Yummy Treat

Today during our dog walking break at the hospital, Bill surprised me with a special treat from the little cafe inside.  I walk by it regularly but never really looked to see what they had.  Well....they have these!  Macaroons!!!  Not just any macaroon but these had a little surprise in the first bite - orange.  They are coconut with orange zest. 

Yeah, it might not look good but I had already eaten half of it before I took the picture and it was delicious!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens...Last But Not Least

The gardens cover seven acres including a children's area, a large open area available for weddings, reunions, etc. a koi pond and lots of specimens of trees and bushes.  It's a really beautiful piece of our planet.

 

Brazilian Iron Wood

Rainbow Gum Tree

Banyan Tree in the Children's area

Fig Tree roots in the Children's area

Sarasota Bay in the background

And a few people pictures...Bill and I by the Koi pond. 

 

Deb and I checking out the riverfront slums.

It's a little smaller than the rest but we'll take that one.

And my favorite pic of the day...

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens...Succulents

I never thought succulents and Florida would make any sense in the same sentence.  I guess I was wrong.  The gardens have a very nice section of succulents, including one that we have in the yard!  I think this is so cool but had no idea what it was called.

One of several we have in our yard.

The one at the Gardens

So, now I know what it is.  When I first saw this sign, I shouted out "oh, it's a Kalanchoe tubiflora!" and Deb was very impressed that not only did I know the name, I knew the Latin name.  I had to tell her that I only knew it because I read the sign.  hahaha

I don't know what the rest of these are called but I liked them.

This one kind of looks like a big beetle.

This was a fairly small section of the Gardens but it was a nice size and had quite a few specimens.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens...Yarn Bombing

To be honest, I've never heard of this but according to Wikipedia, it's believed to have started in TX in 2005 and is a form of graffiti or street art. 

Apparently, they have heard of it here.

The hanging balls are yarn!

 

Very interesting!  

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens...Bonsai

Just outside the Tropical Conservatory is a small patio where several Bonsai trees are located.  These were soooo cool and made me want to have one of my own. This little "forest" has been "in training" since 2003!

 

This one since freakin' 1975!

 

This one blooms...

There were probably 4-5 more, trees rather than forests, but I didn't take pictures of them, not sure why.

The patio included a Buddha

and a couple of African drums.  I like the one that looks like a dog.

 

More to come!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens...Tropical Conservatory

This place has been on my radar for a couple of years.  It's about an hour north of us in Sarasota, not a bad drive.  We had planned to go on Monday but of course, the weather was not cooperative, so we decided to go Friday.  Deb and Marc, our friends from Springvale were in town visiting some family, so we rescheduled our visit in order for them to join us. 

We got there around 1:30 and as they were running late, we bought our tickets and started our way around the 7 acres comprising the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, beginning in the Tropical Conservatory.

This area is enclosed,  feels very much like the tropics (not good for the hair) and is filled with orchids, bromeliads and epiphytes.  The display changes regularly as orchids come into bloom.  This room was spectacular! 

Comet orchid

 

 

 

 

 

Blossoms in this room come in all different sizes, the Comet orchid is quite large and some of the others are teeny tiny.

We went through this room alone and again with Deb and Marc before we left.  Amazingly, we saw new things the second time.  I like to call this one the Teeth orchid.

 

And this one, the Hairy orchid.

Just a few more...

 

 

 

More on the rest of our visit next time.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)