A Trip to the Garfield Park Conservatory
Thes pics are from last weekend, when Liz and I visited the Garfield Park Conservatory, on a whim. We both hadn’t been out and about for a good while, and Liz decided that a field trip was in order.
Forgot to write down the name of this guy. Since we’d been here a few times before, I was mostly just snapping photos here and there… and not really making a lot of active efforts to document things.
This was a first – the bench near the small pond in the Aroid House is usually taken. Every time we’ve come here before now, someone has been sitting here, looking out over the koi and the Chihuly glass sculptures. Finding the seat vacant was a nice little surprise.
View from the bench, looking out over the pond.
In the desert house, using a macro on some small cacti.
Super zoom on a small flower (from the above pic).
Going a little overboard with the macro, but these plants were all situated along a ledge that made it super easy to balance the camera and zoom in.
Walking around outside, I noticed that a lot of the clay pots didn’t seem to have changed much.
View of the outdoor garden area (the conservatory is directly behind me). Funny how the curve of the field in back makes this look like I used a little fisheye lens.
This is the underside of a banana plant, looking up.
Full view (I can’t help but think of Little Shop).
Throughout the building, there are all these fantastic and intricate pipes.
In many of the larger rooms, there are a ton of pulleys and metal extensions that allow the staff to open vents, adjust window shades, etc. Alongside all the walls, tons of thick pipes move water all across the various rooms. They’re easy to miss, but once you see them… the Conservatory takes on a slight factory/mechanical feel.
I’m pretty happy with the way this turned out. All in all, I’m not sure if the sheer size of this thing comes through (note the plaque to the right).
Amazing that the seed for this guy weighed in at 50 pounds. That’s a big baby!
A turtle, sunning itself on the rocks in the Fern Room.
This is a photo that’s hanging on a wall, near the entrance of the Conservatory. It’s by the Gift Shop, and as I was waiting around… it caught my eye. I love how old it is, as well as the smile on the woman walking in to the warmth of the Conservatory in what seems to be the thick of a Chicago winter.
Related:
First Visit to Garfield Park Conservatory
Wedding Planning: Reception Recon
Tricia, Paige and Darryl at the Conservatory
Franklin Park Conservatory – Columbus, OH
Wedding Reception Recon: Lincoln Park and the Notebaert Museum
Lincoln Park Zoo
that hot pink flower is an azelea (actually a member of the rhodedendron family – i hope i spelled that right, i usally just write rhodie ;)feel better felix!
Anonymous (April 13, 2009 at 6:25 am)Very nice captures! I went few weeks back to this conservatory, it was a cool place to visit, but could’nt see the Aroid House since it was closed.
Nevin (April 29, 2014 at 7:47 pm)