Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens 2011

[Roanoker]

If pictures are missing, see them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/115393943@ ... 306066634/.

My husband, son and I visited the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens on September 24, 2011. Here are the first six pictures
of the series. You will see a lot of flowers.

[Roanoker]

Toot, toot!


Even storage sheds in this place are pretty.


I guess an arboretum needs to have an arbor.


Almost looks like a dessert being offered up.


Perfect, except for that little hole.


Those of you who like purple will like this shot.


Another visitor.


I like the variety.


Pretty in pink.


Teensy bouquet on a stalk.


Not speaking.


Portrait-oriented image pasted on top of a larger version of itself, and trimmed a little.

[slimwhitman]

The 2006 arboretum master plan and many recent gardens (train, iris, overlook and some not-yet-built gardens) were designed by Gould Evans. So was the entry sign and initial planting from the first photo in your set.

[Roanoker]

Thank you for the information, slim. It is a beautiful place.

[Roanoker]

Caught a couple of bees, doing their thing.


Dressed in red.


I wonder if vines have grown over those arbors yet.


Just white with a touch of yellow.


This one turned out on the wild side. The background is a filtered version of the same image. I cut around the foreground layer to get
rid of the hard, rectangular edges.


I liked the top of this picture so much I just discarded the rest of it.


Such pretty color. If I had noticed that stupid hose/vine-like thing bottom-right earlier, I would have cloned it out.


I wonder if this is akin to the "primrose path" I have heard about.


The portrait-oriented image is in the center with pieces of its larger self on the sides.


I kind of like the way the filtered background turned out.


I shoved the portrait-oriented image to the far right and pulled in part of the background to fill the left side. My son's arm almost got
in the way.


I had cloned out this woman, who originally appeared in the picture above. Now she is a featured item.

[Roanoker]

The lake water makes a good background for these roses.


I was going to try something special with this, but what the heck. It looks good all by itself. (It is a smaller part of the entire image.)


I guess we all come and go.


If you want to stroll around the lake, you have a nice walkway to accommodate you.


Many five-pointed, pink flowers. Like stars.


What else would you do with a portrait-oriented image that was angled badly prior to rotation? I did like those flowers and the scene.


It's good to know that the garden is maintained by volunteers. They do a really good job.


Water, willow branches and cattails make for a serene picture.


I probably yelled at my son to "Stop!"


Sun-worshippers.


Almost like a giant water drop.


I probably tilted the camera to capture both the trees and flowers. Whatever.

[Roanoker]

Goldfish!


What's a lake without cattails?


Cattail neighborhood.


In case you get tired...


Even the sky was cooperative that day.


My husband is sitting on the other side of the lake.


This ramp was placed in position to encourage turtles to sun themselves. The poor turtles in the lake behind my house have to use rocks and logs.


I'm always a sucker for grass and the sun. Here, we get both!


There is probably more order here than is apparent.


Odd grassy patch.


Can you smell the dirt?


You knew there would be a babbling brook.

[Roanoker]

Small falls and stream.


Nicer, smaller section of a bigger picture.


Nothing much to say here.


The sun was kind enough to blast my face. My son is a giant.


Garden overview.


Nice daisies.


A pond is hiding in there.


Branches with flowers and a lens flare. Okay by me.


I think these are the same flowers. But they certainly look different.


I liked the original mass of flowers and vines, but I like the impressionistic version even better.


A statue is holding her own.


Don't walk on me.

[Roanoker]

I thought daisies were supposed to be yellow.


This is just a small part of the picture. I was going to use it for a background, but I liked it so much as is, I decided to leave it alone.


Portrait view of the same scene. (Not the same picture.)


I do like grass.


Purple daisies? Asters? Dunno.


I spent a long time snipping away pieces of the top layer. I don't think it was worth the trouble.


I think you had to be there to appreciate this one.


If anyone cares...


Another silly experiment.


Nothing like simple beauty. Anyone see the ghost in the background? "Booooooo."


Thistles, standing at attention.


An army of thistles.


"Thistle" be all for this week.

[Roanoker]

Purple skirt.


Son on bridge.


These leaves seem a little large for the tiny flowers.


I don't think I've ever taken a picture of flowers with such distinctive shadows.


Pretty flower in a pretty flower.


Aren't these leaves stunning?


Both husband and son on the bridge, looking at something below.


Okay. I applied a filter to this one.


Soaking up the sun.


I like the bright colors.


Hanging on for dear life.


Nice place to walk your dogs.

[KCMax]

So if you like trains, the caboose and model train exhibit are now open. My kids loved it.

[Roanoker]

Thank you for the heads up, KCMax. We'll have to grab my grandson and go back. Camera, too!

[Roanoker]

These are the last of the Arboretum pictures. I'll start a new thread for the other nine pictures.

How about a sloppy painting?


Whoa! I wanted to tone down the background so the pretty flowers would stand out, and I discovered the wonderful Lens Blur. Cutting around
the flowers was a pain, and I didn't do a very good job. Still learning.


I used the Lens Blur for the background in a different way here. Still not great. Still learning.


On to the next, new thread.