Azaleas!

The last time she took me to the National Arboretum, I had just arrived on a red-eye flight from Oregon.  The next day, after I'd had some sleep and became human, she laughed at how she liked me better when I hadn't had any sleep, because I was "easier to control."

I should have sensed danger, I know.

This time, I was in much better shape.  I was a little tired, sure, but at least I'd had SOME sleep the previous night, the azaleas were in bloom, the weather was perfect, and we got a chance to see the bonsai exhibit.

Do you have any idea how many azalea varieties there are?  Me, either, but judging by what's on display at the arboretum, it's in the neighborhood of "are you kidding me??"  Suffice to say, I don't know the names of anything pictures here; even non-azalea species I can only paint with a wide brush like "lily."

This tree was in the herb garden by a sign reminding you to not pick the fruit.  This particular fruit is used to flavor drinks.

This trellis was full of carpenter bees.  The Girl refused to walk through it.  When I went through, I could hear the buzzing drone surrounding me.  Not to worry: carpenter bees have no stinger.

On an otherwise bare hillside stand 22 sandstone columns which used to be part of the Capitol building.  Each of the Corinthian tops took a skilled carver 6 months to form.

The Bonsai exhibit might have been my favorite part.  It made me want a tiny tree.  The variety of species and forms on display was extensive, and I got to see a lot of stuff I'd never known about bonsai.  For instance, there are sometimes more than one tree, and the artist has trained not a single plant, but a tiny forest.

"...with a path running down the middle."

This project was very detailed.  The gravel path wound between larger rocks, with trees looming above.  Looking very close, it seemed like any number of places I've hiked...

...But the whole thing would fit in a large serving dish.

Looking upward under one of the tropical varieties.  Limbspan was about three feet.

There were a few flowering bonsai (azaleas, coincidentally).  Quite striking, and entirely unexpected.

After the bonsai exhibit, we wandered through the Northern Forest area, with trees and plants more familiar to me.  And a frog pond.

The locals were very patient.

I like the structural detail when you look really, really close at blooms (Iris. No idea what variety.)

Even closer on another iris.