Inner Workings

I am continually fascinated by the inner workings of a tropical greenhouse. So much is going on just behind all those palm trees and leaves.

Glamour Do and Don't

I cannot tell you how perfect this little girl's outfit was. From the cute pink knitted cap to the fringed cowboy skirt to the blue-and-white striped stockings, there wasn't a piece of this outfit that wasn't adorable. Her parents told me she picked it all herself. If only I had that much fashion sense at five!




Hands down, the ugliest bridesmaid dress color I have ever seen. Most of the bridesmaids (and there were many of them) were blonde and pale, which made it worse. Poor sallow things!

Chihuly in the Koi Pond

A couple of years ago, Garfield Park Conservatory had a huge Chihuly exhibit, which is a collection of blown glass pieces created by the artist Dale Chihuly. They recently installed just a few pieces in the koi pond this winter.





The koi seemed to enjoy it a lot; they were swimming all around them!

Looking up

The perspective when I look up at Garfield Park Conversatory is always fascinating to me.

Patterns

All from the conservatory trip last week. There's more to see than just flowers and greenery!


Vines and Pipes



I love the wide pattern of this.



Looked like battered sails on a pirate ship to me.

Garfield Park Conservatory

Note to my dad, the weather junkie: we have at least five inches of snow on the ground, and the storm hasn't completely passed us yet. It's hard to tell how much is out there because the wind has blown it all over. But at least my car will be easier to clean this morning!

To avoid thinking about that, here are some more photos of greenhouses, this time at Garfield Park Conservatory, located in the middle of the west side of Chicago.

The main entrance:



The great hall:



Next week: details, and more flowers!

A welcome shock of green

Just what I needed to see in the middle of a cold, white winter. Taken at Garfield Park Conservatory, January 2008.

Unfurling Fern

Taken at the Garfield Park Conservatory, January 2008. It was such a relief to see green growing things at this time of year! If you have a conservatory near you, I recommend a visit. Definitely lifts the spirits during the gray days of winter.

In the Monet Garden

My dad asked me yesterday where I had been taking all the pictures of the totems and art pieces I've been posting lately. I told him they all came from the Garfield Park Conservatory, which is actually a greenhouse garden, not an art gallery as you might have thought from the photos I've been posting. Garfield Park is located in Chicago, and is one of the largest conservatories in the country.

To prove it, today's photos will all be flowers, specifically from the Monet Garden, one of the few outdoor gardens of the conservatory. (Something else you may not have realized from the photos; it's mostly greenhouses!)

This is the Monet Garden. Gee, I wonder why it's called that? :)



Black-eyed Susans, one of my favorite flowers of the summer.


Butterfly walking between two purple coneflowers (even nicer viewed in large size)


Summer, summer, summer!


I'll be making another trip to Garfield Park this weekend. So there will be more!

Totem Heads and other pieces from Nikki

Bird Head Totem, 2000


Grande Step Totem, 2001


Cat Head Totem, 2000

More from the Nikki in the Garden exhibit can be found at Flickr. It was just so COOL!

Also, one of my photos from yesterday was selected as the "Extra, Extra" shot on Chicagoist. Yay!

My, what pearly teeth you have!

Taken at the Nikki in the Garden exhibit at the Garfield Park Conservatory. Really worth seeing if you can.



The teeth were my favorite part!



You could go into the skull, too, and play. Guess what I played with the most?

Nanas

The Three Graces, by Niki de Saint Phalle. A few more shots can be found here.

These are some of the "nana"s on display at the Niki in the Garden exhibit at the Garfield Park Conservatory this summer and fall. I love the style and joy of their forms, and I especially loved the way the artist herself described them:

"Nanas are like goddesses to me, even superwomen of the sort, primitive tribes idolized. Perhaps they're aggressive -- that's what some men think. They certainly know what they want, but they are warm, not mean."

There were many other nanas exhibited, and I'll be making a return trip this month with my new camera to get better shots of them. I wasn't thrilled with how some of them came out, and it certainly wasn't the nana's fault! They were glorious.

Underside of a Fern

The Garfield Park Conservatory always seems to have such fascinating patterns on their leaves.

Top of a Totem

Part of the Niki in the Garden exhibit at the Garfield Park Conservatory. Artist is Niki de Saint Phalle.

I have been taking photos again! Now I just have to find the time to clean up and post them -- I've amassed quite a few. Good thing I have this month off to work on them!

Because there is only so much snow one person can shoot

Fuzzy Cactus



Prickly Cactus

Thank goodness for greenhouses!

Coming soon!

The weather is warming up, finally, and soon these will be visible outside as well as in greenhouses. I can't wait!

Maybe Stronger Language Will Help

This power box and its battle-of-wills signage cracks me up. Do you think they heed the warning now?

A few more detailed shots have been added to the Garfield Park Conservatory set. Oh, and my Lighthouse Beacon shot was selected for use on the Chicagoist newsblog!

Idyl Statue

More from my trip to the Garfield Park Conservatory is up at Flickr, including this closeup of the Idyl statue sculpted by Loredo Taft in 1913. There's just something about the concerned expression on the man's face on the left that really moves me.

Palm Leaf Detail

My apologies for skipping a couple of days of posts; a friend of mine said I should post a shot of the lid of the Peter Pan peanut butter jar that got me sick so you could see where I'd been. Yep, I ate the recalled peanut butter and I got a mild case of salmonella food poisoning. I'm all better now, but it didn't put me in the mood to take any pictures. Sorry!

But I am better now, and yesterday I went to the Garfield Park Conservatory to enjoy some cheery flowers and a bit of a rainforest. Today's shots are all of the strange and beautiful palms that I saw; definitely not a part of our native landscape in Chicago! You can see a few more in the Garfield Park Conservatory set.