I was just in San Diego visiting my friends, and you know I had to go see the sea lions! Please enjoy these photos from the La Jolla coastline.
Tag: Photography
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Look at this one smiling 🙂 -
While I was in San Diego, my friends and I walked around the botanical garden in Encinitas. It was the perfect day for it; the sun was hitting all the flowers and plants just right.
Isn’t this tree cute? And very aptly named! 
We spotted a lizard! Kinda looks like it’s doing the iconic Little Mermaid rock pose 
Lucky for us, the sapphire towers were in bloom when we went 
I love the shape of these flowers. I can see why they’re called Brazilian plumes — they remind me of little plumes of feathers. 
Ti plants are so beautiful. The red and pinkish varieties might be my favorites. 
Cacti and succulents were featured heavily here. You can’t find those at just any botanical garden! 
The bamboo garden was closed, but we were still able to walk around the edges and get a glimpse at some of it. 
Did you know that a banana is an herb? Because banana trees don’t have a woody trunk, they are categorized as herbaceous perennials, botanically speaking. 
This plant is called the ribbon bush or tapeworm bush because its jointed stems look like the segmented body of a tapeworm. 
If you look close, you can find it — another little lizard! 
Thank you for looking at these photos I took and reading along! I hope you enjoyed ♡
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Last summer, I went to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens to see the lotus flowers and water lilies. My coworker had told me about the Lotus & Water Lily Festival the year before, but I hadn’t made it in time to see the blooms. This summer, I was determined to see the aquatic gardens during peak season and take way too many pictures of the beautiful flowers. And that’s exactly what I did.
I had to get there early because it was supposed to get really hot on the day I decided to go, and the lotuses can close up in the heat. I made an entire spreadsheet with multiple tabs for the packing list, a map of the aquatic gardens and Anacostia River Trails, special events being offered that day, and a link to the Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens alerts and conditions webpage. I was definitely overprepared because I didn’t end up going to any of the special events or walking along the river; there was so much to see just walking around exploring the gardens all day.
Should you ever want to attend the Lotus & Water Lily Festival, please feel free to make use of the maps above and my non-exhaustive packing list.
These two very kind visitors standing near me while I was taking photos noticed my camera and pointed out a turtle in one of the ponds. It was so cute! Oh, to be a turtle climbing onto a lily pad on a sunny July afternoon…
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed these pictures even a little bit as much as I enjoyed taking them ♡
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In July 2022, my family and I were in France for a wedding, and during the leg of the trip when we stayed in Paris, my mom and I went to a botanical garden called the Jardin des Plantes.
My mother has been doing flower arrangements since her late teens or early twenties and co-created the Flower Guild ministry for our church in 2002. Whenever I see a plant I don’t recognize or want to know more about, I can ask her. I’m still thinking of starting a podcast with my mom where we focus each episode on a certain plant and she answers my questions or tells any stories she might have about that plant. We’re perfectly situated to have a plant-themed podcast considering that her name is Fern.
Flowers are probably my favorite things to photograph, maybe because it’s difficult to take a bad picture of a flower (though I’ve definitely done it). I also love all of the variation you’ll see when you spend a lot of time looking at plants. It’s a reminder that there are so many different ways for something to be beautiful. So when I considered what my first photography post should be about, our trip to the Jardin des Plantes de Paris stood out in my mind.
I was *transfixed* by the sunflowers at the Jardin des Plantes. This variation of the common sunflower is called the Ring of Fire cultivar for the ring of red around the center of the bloom. The way the sun hit the two-toned petals was so beautiful. 
This building is the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, or the Gallery of Evolution, one of five buildings in the Jardin des Plantes de Paris that make up the National Museum of Natural History. 
I love the dimension dahlias have; their densely layered petals make them look so unique. I don’t think I had ever seen dahlias that looked like the red and white ones pictured here. There was a little bee who also seemed to be enjoying the dahlias 🙂 
The crows had the run of the place.
They were so bold. The only ones security didn’t bother when they walked on the grass.
There were greenhouses, but we didn’t go inside — I think you had to pay for entry. Gives us something to look forward to for next time! 
This tree was just breathtaking. It looks like it’s from another planet — the leaves are like ferns, and the blooms are like feathers. I think it’s called a silk tree. I’m obsessed. 
Thank you for reading! And for looking at some pictures I took while I had a nice day with my mom ♡
farfaraway 