At Its Peak!

Word from the Atlanta Botanical Garden in the last couple of days is that this year's 250,000 specimens of the annual Atlanta Blooms! exhibition are at peak...go see them soon, and if you've already seen them, go again...they're coming up in stages, so you're guaranteed to see a lot that you've not yet seen.

Atlanta Blooms! Atlanta Botanical Garden

And be sure to make time to explore the ENTIRE Garden...there are blooms everywhere! Inside and out! 

Enjoy!

ATLANTApix: Lily Pads at the ABG

Lily at the Atlanta Botanical Garden

If on a visit to the Atlanta Botanical Garden I could see only one flower this time of year, it would have to be the lily pads...they're exotic, they're diverse in shape and color, they're even a little strange.

This particular lily (I made this photo this week) is in the elongated water pond in front of the Fuqua Conservatory, and there are lots more in the Aquatic Plant Pond to the left and beside the Conservatory. The ponds also have frogs and fish living in them so keep an eye out for them!

ATLANTApix and ATLANTAvidz of the tourATLANTA blog features a daily photo or video relative to Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTApix: Sunflowers

Sunflowers in Georgia

I think I must have forgotten how beautiful Atlanta is during the summer or I would have come back sooner (If it weren't for my truly amazing friends, I would have been). This sunflower (photo) is part of the plant collection of the Edible Garden at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. 

You can always, and I mean always, count on seeing incredible color at the Garden...and have I mentioned that they offer tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:30? Join one to learn more about the new Edible Garden and see the beautiful sunflowers!

Every time I see sunflowers, I'm reminded of three things: (1) My best friend whose favorite flower is the sunflower; (2) the television show "The Victory Garden," which I saw at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia (their sunflowers were way taller than me); and (3) the movie, one of my all time favorites, "Under the Tuscan Sun."

ATLANTApix and ATLANTAvidz of the tourATLANTA blog features a daily photo or video relative to Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!

ATLANTAvidz: Spring Color in Atlanta

Atlanta is one of the most colorful cities I've ever been to, especially in the spring. And with such a long growing season we can look forward to lots more color and an incredible lushness throughout the city for many more months to come.

ATLANTApix: Azaleas!

Atlanta Azalea

You can barely turn a corner in Atlanta this time of year without seeing yet another beautiful Azalea...they're everywhere! And in more colors than you might think.

Azaleas are one of the most popular flowering shrubs in the state of Georgia. But while most people associate them with spring, like I do, but the varieties are so diverse that you can find Azaleas that will bloom for eight months of the year.

I've mentioned before my fondness for the orange Azalea blossom, which I first saw at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia, on their 1.6 miles Azalea Trail. Since then (that was more than 20 years ago), I've seen orange Azaleas several times in Atlanta, but sightings of that particular species remain quite rare.

Not so rare are Azaleas in general, including species that are indigenous to Georgia.

ATLANTApix of the tourATLANTA blog features a "photo-of-the-day" of Atlanta. Come back tomorrow for a new one!