golden barrel cactus
It was a cold day, and I craved heat. The idea of a desert garden was appealing, a place to warm up and chill out—spend time among the saguaro. So, I visited a desert in the Midwest. I took these photographs in a light-filled Desert Room garden at the Oak Park Conservatory.
It smelled like a southwestern wilderness in the room and provided sunshine and heat. It felt like it was spring in the room; while it was freezing outside. It felt good.
burro’s tail
The desert garden had different sizes and shapes of cacti and succulents from the burro’s tail that did sort of resemble a tail, small blue cactus to a giant agave. There were a lot of them and some that even touched the fogged up glass ceiling. I enjoyed my trip to the indoor desert, a small part of the southwest in the Midwest.
Welcome to a desert garden, for A Word a Week Photo Challenge: Gardens.
Desert Garden
There is more information on Oak Park Conservatory and other conservatories in Illinois and Wisconsin in my earlier post:
what a great opportunity you had to transplant yourself to a different climate! great photos!
thanks and so nice to warm up
It looks fabulous. Reminds me of the Cesar Manrique cactus garden in Lanzarote. At home, I saw my first daffodils yesterday. Spring’s a-coming!
your first blooms that’s a pleasant surprise…here we’re still in winter
I hadn’t been there for years – thanks so much for reminding me of it.
I got a lovely flowering catcus at our local conservatory last March – it was in with the orchids and I couldn’t figure out what kind of orchid it was! It’s second from the bottom here. It flowered again last month and is just lovely.
http://livingtheseasons.com/2012/03/14/a-walk-in-march/
Nancy
Nancy, that is a pretty bloom on the cactus. I enjoyed your post on the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens thanks for sharing a link.
Thanks for stopping by to check it out!
This plants are beautiful and special. Your photos remind me the the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
I’d like to see your photos of it. I was pleasantly surprised by the difference in style and cultures of Tuscon, Phoenix and Sedona.
I am crazy about cactus and succulents and I love the indoor garden. Sadly, as much as I love looking at burro’s tails, I never have luck with them.
I like jade plant succulents and the little blue cactus. Sorry to hear about the burro’s tail, but it sounds like you have green thumb.