Botanicals

Observer Name:  Kaitlyn Rice

Date: 11 September 2008

Time: 1703 Hours

Place: Martha Springer Botanical Gardens

Weather:  Sunny and especially hot in the direct sunlight

Today I am not sitting anywhere because the ground is too moist and I am scared of what and/or who I might share the bench with in the back of the garden.  Standing here has made me take a closer look at what lives in front of me though.  In the first group of plants, there is a wide variety.  The first thing to catch my eye is a large spider, just hanging out in the comfort of his web.  The web is spun and suspended from 2-3 foot tall grass.  A bit shorter, but no less interesting, shards from a black grass stick up.  This can’t be native.  Upon a closer inspection, I notice that there are small, black berries dispersed randomly on stems inside the blades of grass.  Next to this grass are several varieties of flowers.  A sign indicating a “Waterlilly” is hidden behind a pink flower.  There are 6 petals, all long and distanced from each other.  In the back of the planter, two thick stems rise.  They are several feet tall, probably over 3, though it is hard to say since I cannot see their origins.  At the top of each stem is a burst of blue—like a firework or a sea anemone.