Arboretum Evening

Last week some friends and I went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to wander around. It has been a long time since I've been to the Arboretum, so it was nice to get back there. They had some impressive annual containers and displays this year. (I didn't get the names of the plants I took pictures of on this trip.)

Apparently this year's theme was to arrange everything by color.

The current featured artwork displayed throughout the Arboretum was a series of glass flowers. I love how the artwork was placed to complement the real flowers surrounding it. The light sparkling through the glass added a neat element to the gardens, too.

Somehow, I like the monochromatic nature of this planting.

We also visited the Japanese garden. This is the Tea House with a pagoda and water bowl on the left side.

This is an awesome, old Redbud (Cercis canadensis). The two trunks are going in every direction like over-sized Bonsai; I wonder if they were trained to do that?

No Japanese garden would be complete without a koi pond. Do you see the glass koi?

I really enjoyed my visit to the Arboretum. It was a nice change from my everyday routine. I need to get back here in the fall. There is a huge witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) that I want to see in bloom.

a Turtle by any other name is still as neat

I was visiting my in-laws today and happened to look at a wildlife calendar they have on their fridge. Oh neat, a green sea turtle. I like sea turtles. The caption said the scientific name for the turtle was Chelonia mydas.

hi

Wait, Chelonia? The scientific name for turtle is Chelonia? Gee, that sure is an awful lot like....

...Chelone!

Chelone lyonii

Now it makes perfect sense why the scientific name for Turtlehead is Chelone! I love it when these kinds of connections are made!

  

Incidentally, I have always mixed up the scientific names for Turtlehead (Chelone) and Spider Flower (Chleome). I don't know why. Probably the same reason why I always read "uniformed" as "uninformed," and for years thought that Morden Sunrise Rose was Modern Sunrise Rose.

But now I'll always remember the right name because I learned the name for turtle!