A Little to the Left: Beautiful Pollen....

I have had an exceptional hard Spring with allergies....

My voice has sounded like a deranged bullfrog pretty much since Easter, and it has not been pretty.
My sinuses have been clogged and airways have been restricted.

All thanks to the pollen that has been flying around...

My misery and bleary eyes, however, still love the beauty of Spring and all of the blooms and blossoms the pollen brings......

On Thursday afternoon, two days after the snowstorm, my mom and I went down to Thanksgiving Point to see the Tulip Festival. It was a double bonus event. My mom volunteers regularly at Red Butte Gardens, here in Salt Lake City, and as a Thank You for Volunteer Appreciation Week, they hosted an afternoon/evening at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, so our admission was free.

I was concerned about my allergies, especially since the wind was blowing.
We were both concerned about the state of the tulips after the windstorm on Monday and the snowstorm on Tuesday.

Our concerns were soon put to rest as we explored the garden, except for a grouping of Lilac trees that sent me sneezing.

Our first grouping of tulips along the walkway

Thanksgiving Point is a Show Garden, of 55 acres, which means as soon as something goes out of bloom, they dig it up and plant something new that will bloom next. There were over 250,000 tulips in over 100 different varieties planted for the festival, which means as soon as they are done, 250,000 tulip bulbs will be dug up and replaced with another plant. Can you imagine the work? Their volunteers are amazing! Red Butte Gardens, where my mom volunteers, is a conservation garden which means when something goes out of bloom, they just let the plant be and show it as is. I have a feeling that most of us gardeners do a little of both....show and conservation.

If you live in Utah and have a chance to witness this festival, GO!!!!!!

there were blooms of every shape

and color and texture

and even some still in bud....

They said there were even brown ones. Do these count as brown?

But all were Beautiful...

This outing also helped me get back on track with my New Year's Resolution of getting my camera out more. I laid on the ground, got covered in sticks and leaves, and really had fun!

I worked on some photography skills

aperture settings

details

working all in manual to get the detail I wanted.

Thanksgiving Point's Gardens are wonderful to walk through. A Rose Garden, an Italian Garden, a Monet walk, and even a Secret Garden are all different sections to explore.....