Garden Variety Bugs?

 Saw this giant ant on the side of a hill at Papago Park, but it wasn't on the park's side of the fence, it was in the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Along with a number of other oversized bugs. Here's the praying mantis near the entrance.

It is made entirely out of wood. 

The ant wasn't alone (are they ever?) on the hill.

 Closer look:

Giant spider and web!

 Impressive.

There were other bugs, but I'll leave them for others to discover...

New Flowers

I may overdo it a bit in the spring with my flower pictures, but I almost always see new things or better shots or something to keep me coming back for more. This year, there are some different flowers among the old standards at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Nice displays of color with the orange poppy, african violet and firecracker penstemon (all standard).

Nice mix of flowers & cactus (stabdard).

Firewheel flower (standard)

New - I don't know what it is.

Owl's Clover (standard)

Don't know, but I like it.

Don't know this one either, but I really like it!

A kind of paperflower?

A tiny cluster on a fairly good-sized shrub. I'm sure I've photographed this before, but I don't recall the pictures coming out so well.

I don't know if this one is new as much as there were so many more of them out this year. Nice ones.

Chihuly'ed Out Yet?

Not me! Sorry if this isn't your cup o' tea, but it is pretty cool to me, so please bear with it...I only take a few moments to sneak peaks at these works, so one was night and now I came back before sunset. If you do like them, go ahead and click on the picture for a closeup view (no links).

This one I missed before:

This one too:

I haven't even seen all the pieces, yet, so beware - more to come!

Chihuly Bowls

OK, I thought I knew a thing or two about color, but I was pretty amazed when I saw this. The same bowl is shown without flash first, then with. If there weren't the other bowls and the exact same shape you might think they were two totally different bowls! Two more:

There was a video showing how they make these bowls and some of the odd shapes and textures. I am almost positive I had seen a cable special on this once a few years ago, as some techniques I am certain I had seen before. Never worked in glass before, but as cool as all this is, I think I would like it.

Chihuly Glass Art

Well, the Desert Botanical Gardens has opened its exhibit on the glass art of Dale Chihuly, and I managed to look at a few pieces today. I still have to go back and see the other works, and also check them out all lit up at night. These first two pieces were ones I took the other week, but they didn't turn out that well (I posted them anyhow).

A close up of this one called 'The Sun'

And this one (I don't know the names of others):

Cool shapes and textures make for a lot of variety. This one has a gourd look to it. Really cool all bunched up and hanging all the way to the ground...

Some very interesting shapes and colors!

Chihuly at Desert Botanical Gardens

Dale Chihuly is a glass artist who has some extraordinary pieces he brings to exhibit in places around the world. Some of his work will be at the Desert Botanical Gardens through March of '09. Each piece is individually packaged and boxed, then shipped to the site and handled only by his people. That is, each twirly piece of even the largest works. They are assembled on site. Some are lit from within at night and some are lit from spotlights. Some pieces even have a concrete foundation - even though this is a temporary exhibit. You can imagine the costs to bring this all together! DBG is figuring on record attendance, and from the little preview I've seen, they will probably get it.

Near the entrance to the gardens:

Hanging in the Succulent House:

Hanging like an upside-down Christmas tree:
Lit up and reflected on the metal screen overhead:
Close up of the 'upside-down tree' Remember each twisty piece is individually wrapped and boxed! Amazing how nothing gets broken (actually I believe I heard that one had broken, but I don't know if it was in transport, in removing from the box or in set up (dropped?)

I hope to get some decent shots of the complete exhibit this week....

I also hope to get some good Zoolights pictures this week....

I also hope to post a nice family shot from Thanksgiving.

Desert Botanical Gardens

Yes, I went again today and took more pictures. They have a new entryway and there are nice garden squares that are very well done. This month a glass artist has an exhibit opening - it will be showing for a few months. This is going to be something else! I hope to get some awesome shots - both daytime and nighttime. Hope, as in hope to get in to see it and hope the shots come out nicely.

The sun was backlighting this agave's red leaf edge.

Mamillaria cactus with some interesting abberations giong on.

At the cactus house. I like the rich colors this has right near sunset.

More Cactus Flowers

Can't hardly go to the gardens without a few cactus & flower pictures. Today was no exception. Enjoy...

New at the Desert Botanical Gardens!

If you haven't been to the gardens recently, you may want to check it out once the weather cools off a bit - or when you come to visit! This is the new cactus and succulent exhibit replacing the old aluminum structures that were hardly tall enough to cover many of the larger specimens. Shown here are the cacti - the succulent structure is the same.

Unusual Flower

Stopped in at the Desert Botanical Gardens today for a quick look at their new cactus & succulent displays. This was one of the plants in the succulent portion. This one probably isn't more than 8" tall. Not terribly unusual in and of itself, though it is interesting.

It was the flower that caught my eye. A strange looking one that looks as though it would be more at home underwater. Then there were the strange green bumps - individual flowers? seed pods? Who knows, but definitely interesting!

This aloe was also interesting, not so much for its leaves, which are different from your typical aloe - say aloe vera perhaps, but for its flowers.
These are the flowers. I noticed there were ants all over the stalks on this. I'm not sure if they show when you click on the photo, but there are several ants here.