Spring at Atlanta Botanical Garden

April 1, 2018

Note: I DID edit and reedit this post, but it is still long - get your coffee first.)

Starting in late January, I seem to have a rise in my nature/gardening hormones and start looking for signs of spring and thinking about all growing things. One of the best nearby places to go for a plant fix is the Atlantic Botanical Garden.  I had been there while most plants were still sleeping, except for the indoor orchids. I was anxious to return to check out the plants of spring.  And what better place to be on Easter Sunday?

The  garden, plus adjacent Piedmont park, is tucked into an otherwise pretty dense neighborhood.  It took extra time to get there through the Easter traffic.  Then I thought I would have to find a place to park off-site.  But after a fifteen minute wait, a special parking attendant pointed me in the direction of a few spaces.

Then I only had to walk about seventy-five yards, get in line, hand over my pass to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to receive a free pass to the park. (I can't tell you how wonderful this is.  For $30 a year, I have unlimited access to all these gardens. Currently the cost of a visit for ANY adult is $21.95) 

The orchid show was still going on and the big open area under the restrooms and meeting rooms was full of orchids for sale.  I walked through the tables to get to the outside door to the garden and started down the first path. Soon I was caught up in beautiful tulip displays as well as blooms of native plants. I followed the trails to the canopy walk, which give a bird's eye view of much of one end oft of the garden.  I enjoyed how the view of the big Chihully installation  above a stair step waterfalls had changed since winter.   That entire area had lots of spring blooming shrubs and trees, and pulled me in for a closer look.  Then I took the ground path back to the the more developed areas and the restaurant, stopping frequently to photograph blooms.

I would have been tempted to border this bed in white sweet alyssum

Red buckeye was starting to bloom

On the Canopy walk - still lots of trees that need awakening

View of one of the Chihully installations from the Canopy Walk

Looking back, from near the Chihully installation to the Canopy Trail

These stunning spiderworts brightened a shady area

These leaves added marvelous spring-time color in the wooded areas. 

I was able to look down on these blooms in a tree

Bignonia was blooming on a long pergola around the cascade garden

This flame azelea was almost supernaturally bright

This tree was described as dwarf fothegilla but I think it is Fothergilla magor  or large fothrgilla -
 a member of the witch hazel family

This was the only member of the saucer magnolias I remember seeing

This iris was naturalized as a ground cover in several places - if you know it please tell me in the Comments below

This spring bloomer was just getting started

Even the bugs found this one lovely

I loved this plant but don't know what it is - do you?

This apparently was the bloom of a tree. I thought the very low key blooms were sweet. 

I never realized that Oak Leaf Hydrangea was a native or could grow so large 

Think this is a snapdragon - it was the only one I saw in bloom

This eastern red columbine made me homesick for my Houston garden where I grew it

View along one of the public buildings - and event was going on inside - these are all tulips

All the above  was a repeat of my earlier walk when I only highlighted the orchids. But I kept going and, this time, walked across the great lawn to discover a few areas I had not seen on my first visit. The park has an interesting collection of carnivorous plants and a huge collection of cacti, in what loos like metal tanks. It also has a very formal pond.  You can climb the steps to the front of the orchid house and look down on the ponds,  and the cacti and over them to Piedmont Park.

I love this pond and the view over it to Piedmont Park. That little girl's mother was trying to get her to turn around and smile, I like this picture of her much better. The stairs lead to the front of the orchid hous

Some of the large collection of pitcher plants was starting to bloom. 

A  look down at some of the cacti collection 

And a view from the bottom looking back up to the Orchid House

A tree sized yucca was in full bloom

And you gotta have poppies to have spring

On a personal note, I'll be taking a three day visit to Cloudland Canyon State Park starting early Sunday, April 8.  I'm excited that the weather forecast has changed from an 80% chance of rain on Monday to only 20% a great birthday present.   Then I have to come back and start dragging out my possessions and getting them consolidated so I can get as much of them as possible in the Fit.   Leave day is currently set at April 19. I'll also be hunting down the pickerel weed that I need to finish the island garden planting before I leave.

Hope more of you are starting to enjoy spring and the incoming birds. I have eggs in two of my bluebird boxes. Hopefully the females will be sitting on them by survey time next week,

Those Atlanta Botanical Garden Orchids!

Arrangement of plants near the entrance to the orchid hall

One of the neatest perks from being a member of Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is that I have reciprocal privileges at many other gardens across the country.  I found it cost $21.95 per adult to visit but that it was free with my Wildflower Center pass.

I totally enjoyed the grounds but was blown away by the orchid exhibit and spent a few hours there.

I had walk down a hall that had both planters of orchids and drawings of orchids. A side room held more of the orchid paintings.

A long hall took a while to transverse 

I reached the first of three rooms of orchids and could not decide where to look first. Orchids and companion plants were in large pots, arranged in wall displays, hanging from the wooden structures and sitting in smaller pots.

A singing arrangement

A wall of orchids and bromeliads

Another planter of vibrant blooms

Then I started to focus on individual blooms and they were also superb.

Already reaching overload here

This orchid seemed to be in business ataire

Another larger view

And single blooms that combine form and color

I never realized how many orchard forms there are

Living walls were formed of orchids and other tropical plants planted in vertical planters

Another area of the main room with a wooded path

I loved this flower design - and there were a chain of them making up the whole bloom stalk

A volunteer showed me several of her favorite flowers - this was one

Pure white was in short supply but was restful

Before going back to the flames

And the bizare

These blooms felt almost like fancy daffidils

And some bizarre shapes

The Lady Slipper clan was numerous - this was one of my favorites

Three arches were covered with this orchid

Pretty in pinks

More of the living walls

All you need is this one

These look like the azaleas that are blooming outside

One of the things that most amazed me was that I had never known that the vanilla bean comes from an orchid. Aztecs somehow figured out how to harvest and ferment the seed pod to release the intense odor and flavor. It takes nine months for the fertilized blooms to develop into the seed pod and another nine months to ferment it and dry it out, releasing the wonderful fragrance that is not present earlier. So it is really pretty cheap.

The vanilla orchid vine had no blooms

The vanilla orchid flower. Photo: Dan Sams/Getty Images

My friend Natalie and I share a passion for plants, gardens, and gardening and often tour gardens together. On this occasion, she had taken a day off from helping her mother recover from hip surgery to go to Longwood Gardens. (So even though we were not together, we were in the same kind of place. )She and I had a duel of pictures and words, each trying to claim that she had had the BEST orchid experience. I think it may have been a tie.  But I think it was close to a tie. So now I can recommend two gardens for magnificant orchards; this one, and Longwood Gardens.

And if you have a favorite orchid garden, please tell us about it in the comments.