Botanical Garden Visit

On March 3, my friend and I went to the Kanapaha Botanical Garden in Gainesville. We were surprised to see that a lot of areas had been cut back and there wasn't much in bloom. Despite this, we still had a nice time wandering the garden. 

        
        

Although much of the areas had been cut back, I did see some plants. All of the bamboo around the garden was standing tall, and I learned about different varieties. Being from Kansas, I don't see bamboo often, and I had never heard of Heavenly Bamboo, which I learned isn't actually bamboo at all. 


The bamboo forest habitat was thriving, and I really enjoyed walking through it.


There were a few flowers that were in bloom. The first one I came across was the daffodils, which I was familiar with because my mom grows them in our garden back home. They smelled so good!


There were pockets of camellias throughout the garden. I'm not sure if I've seen them in person before, but I've definitely never seen so many in one place!



Over by the hummingbird garden, I walked under a magnolia tree. I thought I was familiar with magnolias since they are a common scent in candles and perfumes, but I was surprised by how big the flowers are!


I was not familiar with the queens tears flower. Although most of the plants had not bloomed, there were a couple flowers that I could see.


There were some flowers hanging in planters outside the entrance to the gardens. One that drew my attention was the Cattleya aurantiaca. 


In addition to the flowers I saw, there were some leafy plants that had not been cut back. There were shield leaves, elephant ears, and gray ghost plants, all of which I thought were cool and unlike any plants I usually see. 



Overall, I was disappointed that so much of the garden was cut back and things weren't in bloom. The garden is known for its giant lily pads, which weren't present. It was peaceful though, and I had a nice time walking around with my friend. It would be really interesting to see how different it would look if I visited in September instead of March.


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