Alabama: Birmingham

13 April 2022

After a lazy and rain-free morning at camp, we ventured out to do some errands and to visit the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. We had a very nice lunch at the restaurant there and then spent several hours walking the property. It’s really impressive. A formal rose garden will beckon later in the summer but we were lucky to catch the end of the azalea bloom. I’ll share the hundreds of thousands of photos I took (haha, jk) starting with landscapes, moving to sculptures, and ending with a ton of flower pictures. The naming is a work in progress….check back for more!

Landscapes

Crape myrtle almost ready to leaf out

I liked this “pond” water feature…it was just a surprise on a walk in the woods!

Sunning

The Formal Rose Garden will be spectacular when it’s in full bloom

Sculpture

This was so pretty in person! “The Orchid Thief”

Eagle Scout project

She reminds me of the Copenhagen harbor mermaid

Stork fountain

Flowers take center stage

A single fancy tulip blossom

Swamp iris

Another possible holly shrub—a LARGE shrub, well over our heads!

Poppies

Poppy

Orange mountain azalea

💜

Mountain azalea

Azalea

Azaleas

Breezy day make for a nice walk but a challenge for getting buds in focus.

Azalea

Camellia; a rare one in fresh bloom. Most were long gone.

A camellia tree with blush, pink, and red all from the same base.
Maybe grafts?

So many buds!

Japanese Iris

Beautiful wisteria.
There wasn’t that much of it at the Botanical Gardens, but we see it growing wild along the roadsides.

The leaves look like holly

While I have no idea what this is, I thought it was so striking.
The dark leaves and the optic yellow “poker” was so cool.

Spiny

Bamboo forest

And, a favorite:

Koi and turtles

Tomorrow: we head to Birmingham for the Civil Rights Tour….stay tuned!