Denver Botanic Gardens Festival of Lights

This is what the street outside looks like right now!

Denver Street in December

Brrrr ! It's very cold outside with temperatures ranging from minus 19 to minus 12 during the day. The snow came down so softly and silently  - like bits of broken petals floating from the white skies. For me, it is a novel and beautiful sight with the sparkling kaleidoscope of the Christmas lights that decorate the houses and the gardens in the neighbourhood, creating a fairyland in the city.

The Denver Botanic Gardens, which are located just a block away from the house, contribute to the wintry Christmas scene with its Blossoms of Light Festival which runs from 5.30pm daily for most of December. I decided to brave the icy conditions to visit this famous event so I borrowed some Arctic gear and carefully walked along the partly cleared footpath [ sidewalk!] avoiding the treacherous glassy spots by crunching along the snowy edge. Great fun!

Ready for the night cold

 I had chosen a good night for my excursion, clear, crisp and not many other people with the same idea. While here in Denver I have had a relaxing time with nothing much to do except cuddle my new grandson so I have had time to read up on how to operate my camera, a Canon Powershot G12 which I have owned for several months. While here in America, amazon.com has joined google as my friend and one of the great buys via this site has been two books: Canon Powershot G12 From Snapshots to Great Shots by Jeff Carlson and the other one David Busch's Canon Powershot G12. I was now keen to see if I could apply my newfound knowledge in the very tricky combination of night, snow and sparkling, coloured lights.

When I visited in Summer, this was the Water Smart Garden. How different it looked with more than a million lights twinkling and sparkling against a carpet of white.

O'Fallon Perennial Walk

EL Pomar Waterway

Romantic Gardens

I just liked this one!

A great deal of thought had been put into creating the displays with some of the trees being dressed in single colours while others shimmered in a range of colours.

The moon added it's own magic to the night.

Monet's Garden

 How different is this scene to the water lillies I photographed on this pond in the foreground in June! They have apparently been removed indoors to ensure their survival. The lake was mostly frozen solid and someone had even ignored warning signs and walked on it. Not me!

Ice Sculptures

A photography class was learning how to take great photographs of this ice sculpture. They had amazing gear - huge lenses, lights, tripods. I managed to squeeze in the group to take this shot - minus all the gear. In consideration I am quite happy with my effort.

The stream had mostly frozen over however there was still a little water to highlight the light reflections.

After an hour and a half of enjoying this novel experience, I wrapped my numbed fingertips around a final glass of warmed apple cider and my walk in Denver's Blossoms of Light Festival was over. 

In terms of a photographic learning experience, I am well pleased. In all I took a hundred photos of which I like just 10 with some more perhaps worthy of editing when I get home. It's back to my bargain books for more tips!

Denver in Summer

The whole point of our visit to America was to have a holiday with our family whom we had not seen for more than a year.

 R and R opted for living in the city proper, as opposed to the outlying suburbs, because they like to be in a central area and to able to walk to locations such as the Diner for Sunday brekky and the Ice Cream Cafe for dessert on a hot summer's evening. The suburb they live in is very pleasant with tree lined streets where the city authorities actually roll up and water the trees and grass on the berm. It is a civic duty to care for your lawn and apparently you can be fined if you neglect to keep it green!

An interesting architectural feature for us was the basement and this was the place to head for in the unlikely but possible tornado event.

Tree lined Denver street

Most people took a great deal of pride in their front gardens and nature strips and a great social exchange often took place in the long summer evenings as they manicured their plants and plucked out offending weeds.

Street Garden

 There are some very big parks nearby and one of these has a bandstand with a view of the Rockies.

Rockies Backdrop

On my arrival in Denver I was surprised to find that the Mile High City was so flat! I became used to turning a corner and  - there they were! The snow capped Rockies created a beautiful backdrop to this lovely city on the plains.

Monet's Garden at Denver Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens were a short walk from our Denver home.Unlike many park-like botanic gardens I have visited in other cities the Denver Botanic Park consists of more compact mini gardens along themes such as Oak Grove, Victorian Secret Garden, Cottonwood Corner, Romantic Garden, Rose Garden, Alpine Rock Garden and many more types. It was lovely to stroll along and encounter completely different plants as you turned a corner. My favourite Garden was the Monet Pool where the clouds and trees reflected in the still water, inviting me to sit a while on the seats under a sweet smelling tree.

Sweet Smelling Tree above seat

Monet Water Lillies

Denver Botanic Gardens

We spent some time in the Greenhouse where we met many familiar plants. It was interesting to see plants we grow in great quantities outside in our home garden being exhibited as examples of a tropical environment and to hear the discussions about them from other visitors.

I loved this flower!

Covered in Bees !

Member of the Ginger Family

Yellow Ginger, Alpina aka Singapore Gold

Prayer Song, Allan Houser

There were a few bronze sculptures representing the Indian heritage of the land. These were  done by Allan Houser, born Haozous,  of the Chirichua Apache tribe. His story is a very interesting one . . .

The people of Denver were celebrating the arrival of summer and one of the summer things is to bring out these uniquely decorated pianos and place them in the CBD Mall. People passing them paused for a few minutes to rattle out a tune or two - didn't hear chopsticks even once - before continuing on their way. Fun !

Denver Mall

This young lady sailed up on her bike and sat down to play for an hour or so.

Denver has many museums, art galleries and other places to visit but we spent our city time mostly with family, doing family things and generally "hanging out", such as . . .

Walking the Dogs

Squirrel

. .  who ignored the squirrels scampering on the grass in front of them . . . .

. . . shoe shopping . . .

A Teardrop in the making

 . . . assisting with the construction of this cute "trailer". This Teardrop is bigger than it looks and it will be a comfortable alternative to a tent for a small family. The kitchen is on the outer back. Very cute and practical. We are a family with a strong camping history, memories of which bind us together. Let the tradition continue!

Denver in summer was a lovely place to be with family. I wonder how I will manage the snow and other wintry wonders later in the year!