THE DAHLIA SHOW AT BOTANIC GARDENS

Husband and I discovered two wonderful things during the recent visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens for my birthday: 1) since my husband is a veteran, we get in for free; and 2) the Model Railroad Garden. Husband is a model railroad fanatic so we made two subsequent visits to the gardens, most recently yesterday. I recently wrote a blog post about the Model Railroad Garden which really is amazing even if you are not a model train enthusiast. The late-summer weather was sunny and pleasantly warm so we decided to make another drive to the gardens because husband had a few questions for the garden volunteers about model trains who are always eager to answer his questions. Besides I can always stroll through the gardens.

What a pleasant surprise to discover the Central States Dahlia Society was hosting their 81st Dahlia Show with exhibitors from throughout the Midwest. Set up on long several tables, just one bloom per pot is judged. Here are just a few of the dahlias on display, from the classic ball and pompon dahlias to spiky cactus dahlias to the large dinner-plate dahlias:

I would not, nor could not, judge this flower show. The photos above show just a few of the spectacular blooms, but they were not even the winners. The photo below shows some of the winners. How could you even pick one flower over another. Every single flower was perfectly gorgeous!

Thank you for visiting.

A Great Europe Trip Planner

All photos were taken by me. Unauthorized use is prohibited. 
 

FLOWERS! FLOWERS! FLOWERS!

Although model train-geek husband discovered the can't-get-enough-of Model Railroad Garden (which is pretty cool!), my main goal for our recent visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens was to delight in the summer flowers in bloom and take some close-up photos. I'm an avid photographer and flowers are some of my favorites subjects. I was not disappointed:

Devotion Blue Throatwort

Purple Coneflower

Flamethrower Dahlia

Prairie Sun Black-eyed Susan

Freckle Face Blackberry Lily

Agapantha

Hibiscus

Mystic Haze Dahlia

The Chicago Botanic Gardens are FREE to enter.
Visitors must pay to park, but military veterans enter FREE.
Many visitors bicycle to the gardens.
Learn more about the beautiful gardens here.

Thank you for visiting,

 A Great Europe Trip Planner 

All photos were taken by me during my visits to the Chicago Botanic Gardens in August, 2015.
Unauthorized use is prohibited.