Category Archives: Gardening

Aug20

The flowers of Zermatt

Posted on by
Standard

Thursday, 18-July-2024, through Wednesday, 24-July-2024


Astute readers may have noticed a peculiarity in my last few posts.

They lack flowers.

I do enjoy photographing flowers – they’re colorful, they’re pretty, and they generally have interesting little details that make them fun to look at up close and magnified. It’s a habit I picked up years and years ago, when I would do solo hikes and want to bring back pictures that a partner could use as references for her art… but now, I continue searching them out because they simply make me exceptionally happy. Both in the moment, and when reviewing photos later on and seeing those that come out just right.


Zermatt has tons of flowers – and I was fortunate enough to arrive just in time for the alpine blooms throughout the valley! Likely made even more spectacular due to my adventures, traversing between different elevations, allowing me the opportunity to see different blooming strata.

In short – I got one or two photos that I’m extremely proud of. Please – sit back, relax, and enjoy what I bring to you, my dearest readers, from the mountains of the Swiss alps. In, on, and around the beautiful town of Zermatt.

Jul14

The Warsaw University library gardens

Posted on by
Standard

Thursday, 20-June-2024


I adore post-apocalyptic citycapes.

I mean, I adore landscapes in general. And even some contemporary cityscapes. But cityscapes of crumbling infrastructure, with plants reclaiming the world of iron, glass, and cement… Now that’s just a special kind of beautiful.

That’s actually the look that I aim for with my gardens, interestingly enough. “Plants reclaiming civilization” is the goal – that’s why I love rusted wrought iron, shattered ceramics, and crawling vines so much.



As I was exploring Warsaw, just wandering about and appreciating the calm and opportunity to walk without a goal, I saw a garden in the distance. A glass dome, specifically, with vines crawling up around it. It called to me, and I answered by curving my path and heading into the garden surrounding it.

I couldn’t have imagined just how amazing this garden would be… nor that it was actually part of the University of Warsaw!


It turns out – I first saw the University Library a bit earlier on my walk – the front facade is… well, it’s hard to describe, except that I feel like this is what the Library of Alexandria should have looked like. I’ll let my camera do the talking, here. You know what? I’ll just step back and let the camera paint you, my dear readers, a picture of the entire landscape:

Jun14

The Oslo Botanical Gardens

Posted on by
Standard

Wednesday, 22-May-2024


My first day in Oslo, I wandered.

My goal was the Oslo Natural History Museum, or the Naturhistorisk museum in the Norwegian parlance, but I wasn’t locked into getting there in any rush. Oslo was still new to me, and I was enjoying the opportunity to wander.

I’d had a coffee, sandwich, and smoothie earlier in the day and was feeling well fortified, so I set up directions on my phone, grabbed my satchel, and headed out the door.

Nearly to the museum, I realized that it was guarded by one of the most effective barriers in existence against a member of my family… a garden. An expansive garden, full of beautiful flowers and interesting greenhouses. Those clever devils, they knew how to distract me from my destination! How was our hero going to get past this blockade??

I mean, I wasn’t in a rush.

I got past the cleverly-placed blockade simply by walking something like 5 miles, wandering into every corner of the gardens that I could find. Through outdoor pathways, paved and gravel, I wandered and appreciated the views and the smells. Through greenhouses, I ogled massive lily pads and sweat in the heat of a simulated Arizona desert. I saw a pineapple, and the biggest pitchers I’ve ever seen on a pitcher plant.

It was awesome.



I even found a cool “Viking longship” educational sculpture!