A visit to the New York Botanical Garden

Two of my favorite things to do are walking on the beach, looking for shells, and strolling through gardens, photographing flowers.

This weekend I indulged in the latter -- taking the spouse with me to visit the New York Botanical Garden (one of my favorite gardens, and places) to check out what was blooming, as well as view the new Frida Kahlo exhibit, which we both recommend.

(Just don't go on a weekend, if you can help it. We waited on line for an hour to see the dozen or so Frida Kahlo paintings and drawings on exhibit, which we were allowed maybe 10 minutes to view.)

While we enjoyed looking at Kahlo's paintings, which heavily feature nature, viewing real live nature, specifically flowers, was the main reason we went to the New York Botanical Garden. And walking the grounds, you really got the sense that spring was finally here -- a feeling I wanted to capture with my camera.

And I think these three photos, of irises and poppies, really give you the sense of spring emerging from the bleak winter landscape.

Irises I

Poppies

Irises II

UPDATED: Decided to throw in a shot of the glorious Alliums, which look like something out of Dr. Seuss.

You can view more of my flower photos here.