those flowers. It really popped in the landscape, without assualting the senses.

These yellow Sundrops were... luminous (that sounds better than radioactive, right?). Seriously, they absolutely glowed and I would be more than a little surprised to learn they did not actually glow in the dark.




Okay, that's all I have time to post now. But more will follow later...

4 comments:

Kim said...

I think that orange plant is Asclepias, but I don't know if it's tuberosa or incarnata. I have a pink incarnata. I'm about 45 min north of DC, and mine is nowhere near ready to bloom.

Maggie said...

Yes! Kim, of course you are right. Milkweed. How many summers did I spend hunting them? I need some in my garden for sure.

Jackie said...

Thanks for sharing your D.C. photos! Also, I gave you an award; it's on my blog: http://jackiessecretgarden.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
Jackie

Maggie said...

Jackie, Thanks so much for thinking of me!