Technically this one didn’t take me an entire day, but it was a much overdue visit to a place I’ve often walked past and never entered. I love the idea of conservatories, especially wild overgrown ones that look like they belong in a fantasy movie and might be populated with all manner of magical plants.

I met a friend for a walk around volunteer park and decided to stop in to get a few shots.

Seattle’s conservatory is small but lovely and, this time of year, full of color. The $4 admission fee is a recent addition, judging by the helpful volunteer waiting by the door to guide you through the parking meter lookalike paystation. She was so apologetic, but after spending six months in Europe’s museums, churches and world heritage sites, four bucks seemed like no big deal.

What I must get better at is writing down the names of the plants and flowers I shot, because my internal made-up ones (guess which one is the “big purple muppet mouth”?)  just won’t cut it. I’ve always been partial to Hydrangeas, and these were some of the most vibrant I’ve seen. The cactus/succulent room surprised me. I’ve never been much of a fan of things that make me go ouch, but the textures and colors were really fun to see from the safety of the other side of the lens.

Here’s the link to the full album on Flickr and  remember; sharing is caring, but only @ssholes don’t provide attribution.