Chihuly (glass) in the Missouri Botanical Garden

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My daughter and I made big plans to see the Chihuly pieces in the Missouri Botanical Garden in late June. We made reservations a week in advance to see the gardens (and glass) at night on our first evening in St. Louis…and then planned a daytime walkabout on our last morning. We got to the gardens a little after 6 PM to have dinner in the garden restaurant (Sassafras) and the enjoyed the gardens until about 9:30 PM…from dust to dark. For our morning visit we arrived shortly after the gardens opened. I took pictures frequently…managed to photograph all the Chihuly works listed in the brochure plus 3 more. It was well worth the effort to see the glass several times…in varying light. Enjoy the images….and plan a visit to the gardens if you can! (Note: To see larger images click on any of the images in this post)

Vivid Lime Icicle Tower

Chromatic Neon

River and Cobalt Fiori

Black and Green Striped Herons with Green Grass (one of my favorites)

Red Bulbous Reeds

Ikebana

Macchia Forest

Ethereal Spring Persians (one of my favorites)

Vermilion and Canary Yellow Tower

Turquois Marlins and Floats

White Tower

Float boat and Niijima Floats

Red Reeds

Fiddlehead Ferns (one of my favorites)

Neodymium Reeds on Logs

Individual works (in the Sacs Museum South Gallery)

Summer Sun

Fiori boat and Fiori de Primavera

Cattails and Copper Birch Reeds

Burnished Amber, Citron, and Teal Chandeliers

Three that were not in the brochure:

Sun Gate (although I’m not sure what the official title is)

Cobalt Chandelier

Sunset Herons (one of my favorites)

I am already contemplating going again. The special Chihuly Nights go until late August…the exhibit itself continues until October 15.

Hagerman Birds – May 2023

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I made the best of cloudy days both times I was at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in May. Photographing birds was frustrating because of the light and I thought while I was there that I wouldn’t like any of the images…but they turned out better than I expected in several cases. The egrets were still around: Great Egrets

And Snowy Egrets (seemingly a lot more of them about).

I enjoyed the light around a snowy egret on the second morning…it was changing very quickly with the sun coming in and out of clouds as it was getting higher in the sky (it was still within an hour of sunrise).

I learned on my first visit to scan the high points of the meadow for birds...seeing a dickcissel was my most immediate success.

There were a lot of red-winded blackbirds. I saw one perched on an amaranth close to the road and he stayed put for a portrait, a defiant look, a little bow (but he was still watching me), and then a screech to let everyone know it was his turf!

The second morning I saw that there was a group of egrets on one of the ponds and they were leaving just as I was arriving! Did they roost there…or just get their breakfast?

There were great blue herons as well.

There was a preening red-shoulder hawk on a snag.

May was not a great month for bird photography on the days I went to Hagerman…but not a total loss either. This image is my favorite of the morning.

Carrollton Yard – April 2023

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I took pictures between rain showers…tended to do zoomed images because it was too breezy for macro photography. The irises were past their peak…but there were still plenty to photograph.

What a difference light makes! The two images below were taken less than a minute apart with clouds moving rapidly through the sky.

The glass orb among the oxalis and Queen Anne’s Lace just missed being spotlighted in the same situation!

Other flowers were blooming as well. The white daisies were photographed with different lighting…but enough to freeze their movement caused by the breeze.

It was still cool enough for roses to be blooming too.

Of course – there were the ‘always there’ subjects…dandelions and red yucca pods.

Overall – lots of beauty in the yard to photograph…cool temps and rain made it a little harder to be out and about.

Plant of the Month – Crepe Myrtle

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I had originally thought holly would be the February plant of the month but then I was drawn to the seed pods of the crepe myrtle. I’ve already included images of them in my earlier post about our yard.  Those were taken at a time it was cloudy.

More recently I photographed them again in very bright light although when I look at them in the images it almost seems like they are glowing from within! Right then – Crepe Myrtle became the plant of the month.

I like the way the pods split into wedges that are the seeds…that the interior is a lighter color than the exterior husk. That lighter color reflects the light better and creates the ‘glow from within’ look.

Hurray for some February color in the wild!