Foster Botanical Gardens: 7 of 7

Okay, I must brag - these are my beautiful children walking around the Gardens!  Besides admiring the flowers and foliage, it is also a great place to run around, play in the grass, and picnic beneath the canopy of an enormous tree.  I hope you have enjoyed this mini-photo tour of Foster Botanical Gardens!

Foster Botanical Gardens: 6 of 7

One of the highlights of the Garden is the Orchid Conservatory, with its many colorful varieties.  My five year old daughter oohs and aahs over the blooms, but her favorite part of the conservatory is a little pond in the back, complete with a waterfall and small fish.  It's Macro Monday, and you can click HERE to see other close-ups and macros.

Foster Botanical Gardens: 5 of 7

These Ballast Stones sit at the Garden's entrance, where a sign tells their story.  The rectangular granite stones were quarried from England, Asia, and the United States over 200 years ago.  From around 1790 to 1840, native Hawaiian Sandalwood was traded for tea, silk, and money in China.  The ships were very heavy when they carried the sandalwood across the Pacific to China.  On the return trip, however, their cargo of tea and silk weighed much less than the wood.  The ballast stones were added to stabilize the ships for their journey home. 

Foster Botanical Gardens: 4 of 7

One part of the gardens is devoted to growing different kinds of heliconias and zingibers.  I love the way singular bright pops of color emerge from the dense, dark green, shaded foliage. 

Foster Botanical Gardens: 3 of 7

It's Skywatch Friday - click HERE to see sky photos from around the world.

Foster Botanical Gardens: 2 of 7

I think the Cannonball Tree is the most bizarre tree I've ever seen.  Here are some things I learned about it:

-The fruit (round and heavy, hence the name "cannonball tree") grows directly from the trunk, instead of from branches as other fruit typically does.  When it falls from the tree it makes a loud explosive noise

- The flowers grow in huge bunches up to 12 feet long, and smell very sweet

- The fruit, on the other hand, smells terrible when opened (I haven't personally experienced this!)

- Hindus regard it as the sacred tree because its flower petals resemble the hood of their revered snake "Naga"

A closer look at the flowers.

Foster Botanical Gardens: 1 of 7

After a recent stroll through Foster Botanical Gardens, I decided to devote a whole week in pictures to it.  This is the trunk of one of the palm trees - and yes, it is really that green (I did not edit the photo).  It's a variety called Roystonea, or "Royal Palm".

To see some great close-ups and macros, please visit Macro Monday.

White-Rumped Shama

Getting this guy on camera was tricky - this is the one and only photo I was able to take.  He was one of two White-Rumped Shamas that kept darting in and out of the shrubs in a corner of Foster Botanical Garden today.  These shamas can be identified by their orange underbelly - unfortunately you can just barely see a sliver of the orange feathers here!