texas: fort worth botanical gardens

 we pretty much find critters wherever we go.  this little guy was ferocious!

 and because one can never have too many grasshopper pictures.

here is the moon flower sans grasshoppers.  very pretty.  and my brother-in-law says that they attract luna moths.  now i want one. 

 i suspect this might be a luna caterpillar.

 and continuing with the creature feature, here are some excellent specimens of the homo sapien.

there were several really nice pond areas with a variety of water lilies.  i liked that they were kept in pots, so the potential for invasive growth was kept under control.

string of pearls or string of peas or some such.  it was a tree.

 these are indigenous to tennessee, except ours are orange.

it seems that every botanical garden has a signature flower.  at the fort worth botanical garden, it was the hibiscus.  they were scattered everywhere throughout the 109 acre property.

the name escapes me at the moment, but these are sold everywhere in tennessee in the spring from fine garden centers to grocery stores.  they are on my list of must haves for next year.

yellow yucca.

red yucca.  i believe this variety must be indigenous to texas.  it was very popular in landscaping there.

 a veritable sea of verbena.

roses were another focus, as there were several large sections devoted to them.  although they were mostly spent by late july when we visited, i still managed to find a few blooming beauties.

the color on this one was SO vibrant.

 

and perhaps best of all, the fort worth botanical garden was completely free.  wow.  i could hardly believe it.  texans surely love their flowers!