Denver Gardens Part I

 This week we drove to the Denver Botanical Gardens.  The 24 acres have been meticulously planned out to make every square foot count.  The day started out being overcast, which was a plus since temps were going to be in the 90"s.

One of the first areas we walked toward was the Steppe Garden.  It has plants that thrive in a semi-arid area with rocky mineral rich soil and extreme temperature changes.  The pine tree framed the entrance.

Below, the Black Eyed Susans and cone flowers nestle between the rocks and bushes.

Close by was a huge pond with various species of water lilies.

 In the late 1990's Euro Disney commissioned the solarium below and 7 others to be built, but never used them.  This one sat in a crate for 20 years and in 2012 it was donated to the botanical garden. 

 

This is one of the few sculptures in the gardens, most likely because the focus is on the numerous flowers and shrubbery.

We meandered over to the Japanese Garden area, complete with little stone walkways.  Very peaceful and calming!

These were labeled as "Shofu-en" gardens, which translates to pine and wind. In the photo below, you can see the details of the rock path, carefully laid out by hand.

Towards the back of the garden were other ponds and mini waterfalls.

Although the flowers aren't spectacular, the name of this plant captured my eye.  It was labeled "Squirting Cucumber".  I never knew cucumbers could squirt!  Maybe there should be a sticker on them advising people to wear glasses while eating them.  After all, who would want cucumber juice in their eyes?😄

Time for a short break.  Don had gotten a text from a neighbor that we had a leak in our backyard, and water was coming down outside our block wall.  He made a quick phone call to our landscaper.  We certainly can't have the neighbor turn off the water because of the extreme heat, so we'll settle for a higher water bill and also a bill from the landscape guy.

While he was on the phone, I was lucky enough to capture this Koi blowing bubbles.

Circling back, we came across another part of the Japanese gardens.

This glass and steel sculpture is by Dale Chihuly and was specifically made for this site.  It references the dense spiky shapes of the Yucca plants and the colors reflect the colorful Colorado sunsets.

If you plan a visit to Denver, I would definitely encourage you to visit here no matter what time of the year it is.

Denver Botanical Gardens Part II

 There were so many pictures of flowers that I had a hard time deciding which ones to choose.  So, I ended up doing two posts: the first with overall photos of the landscapes and this one with close ups of various blooms.  

This Tiger Lily captured my eye with it's gorgeous spots and melon orange color.

A bee picking out just the right Cosmos flower.

Pink Dawn shown below is one of my favorites from the gardens.

This white flower was labeled Peucedanum.  Hmm.....No generic name listed.  It looks like little snowballs on sticks!

The Bellflowers below are almost tissue paper thin with a subtle blueish color.

"I'm almost in there".  The back end of a bumblebee!

A blush hydrangea.

The Vetch's Blue is also known as Globe Thistle.

Unfortunately, I have no idea of what these last two flowers are called.  Not every flower or bush had name plates by them.  None the less, I still enjoyed them!

Sculpting Out Our Life

On July 20th we returned to the Loveland Sculpture Park.  It had been at least 4 years since we had ventured there last, and each year more bronze statues are added.  The day was cool and breezy which equated to a pleasant walk of about a mile.

 Even though this wasn't one of the new pieces, I had to take a photo of the fox with a fresh flower on his head.

The alligator statue was halfway hidden between the cement paths that meander through the park.  I wonder if any children are tempted to sit on him. 😕   Flowers are also in abundance, and the grounds are meticulously taken care of.

One of my favorites is the fox looking over the small waterfall.
Monarch Girl was a newer addition, being added in 2022.  This was quite interesting, and looked different depending on what angle you were looking at her from.

The setting for the mountain lion statue was perfect.  As you followed the path around the corner it looks like the lion is crouching on a rock, ready to pounce.  It is partially hidden by the bushes and trees.

This might be my new favorite!  The banana statue is called "On a Roll".  What an imagination Jack Hill had to think of putting skates on a banana!!

The "Hangin' Around" Bronze was added last year.  It reminded me of when I was young and hung from bars like that during recess (such a long, long time ago).

This guy seemed to be wondering why Don had such a stern look on his face.  Maybe he was thinking "Relax buddy and sit back like me.  You are way too uptight" LOL😂😂

Such a peaceful park.  During the time we meandered around, there were at least 3 groups of people being pushed around in wheelchairs by their caretakers.  I'm sure they enjoyed it just as much as we did, maybe more so.

Parked the Truck in Parker

 We lucked out this summer!  The heat hit Phoenix (Avondale) the day we left.  So far, we have been gone 21 days and Phoenix has had 21 days of over 110 degrees or more!  Got out of there by the skin of our teeth!

After Utah we headed to Parker, Colorado, an 8 hour drive.  We were greeted by cool weather, even hail a couple of days!  So different from the temps at home.  Below is a view from Lisa and Ken's back porch.

As usual, different deer came to lay on the front lawn.  One day there was a fawn sleeping under their front living room window

View from the front porch.

Most of the deer are healthy, but this one had a large growth on her neck and her ribs were showing.  I felt sorry for her and went into the kitchen to get out a couple of carrots for her.  If they have another hard winter, it will be hard for this one deer to survive.

A couple of weeks later, the deer was back.  The abscess had drained, and she brought along a little friend!

Now to happier things like flowers!

  Columbines and Lillies!

Go Forth on the Fouth (of July)

 Our last full day in Utah was the 4th of July.  Hailey, Don and I headed south to Provo.  Sure enough, there was a parade going on in the downtown area.

We passed by an interesting bronze sculpture along the way.

We wound up on the sunny side of the street.  It was warm, and there were lots of pop up shades and umbrellas.  I took quite a few pictures, but it was hard getting good shots this far back from the front.

I thought this was a really cool wagon, so I inched my way further towards the parade route. 

Here comes the guy who was the "Life of the Party".   Not anymore!  The guy with the reins didn't look awfully happy either.  No wonder, it was a dead end job for him.😂😂

This group was a hoot!  They were having a great time banging on cowbells, drums and even upside down plastic buckets.

An hour later as the parade ended, we headed back to the Hailey's car.  On one of the buildings was a very colorful painting on a building.  It reminded me of Silver City, which has murals all over their downtown area.

One last and important stop:  Ice Cream at Sub Zero!  Don and Hailey ate the ice cream while I enjoyed sitting in a cool spot without the sun beating on me.  It was a win-win for the 3 of us.