Longwood Gardens
On my 40th birthday, I went back to Longwood gardens to photograph their plants. Growing up in southeast PA, Longwood was known widely as the biggest and best botanic garden in the area. I remember loving the water lilies and orchids, so I brought my macro lens with me. The weather was slightly rainy, which added something to the water lily photos.
Water on floor in grand hall in the main greenhouse
The main greenhouse has grand halls. This one has water on the marble floor which makes it very reflective.
Pineapple
Bromeliad
Bird of Paradise
The water lilies are located between the main conservatory and the west conservatory. The lilies and other plants are in shallow ponds with dark water. The dark water and rain drops made for nice lily photos on my 40th birthday.
Water lily during rain
Shooting water lilies with my Canon 100mm macro lens gives opportunity to play with bokeh and reflection. The points of light in the reflection are out of focus in the image, rendering watery ripples into the normally round bokeh balls. The light on the partly open lily looks great to my eye, especially with the light column reflecting down the center of the image.
Water lily partly closed
Sensitive aquatic plant
Pink water lily during rain
Partly open water lily buds and dark red lily pads
Walking past the lily ponds, the west conservatory is large and completely covered in glass.
The West Conservatory
Walking into the west conservatory thick strings of Burro’s Tail sedum hang above the entrance.
Baby Burro’s Tail Sedum
Pincushion Protea in the west conservatory
Cotton Lavender
Kangaroo Paw
Iris
At the far end of the west conservatory, there is a buddha’s hand citron being grown along a trellis in the italian style. These citrus fruits look so unique with their fingers and virtually no juice. I would love to try it if they collected the fruits and made candied rind from them.
Buddha’s hand citron
Buddha’s hand citron
Inside the west conservatory
Bromeliad
Philodendron Melanocrysum in the Cascade Conservatory
The orchid room is located at the west end of the main conservatory. The walls are covered in pots of unique and beautiful orchids. From clusters of tiny dendrobium to slipper shaped paphiopedilum, the orchid room never disappoints.
Paphiopedilum orchid
