3 posts tagged “flowers”
I've been monitoring the Azalea Trail bloom status in Tyler, Texas to see when the best time for a two and a half hour drive (one way) into East Texas would be. Where we live the soil is much more alkaline and so they don't grow well, unlike cactus, mesquite, oak and cedar trees. Friday was the last practical opportunity as the girls and I are leaving for Pennsylvania this Thursday, and I didn't want to cram two trips too close together. It was chilly and drizzly and I was afraid that the bushes wouldn't be in full bloom, but patchiness would be better than missing it altogether. I also wanted to time the trip to catch the wisterias and the dogwoods. As it turned out, all three early spring bloomers were in peak form, or close to it. Unfortunately our camera has been dropped a few times so it doesn't focus all that well, and lavender looks washed out. But here's the best of.
First we went to the Tyler (Caldwell) Zoo where the wisterias cover the wild cat cages.
After a relaxing day at sea, during which the kids finally got to swim in the heated pool, as wind and weather permitted, we sailed into the Harbor of Victoria, British Columbia. George had reserved an extravagant excursion for just the two of us to Butchart Gardens, where we had tea. The tour guide showed us the main attractions of the city as we journeyed to the other side of the island to the Gardens. Mrs. Butchart felt bad that her and her husband's quarry had so disfigured the land, so she made a world-class garden out of it.
Our trip to Victoria said loud and clear, "You're not in the wilderness anymore!" I still have very mixed feelings about that. I have a new Flickr widget at the bottom of the sidebar to the left where I put some of the flowers.
