A Visit to the Botanical Gardens - Part 2

 

The Ancient Forest

The Ancient Forest featured specimens of some prehistoric trees including cycads, tree ferns, and Coast Redwood trees.

The Ancient Forest

Coast Redwood (Sequoia)

It was quite shady in the Ancient Forest:

Tree Canopy at the Edge of the Ancient Forest

There were several paths going through the Ancient Forest and benches along the way:

Benches Along the Way

Cycad (Sago Palm)

Coast Redwood with Twin Trunks

And while I took pictures of the trees in the Ancient Forest, my daughter took some pictures of me taking pictures of the trees (I had no idea she was doing that, until she shared her pictures with me!)

Picture That!

We didn't explore the Ancient Forest in depth, but, there were lots of interesting plants to see, including these cycads:

Cycads

And several water ways:

One of the Waterways

Then, walked through part of the Camellia Forest:

Part of the Camellia Forest

There were several areas marked as Camellia Forest in the map of the Gardens that we had, and most of the trees were not in bloom.  But, I imagine the place looks magical when all the camellia trees are flowering.

These camellia bushes, however, were flowering:

A Portion of the Camellia Forest

We then took a path that led us back to the area in front of the Japanese Garden and we walked past the amphitheater and the Main Lawn to a location identified as "Center Circle" in the map.  There was a table and bench formed from two slices of  tree trunk and we sat down to rest for a bit.

Tree Trunk Table Top

Directly in front of us was the center circle, which featured water-wise gardening.  It was planted with a variety of water-wise, drought tolerant plants, and repurposed fountains.  I was most interested in this planter in the shape of a fish, with a plant growing out of its mouth:

Fish Pond Fountain Turned Planter

There are actually two fish planters, but, the other one can't be seen from this angle.  They were, apparently, fountain heads in a pond, at one time.  They were moved to the Center Circle and planted with water-wise plants!  Very creative!

We were near the area with model trains and a small scale ride on train, that is mostly an amusement ride for children, I believe.  The general admission tickets didn't include a train ride, and neither my daughter nor I was interested in it.  We had another destination in mind and after our brief rest, we headed out in that direction.  But, that's for another post!  

Once more, I am most grateful for M for this wonderful birthday gift!