A Beautiful Reflection

Captured in the Waterlily Gardens at Gibbs Gardens, located in Ball Ground, Georgia, two years ago in Summer. It was a hot August day, but I persevered to capture just a tidbit of the beautiful reflections from the pond. I hope you are having a fantastic weekend and Labor Day holiday. ENJOY!

Waterlily Garden at Gibbs, Kentucky Woman Series

As promised here is the next installment in my Kentucky Woman Series. Wondering just what the Kentucky Woman Series means.

Having lived in Tennessee for three years, I decided to pay homage to my home state of Kentucky.

So I am bringing you a series of posts featuring a particular subject in various images from this Kentucky woman.

Today's post hails from beautiful Gibbs Gardens which is situated about an hour northeast of Atlanta in northern Georgia. 

I have to say, this botanical garden is one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever visited.

I traveled to Gibbs Gardens on a hot Summer's day in mid August. The temperatures hovered in the middle 80's, however, the humidity was low on this particular day. Did I mention I watched and waited for a sunny, but less humid span of a couple of days to make the drive to Georgia to view the gardens.

It was as good a day as I was going to get for mid August in northern Georgia, but it turned out to be a nice day. I captured several of these images in midday when I visited the Waterlily Garden the first time. .

Then after visiting other areas of Gibbs, I walked back over to the Waterlily Garden a second time, before I left for the day. So without further fanfare, here are some of the purple Waterlily images I captured on that visit

I would like to say I could identify the exact names for all of these beautiful flowering Waterlilies, but sadly I come up short in that department. I hope you will forgive me.

At one point during my photo session, a Dragonfly decided to fly in for a brief sit down so I captured a few images of him taking a breather. I absolutely love Dragonflies.

These images feature the blue and purple hues in bloom on this bright sunny day at Gibbs. These particular hues are my favorite ones I love to photograph when I'm capturing images of Waterlilies.

For good measure, I thought I would throw in a close up of this purple Waterlily bloom. Gads, what gorgeous flowers. It's hard to imagine all of these images are different Waterlilies, but they are.

There are many gardens at Gibbs to say the least. However, the Waterlily Garden, where I captured these images, turned out to be my favorite. My second favorite was the Japanese Garden. I wished I could describe how gorgeous the Japanese Garden was. Perhaps, another Kentucky Woman Series post is in order to show you some of the beautiful greenery from my visit to that garden. The Weeping Willows with their hanging branches, coupled with the Japanese sculpture featured throughout that garden, was stunning.

I have fallen in love with botanical gardens. Soon, I hope to visit Cheekwood. I would have made the drive over to Nashville by now, but bronchitis had other plans. But, I am back in fighting form again so I hope to pay a visit there soon. I hope you enjoy these images. I loved capturing them. ENJOY!

A Beautiful Waterlily and an Update

Just a quick note to let you know I am still kicking. I have been on a break while I battle this incredulous bronchitis that I've had for over 2 1/2 weeks now. Hopefully, it's on the way out. I dream of being outdoors and taking photos, but dreams are it for now as I haven't ventured out much in weeks especially since most days the pollen count is very high. I have been following your blogs and hope all is well. ENJOY!

Resplendent Waterlily

Fall is slowly creeping into our lives and perhaps, more than creeping in, at the higher altitudes. I believe I saw a snowfall on the Weather Channel this week. I wanted to close the week with this resplendent Waterlily bloom I captured while walking around the Waterlily Gardens at Gibbs Gardens a few weeks ago. I have been decorating for Fall, adding touches here and there, throughout my place in an attempt to bring the outdoors of Fall indoors. Are you knee deep in faux pumpkins and splashy wreaths adorned with Fall leaves and stalks of corn. On another note, I hope you are enjoying the cooler temps. While we have had a few hot days this week in the 90's with some humidity, we have not had stifling days like we did back in July and August. Just that slight difference in temps is a big help. Wherever you are this weekend I hope it finds you dreaming of Fall! ENJOY!

Waterlily Gardens, Gibbs Gardens

As beautiful as the lush Japanese Gardens were with the gorgeous foliage and large ponds with the Weeping Willow branches draped over the water, the Waterlily Gardens at Gibbs Gardens was simply gorgeous. Clumps of Waterlilies blooming in vibrant captivating colors graced the many ponds of the Waterlily Gardens. There are supposedly 140 varieties of Waterlilies that bloom here throughout the year.

The water source here comes from underground springs adding to the natural feeling you get as you walk among the ponds. As you meander from path to path, you encounter wooden bridges, covered bridges and even natural rock bridges, not to mention small waterfalls and even a Japanese pagoda. Remarkably, this Waterlily Garden has the largest natural display of Waterlilies in the nation.

The star of this feature garden though is the Waterlily flowers in bloom with their vibrant yellows, pinks, blues and lavenders. Before I left Gibbs for the day, I took a second walk around this particular garden as it was so captivating an experience. I was in my glory with all of the color and the beautiful Lily Pads. On this particular day the temperatures were milder than had been all Summer which I had noted on the forecast while planning this trip. I knew I would be spending three or four hours or longer walking throughout these gardens and I wanted the day to be somewhat mild. Thankfully, it was. What a magical place. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed taking them. ENJOY!

Pink Waterlily

Beautiful waterlilies are blooming less than a mile from my house and I couldn't help but post another image from photos I took a few weeks ago. I think I love this pink waterlily most. The pond itself is healthy with large lily pads. It is so beautiful. I didn't get out this weekend as I expected to. But I am slowwwwly getting this creeping crude I have to break up. I'll try to get out this weekend coming up except it's predicted to be in the low 90's so we'll have to see. ENJOY!

Pink Waterlily

Only one Waterlily graced the pond next to the Pavilion at Bernheim Saturday. These beautiful flowers seem so fragile and delicate to be growing in such an environment as a pond. I especially love the blush pink color of these pedals. I think of all the colors of Waterlilies this has to be one of my favorites. ENJOY!

Waterlily

What is more delicate and beautiful than a Waterlily? I believe this particular Waterlily is a Peach Glow. I don't know what I love more, the blooms or the lily pads that surround the blooms. ENJOY!

Waterlily!

A little something to get your weekend off to a beautiful start. These gorgeous waterlilies were blooming in The Italian Garden at the Biltmore Estate back in late summer. You know me. I had to photograph them. And as usual, and need I say it again, and as usual, the sunlight drowned out the detail and the shadows were very dark, but of course, I had to try to bring it back to life. Not sure if I got there but here's the end result. ENJOY!

Subleties of Light!

I did my best to adjust the levels to get more of the center of this waterlily and its detail. It just wasn't in the cards. And in doing so I believe I lost a little bit of the reflection in the water. But I'm posting anyway because it's so beautiful. I took this beautiful waterlily back in early early spring at Bernheim. ENJOY!

Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest, Clermont, Kentucky

When you visit Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest, you're going to want to stay awhile. This beautiful park is off of I-65 just south of Louisville. Every time I visit, I find a sense of peace and solitude that makes me want to stay for a while. Bernheim has a little bit of everything from wildflower gardens and lakes to forests and of course the arboretum. On this particular day it was a wee bit warm and henceforth most of the park's visitors stayed away. Lucky me! I felt like the park was all mine. I had a quick bite at the visitor center's cafe and took a drive into the forest but most of my time was spent in the arboretum and wildflower gardens. I've visited this park in all four seasons. Autumn boasts bright reds, oranges and yellows and is simply gorgeous. I hope you'll plan a trip if you're in the area. Here are a few of the digital pics I took on my recent visit. Yes, I spent some time in the butterfly garden. Can you blame me.