Chihuly at the Denver Botanic Gardens

     For our vacation this summer we drove out to Colorado to spend some time with our friends the Sherpa Girls. In planning the trip I knew I would be visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens again whether anyone else would join me or not, but when Sherpa Girl K told me that they were hosting a Dale Chihuly exhibit the deal was sealed. I've seen bits and pieces of Chihuly's glass in museums, at Fairchild in Florida, and even in a former client's home, but the opportunity to see an entire exhibit made even driving through western Kansas worth it. When we got back home I told someone how thrilled I was that I got to see the exhibit, and they replied, in so many words, how overdone Chihuly was, and that he bordered on being passé. However, I loved it, in fact, I went twice, once during the day, and again at dusk to see the pieces illuminated. Judging from the full parking lot, and non-weekend crowds, I was not the only one who appreciated the successful marriage of art and garden.

     If I had one complaint about the exhibit, it would be that the art was so alluring it made seeing the garden an effort. So for the next Colorado post I will focus on just the gardens. 

Seventh Annual Citywide Bloom Day

     Typing this, I realize just how long it's been since my last post - exactly one month ago for June's Bloom Day. Ironically, my job affords me more free time than I have known in my adult life, yet, I seem to have so little of it. Evenings find me satisfactorily wrung out from work, and the heat. Weekends find me adventuring, usually on my bike or in the kayak, as I feel a need to take advantage of the warm weather (and the fact I can still physically do such things). Which reminds me, I have indeed written a few blog posts, but on my kayaking blog and not here. So to rectify, let's get started.

     Each July Bloom Day, I celebrate one of my favorite trees, the crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia species). The climate here in Norfolk is extremely well suited for them. Winters are generally not too extreme, the summers are long, hot, and humid, and we usually have ample rainfall. In short, the trees thrive here, and we have a Frenchman to thank for it. Fred Huette was the city's first parks director, and it was he, more than anyone else, who promoted crapemyrtles. As a result our streets are festooned in July with huge pink tresses, and in the mornings windshield wipers are needed to clear the fallen blossoms for safe driving. Huette was also one of the founders of the Norfolk Botanical Garden where I work, so you can imagine we might have a few crapemyrtles planted there. Last year the garden was recognized by the North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC) for our Lagerstroemia collection, which is the only recognized collection of this species in the country. So because opportunity presented itself, and because of a lazy streak, the photos for this month's post were taken at the botanical garden.

     If you would like to see what July looks like in other gardens, visit Carol at May Dreams Garden, where she hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.