Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Garden Reflections

Reflecting on the subject for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week I found a few images from the Chicago Botanic Garden that I thought would fit the bill.

For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to Mirror images or reflections

Dells

Not to be confused with the Wisconsin Dells which are 100 miles south of Plover, the Dells of the Eau Claire County Park in Marathon County, Wisconsin, are spectacular. Divided in two by the Eau Claire River, the Dells offer an abundance of beautiful scenic views and plenty of opportunities for nature photography.

We spent the day wandering along woodland trails and clambering over rocks some of which have been dated at about 1.8 billion years old.

Our granddaughter likes to help find things for me to photograph and did an excellent job of spotting several interesting fungi, a toad and a caterpillar.  In fact she had me taking pictures of practically every leaf, mushroom, acorn and pinecone that we came across. Thank goodness for digital photography!  I don’t know how many rolls of film I would have used, otherwise.

 

 

There are several spots along the river where, if you are agile enough, you can climb onto the rocks that jut out into the water.  It’s amazing what you can do if you want to get a picture badly enough!

I can highly recommend a visit to this park if you are ever in the Plover area of Wisconsin.  I think you’ll find it well worthwhile.

The Nature of Glensheen

Earlier this autumn we traveled up north to visit Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota.  Despite the fact that the sun decided to hide behind the clouds for much of the time, there were still a few good opportunities for outside photos.  The garden was, understandably, past it’s best, but you could get a sense of how beautiful it would look when everything was in flower.  I could definitely understand why our guide said it was a popular venue for weddings, despite the rather macabre history of the house.

Glensheen sits right on the shores of Lake Superior and, depending on the weather, the view from the beach can look rather forbidding or quite inviting.

Walking through the grounds, which originally covered 22 acres but have now been reduced to 12, we came across a bridge that led to precisely nowhere.

The view from the bridge was quite interesting, however.  The Congdon family wanted to preserve as much of the natural beauty of the property as possible and if you look from one side of the bridge you can see the house framed by trees and from the other side you can see down to the lake.

The landscaping was carried out some time between 1905 and 1908 by Charles Wellford Leavitt who designed the estate to be self sufficient, incorporating a large vegetable garden, greenhouse, orchard, cow barn and water reservoir in the plans. Glensheen is well worth a visit not only for the very interesting tour of the house but also the garden and grounds.