Spring flowers and foliage at Dallas Arboretum
At Dallas Arboretum last week, masses of foxgloves were blooming throughout the gardens.
Hot pink is lovely…
…but I like even better these lilac and mauve foxgloves planted under gnarled vitex trees.
Pretty from any angle
Honeybees enjoy the freckled flowers too.
We stopped in A Woman’s Garden to admire the bronze figure of a woman by sculptor Joe Rosenthal.
She leans on a rail beneath a heavy stone arch and gazes off to the side, allowing a glimpse of her face as you approach from behind.
The Red Maple Rill garden in April looks almost as if the Japanese maples have turned fiery red for fall.
The red-leaved maples stand out against the tart greens of spring.
Russet leaves glow in sunlight.
The green ones are stunning too, like ‘Viridis’ laceleaf Japanese maple.
This weeping Japanese maple may have been my favorite. Check out the long, drooping branches. I love how they cascade over boulders, seeming to reach for the water.
A boulder-edged stream runs through the shady garden, with a variety of red-leaved Japanese maples lining the banks. One day I’ll visit in November to see the maples wearing their autumnal colors.
I’d never seen the bromeliad grotto in the Lay Family Garden on previous visits to the Arboretum. Later I learned that the water feature was added during a renovation in 2015. The arched grotto reminds me of holey limestone rockwork I’ve seen in San Antonio and Florida.
Naturalistic planter pockets built into the wall hold bright-flowering bromeliads.
Inside the cool tunnel you look out through the waterfall scrim and see quinceañera girls in full-skirted gowns posing for their portraits.
I had a lovely time exploring the gardens with my daughter and mom. I’m sure I’ll be back again soon — maybe to see those maples in fall finery. Fellow visitors from Austin, if you have a membership with Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, be sure to take your membership card, as it gets you in for free!
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Digging Deeper
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Those Japanese maples make a glorious display! Your spin through the Arboretum looks like a great way to spend time with your daughter and your mom.
It was a fun day that also included lots of good food and a little shopping. 🙂
Glad you included the person coming up the steps in the shot of A Woman’s Garden, or it wouldn’t be clear that it can be approached from below. Encountering the water at eye level must be dramatic!
What’s even better is a wider view than I’ve shown here, where you view the sculpture across a rectangular pond that seems a continuation of White Rock Lake in the distance. The stairs you mentioned lead to lower gardens and a walking trail along the lake.
What fun, girls day out, in such a beautiful place.
It sure was!
Pam, you were close to me! Next time you visit text me and I’ll send you my address.
One day I hope to stop and see you, Peter. But when I travel with family, time for garden sightseeing is limited. It’ll need to be a solo trip for me. 🙂
Where is the garden in Florida and in San Antonio with the holey rock arch that the one in Dallas reminds you? There is also one in the Wildflower Research Center in Austin.
I was thinking of the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio, McKee Botanical Garden in Florida, and the gardens of Craig Reynolds in Key West, which I’ve written about.