The variety of gardens is so spectacular; it’s hard to chose where to go.

Here is a checkerboard pattern of hedges in contrast to a silvery-blue colored groundcover and the arches in the background. It makes you want to sit on one of their benches and just drink it all in.

In this gazebo, you could sit down, although standing against the railing felt great because of the wonderful breeze coming through.

There were no shortages on places to sit along the way, which made it very pleasant. If you needed to rest, or fumble for a lens, or sit down for a while, you certainly could.

This is another view of this spectacular pool. My parents had a few of these in our yard, but they were filled in when I was little because they attracted neighborhood boys that liked to catch frogs, and were expensive to keep up. Our pools were stocked with goldfish, but I didn’t see any in these waters.

The Chicago Botanic garden is a simply lovely place to while away the hours.

Of course, darling little girls caught my eye who were there with their families, and I couldn’t resist taking pictures of their sweet little faces.

They reminded me of Stephen Hanks watercolors of children.

This woman was enjoying the mild weather, with her newspaper spread out and was reading her Sunday paper. This kind of picture takes me back to when things were simpler.

I was immediately drawn to the walled English gardens with their carefully trimmed hedges. They reminded me of the privet hedge that surrounded my parents’ corner lot, and which my father was constantly tending.

Although…these are much taller and dramatic than the privet hedge on my family’s corner lot.

The music of running water was evident with numerous fountains and pools.

I’m not sure what these are called, but you can see the shooting water bursts behind the people walking; they look like white blades of grass.

The picture above is of a central circular short fountain type structure, that was surrounded by pools that had waterlilies and lily pads floating in them, guarded by fencing.

Backing up a little bit to get a broader view, this is what it looked like. See the unbelievable sight? Slightly to the right in this photograph is a PALM TREE. Unbelievable.

Carefully pruned hedges surrounded curved walkways, leaving a dramatic effect.

There were a number of places where you could find water lilies. I think the photo above is Japanese Lotus.

They come in a variety of colors.

I thought this shot was spectacular; I’ve never seen such a thing.

They’re all quite pretty, and unusual; I’d never seen them in this type of setting before.

It began to get rather crowded and hot, as the sun was rapidly going up to the high noon location. The Botanic Garden is a tremendously large place. There are buildings, a greenhouse, and a number of things we didn’t even get to; but it was such an enjoyable trip.

This doorway reminds me of ‘the secret garden’.

My husband shook his head and said ‘the British go a little overboard with their pruned hedges…’ - but I think it adds tremendous drama to a landscape, and I know it’s a tremendous effort to keep them that way.

The butterfly exhibit at Brookfield Zoo made me very aware of the butterflies and the opportunities for taking pictures of them. This one was practically posing for me; a swallowtail got away before I was ready!

There were many bold chipmunks who darted in and out among the crowds. People seem to walk - oblivious as to what’s going on - it’s no wonder they do so well and come running out only to dart underneath a privet hedge or clump of roses.

There are a considerable number of wetlands type areas where there are water lilies with their associated lily pads in the water. And along the way, you can find without looking very hard, turtles and herons and other wildlife.

i took another 200 something pictures on this trip, so I’ll be wading through them to post one or two more little vignettes.

In a courtyard there was a special show of bonsai, which was spectacular; and inside, they had a mushroom club meeting with tables of mushrooms. I didn’t find that very interesting, but I took pictures of some of the bonsai. There are a few other points of interest, but I think this is enough for today.

Hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

I finally DID get a shot of a robin, LOL…they were stealth flyers in that place.

Steve is now getting a Canon Rebel and it’s on its way. We are going to be taking a lot more of these trips; I have so many ideas of where to go and places I want to check out. He’ll probably want to go to a railway museum; but I think some of the interesting places in Chicago - like the Chicago Aquarium would be neat places to go. Or since it’s on its way to my folks place, we could take some pictures of Al Capone’s hideout - which is now a restaurant. It’s a pretty cool place to go and eat.