Friday Smiles 298: Botanica, part 1

Before we begin, I had not planned on being offline due to an electrical outage, nor had I planned on an unexpected trip I must take.  Once I link to AEDM and Friday Smiles tonight, I will be gone until sometime late Sunday afternoon.  I will have no internet or wi-fi, but my friend Scott has agreed to link me so I can keep up with the challenges.  I promise to catch up with everyone when I return.  Now to the main event.

I'm sure you are aware from the post title that I am here for Annie's Friday Smiles.  I'm in a bit of a quandary.  I have tons of photos I have yet to process on my computer.  Many of you remember I went to the Museum of World Treasures for Smithsonian Day.  The only floor I visited was the one with all the wars in which the U.S. participated.  I'm not sure you want to see war related memorabilia so soon after recently seeing the war photos (WWI) from the art museum.

The youngsters have already informed me they will be back to spend time with me again next summer, so I was hoping to take them somewhere they hadn't been this year.  They already had plans of places they wanted to see again, so, if I went by their desired schedule, the one free day was Sunday.  This year, the biggest expense had been the ice skating rink, and it was relatively inexpensive compared to other genre.  That's when I decided to see about the Botanical Gardens.  The price for an adult, anyone 13 and over was $7.00 (USD).  Sunday hours of operation were 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.   Do the math and it's $28.00 for us to go four hours to Botanica.  The Queen of Free (that would be me, Dr. E) was concerned.  I decided to plop down the admission price and see how much I could cover in four hours.

First however, a few funnies.

Giving a man his physical, a doctor noticed several dark, ugly bruises on the man’s shins.

He asked, “Do you play hockey, rugby, or any physical sport?”

“No. I just play bridge with my wife.”

Marvin was in his usual place in the morning sitting at the table, reading the paper after breakfast. He came across an article about a beautiful actress that was about to marry a football player who was known primarily for his lack of IQ and common sense.

He turned to his wife with a look of question on his face. “I’ll never understand why the biggest jerks get the most attractive wives.”

His wife replies, “Why thank you, dear!” 

A beautiful female college student comes to a young professor’s office.

She glances down the hall, closes his door, kneels pleadingly, “I would do anything to pass this exam.”

She leans closer to him, flips back her hair, gazes meaningfully into his eyes. “I mean…” she whispers, “… I would do…anything!!!”

He returns her gaze. “Anything???”

“Yes… Anything!!!”

His voice turns to a whisper. “Would you….. study???”

Jennifer watched as the cashier rang up her purchases.

“Cash, check or charge?” She asked after folding the items Jennifer had bought. As she fumbled for her wallet the cashier noticed a television remote control in her purse.

“Do you always carry your TV remote?” The cashier asked.

“No,” she replied, “but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the best retaliation."

Over breakfast, a woman said to her husband, “I’ll bet you don’t know what day this is.”

“Of course I do,” he answered, as if offended, and left for the office.

At 10:00 a.m., a dozen red roses arrived at the house. At 1:00 p.m., a two-pound box of chocolates was delivered. The designer dress arrived at 3:00.

When her husband came home, the woman ran to meet him and threw her arms around his neck, “I’ve never had a more wonderful Groundhog Day in my life!”

A couple were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.

At the party, everybody wanted to know how they managed to stay married so long in this day and age. The husband responded “When we were first married, we came to an agreement to share. I would make all the major decisions, and my wife would make all the minor decisions.”

“But do you know what I just realized?”

“In 60 years of marriage I don’t think we have ever needed to make a major decision.”

Now please join me for part 1 of an afternoon at Botanica, Wichita's Botanical Gardens.  

These are the grounds leading to the entrance.

I wish my bricks looked as good as the ones at Botanica.

Botanica has a scheme.  You pay inside, then you must walk past the gift shop and the various displays in order to get to the gardens.  I was surprised these carousel horse contributions

changed colors as I was taking the photos.  Looks like they don't have that many more to sell to meet their quota.

Then it was off into the bright sunlight of mid-day.

Unlike my friend Helen (H), who takes us to Kew Gardens in London, I didn't stop to take photos of individual plants or flowers.

I was just trying to get a feel of what to show the children in the event I decided to bring them here next summer.

This is Garden on the Rocks.

There were quite a few people there that day, and I decided I didn't have time to wait until everyone was out of my shots.

This garden has both perennials and annuals that grow in various harsh conditions.

I'm not sure if the children will be interested in this sculpture or not.  It is called "Beach Boy with Pail."

This is my favorite area.  I wasn't sure what it was called, but I've always thought of it as the living wall.  Different plants and flowering herbs are placed in each of the inserts in the wall, and there are places at the top for plants, too.  I later learned it's called the Sensory Garden and the wall is called the Living Herb Wall.

I remember seeing trees like these on my friend Helen's blog and thinking how weird they looked.  I thought someone trimmed them in that shape, but after seeing similar ones at Botanica,   

I now wonder if they grow like that.  I later read this was the Juniper Garden.

This is the inside area of the Sensory Garden.  In summer, the circles will be more concentric.

I was fairly certain the children would like this area which is at one end of the living wall.  BTW, I didn't notice the photos at the top of the structure until I loaded these photos on my blog.

Here is one of two trains that were in operation that day.

Although it's hard to see, here is the other one (on the far left).

Much better once it comes into the sunlight.

I finally got closer, so you can see the miniatures and of course,

the train, too.

I was hoping to catch them both in the same photo.

That was as close as I got!  I had already spent nearly 40 minutes and had very little to show.

Of course, I had to share part of the inside of the Sensory Garden.

I failed to take a photo of the center area because it was time to move on.

Next it was off to see this sculpture, one of my favorite.  It is of three sand hill cranes taking off in flight, even though I failed to show the water that surrounds the sculpture.

It is called "Prairie Wings."

I was blown away by the changes that had been made to the Pavilion.  The columns were new, the glass was new, the ceiling had been enclosed.   It looked so different from the last time I visited several years ago.

The doors were new, as were areas to sit outside the main Pavilion area.

The only thing that wasn't new were those rather uncomfortable wrought iron chairs and tables.

I think that's enough for today.  I don't want to overwhelm you with too many photos.  Thanks for joining me today and thanks for your continued visits.  Now let's visit Annie's Friday Smiles, where it never hurts to begin the weekend with a big smile, just like Annie's. Feel free to join in with a post of your own, too.

This is Day 16, and I am also sharing this with Art Every Day Month (AEDM).