Are we thinking spring today? Minus 3 here this morning,!

Summer - what is that plant?

That beautiful red flower (with hints of yellow) is a Crocosmia 'Lucifer'. Its common name is monbretia. I, for one, love the direction of the shot. It's not typically photographed that direction. Nice!

Thanks, rob.

I probably shouldn't have answered for you summer, but I was very enamored of your photographic eye of a beautiful specimen :)

I'll vote for spring

It's a beautiful morning in the Arizona desert!

Summer that shot is stunning!

We went to the Louis Ginter Botanic Gardens in Richmond, VA just before New Years. They have an outdoor light display set up for the Holidays.

Mitchel Park Domes, Milwaukee, WI

jem, that purple orchid reminds me of when I lived in Hawai'i. It must be indigenous there? Maybe. But thanks for reminding me of such a warm place on a very cold day.

One of my long lost orchids. May it RIP it died in the flood.

Raven,

How long will it take to recreate something with the orchid collection?

There are 3 domes in Mitchel Park: Desert, Temperate, and Tropical. The orchids are grown in the tropical dome.

Sadly, these domes are ageing and in peril. A couple of years ago, some pieces of concrete fell and it is almost impossible to repair, and the cost is beyond present day budget. One option was to remove these domes. Structurally, these fully glass pained geodesic domes are in no danger of collapsing, but falling chunks of concrete is a hazard. As a stop gap measure, metal mesh nets were installed and who knows how long these domes can be kept open. I haven't been there since these nets were installed, but I can't envision those nets helping appearance. These nets will reduce light admittance a bit.