Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Pretty Pictures - The Volunteer Park Conservatory

I have spent quite a bit of time over the last week cleaning my kitchen, emptying all of the cupboards and drawers, cleaning and sorting and washing surfaces.  This morning I cleaned the refrigerator.  Now Tom is scrubbing the ceiling and walls in preparation for painting.

None of this is pretty, so instead I will post photos of the garden club field trip we took on Saturday.

Volunteer Park is an Olmstead Brothers designed park in Capitol Hill in the city of Seattle.  We met there and spent a bit of time enjoying some of what the park has to offer before visiting the conservatory.

This is an iconic photo in Seattle.  The sculpture is perched on a platform overlooking a reservoir high above the city center.  We called it the "Doughnut" or "The Tire" but it is actually called "Black Sun".  I know because I looked it up.  I'm not so sure I like the real name better. 
 It frames the Space Needle.
This old park has big old trees.
 Janet, Tom, Sherril and David posed for me so you can see the size of this "shrub". 
 The sculpture is across from the Asian Art Museum, a wonderful art deco building that used to house The Seattle Art Museum before a new building was built downtown. 
 Hellebores announce that even in winter, the soil nourishes life. 



 April was waiting for us at the conservatory.  It has been recently refurbished, but retains its Victorian grandeur. 

It was warm and moist inside.  It took a bit for my glasses and my camera to adjust. 
Lovely orchids were set off by glowing greenery. 

 Plants are BIG in here. 






































 The cactus house is still being replanted, but there were some cool specimens. 





 A selfie in a gazing ball. 

We went on to the Arboretum Winter Garden, but I have already shown photos from our scouting visit there two weeks ago. 

We had lunch at Cafe Flora and enjoyed lots of good talk, from flowers to football. Everybody is talking football around here!

14 comments:

  1. OH, so very very beautiful! I love orchids, and these are stunning. Very nice tour through a magical place. Great pictures, Linda. :-)

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  2. Thanks for sharing your photos of the conservatory. It's a beautiful building, and I remember a gorgeous display of orchids in the front area, all behind some kind of fencing-type barrier to keep people from touching them. It's been a few years since I was there.

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  3. A beautiful place! I'v never been but your post has made me even more determined to visit someday soon! It sounds like your club had a great day!

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  4. Pretty plants and I like the Black Sun with the Space Needle in the center. Clever.

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  5. how fun to see flowers and greenery this time of year...

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  6. I admire the quality of your photos and the crisp focus of the images. What kind of camera are you using and what mpx does it have, if you don't mind sharing details. I find my compact Nikon with 12 mpx leaves a bit to be desired in image stabilization so crisp, clear focus is a challenge. Photoshop helps if I "sharpen" the image. Do you use Photoshop to edit your photos--sharpen, colorize? Your photos of ferns were very clear and I like your header.

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  7. What a refreshing change from the beige world we are living in here. Ahhhh.
    Loved the ducks cooling it on the pad of grass.
    Go Hawks.

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  8. Wow! Did you see anything that isn't growing in your beautiful gardens? Aside from the various colors and diversity of the plants [I love Mother Nature!], I love the last photo of the globe reflecting the camera.

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  9. Good gosh! I'm always so amazed by your incredible photos. I would have loved to have seen your before and after clean up photos too.

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  10. Beautiful photos- Thank you for sharing them! So refreshing to see during the midwest winter!

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  11. Lovely pictures! I love orchids and always enjoy seeing pictures from a place that really knows how to care for plants of all kinds. However, the best picture of all was the space needle framed by the sculpture!

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  12. This visit to the conservatory, albeit vicariously, was just what I needed between heavy snowstorms in Maine! What beautiful plants and flowers.

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  13. What fun in winter! Those Orchids are stunning, I also enjoyed the very purple Coleus. What a wonderful place to visit:)

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