LA Arboretum

Today I visited the LA Arboretum with a special friend.  What a beautiful place!  The botanical garden was absolutely stunning and I could have spent all day taking pictures of the flowers.  

In one of the green rooms, they had an entire section devoted to lady slippers, "Minnesota's State Flower." It reminded me of when I was a little girl. 

I used to go canoeing with my friend Melissa at Gull Lake Campground.  We'd go canoeing across the lake to a wooded area where lady slippers grew along the shore.  We desperately wanted to pull one and take it back to our camp site.  However, because it was illegal to pick the state flower, we were too chicken.

Back at the Arboretum, amidst beautiful trees, plants and flowers, laid a gorgeous Victorian style home.  It is known as the "Queen Anne Cottage."  What is interesting about this home is that a man named, Elias Jackson Baldwin had this home built for his 4th wife who was 16 years old at the time.  Can you imagine having a house built for you when you are only 16 years old?!??  Anyway, apparently the marriage didn't last, so Baldwin turned it into a memorial for his third wife who died in prior years.

Next up was the "Rose Garden." It was so beautiful! (Don't forget you can click on the image to see it larger.)

Another area I loved was the Asia section. I loved the orchids and lilly pads. If you look closely below, you can see a turtle sun bathing.

My favorite part of the day was seeing all the peacocks!  They were everywhere.  Look at those feathers! Aren't they beautiful?  I couldn't stop staring at them.  I was hoping they'd fluff up their feathers, but I didn't have much luck.  

Such a wonderful day to visit the LA Arboretum.  I'm loving my new camera too so it made it easy to want to take some pictures!