Seen In The Garden Today: The Turtles Were Out!

SJG  4/9/11/Lynnda • Turtles on Parade

by Lynnda

Yesterday, I shadowed an experienced guide and it was a great tour. Since this is the start of my second year, and with the long winter break, I thought it would be good to do a few shadow tours before I jumped into leading one. I thought we would be rained upon, but not a drop in sight! The parking lot was full so I parked on Madison and walked to the Garden.

Everyone was out and enjoying the arrival of spring in Seattle. Especially the turtles! I've never seen so many out on rocks. It wasn't especially sunny - were they trying to get into warmer air rather than the cooler water? Because they infrequently move once on the rocks, the people on this tour thought they were all fake! Finally, one of the turtles, ever so slowly, moved its head.

SJG 4/9/11/Lynnda • Bottoms up

Ducks were also in abundance. They were doing a lot of bottom feeding, so were only partially visible.

In addition to the ducks and turtles, I saw an American bullfrog nestled in the new shoots of iris. His (her) skin was so iridescent that it looked like a porcelain sculpture. I've never seen a frog in this garden, so that was a highlight of the tour.

SJG 4/9/11/Lynnda • American Bullfrog

There were many buds, all varieties, throughout the Garden, and they will be blossoming in coming weeks. The air was fragrant with the smells of spring. This is the time of year when a Garden visit every week highlights new colors, new fragrances, only to be replaced the following week with more splendor.
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4/14/11 • P.S. from aleks:  I started collating contributions to this theme in the right-side bar, under the heading Seen in The Garden Today - they are listed by date/topic for easy reference throughout the year: click on the one you want to re-visit to get there without scrolling...