Pink Lilies

Pink Lilies at Garden Center

Pink Lilies © 2010 Bo Mackison

Since my garden isn’t quite at the blooming stage, I like to visit my local garden center, a locally owned piece of paradise. No matter what color I have a hankering for, I’m sure to find it there.

Pink isn’t a color I seek out with much regularity, but this huge bunch of lilies caught my attention, and kept it long enough that I had to take a few photographs. Beautiful, hmm?

Magnolia Sky

Magnolias at Longenecker Garden at University of Madison Arboretum

Magnolia Sky © 2010 Bo Mackison

Sometimes the best view is up!

Especially at Longenecker Gardens at the University of Wisconsin’s Longenecker Gardens in Madison. There are over 300 varieties of crabapples, magnolias, and lilacs in the arboretum.

Hearts of Spring

Hearts of Spring © 2010 Bo Mackison

Hearts of Spring © 2010 Bo Mackison

My grandmother’s garden had a bleeding hearts plant. I was fond of the tiny pink hearts that would bloom in April and May, all bunched together on branches. I always wanted to pick the branches of bleeding hearts to put in a jar in the house, but that wasn’t allowed. I can see why now. There is something quite magnificent about a little bush covered with rows upon rows of tiny fragile heart flowers.

These bleeding hearts are not from my grandmother’s garden. They were photographed at the Allen Centennial Gardens in the heart of the University of Wisconsin’s urban campus. This 2.5 acre garden serves the University’s horticultural program and students, although the university and Madison communities also benefit from this garden filled with botanical wonders and lovely sitting spaces.

Narcissus

Ahhh...Spring Flowers

Ahhh...Spring Flowers

More rainstorms today, but April showers bring April flowers, too. These narcissus are from my garden.

Organ Pipe Cactus

Sonoran Desert

in the Sonoran Desert

The Organ Pipe Cactus is one of the giant cacti, second in size only to the more iconic Saguaro. Instead of having a single trunk with branches, the organ pipe has 6 to 20 stems all growing from a central trunk. It will typically grow about 15 feet tall, though specimens have measured more than 20 feet in height.

Its habitat is limited to Sonora and Baja California, Mexico, and southwestern Arizona. In the United States, the largest number are found in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument located near the Mexico/Arizona border.