Shiny! Colorful! Warm.

Today’s trip with Anita was to my favorite spot around here, Brookgreen Gardens. I have blogged about this place many times, but that’s what’s great about this huge sculpture garden is that it’s different every time you visit. This time was no exception.

That’s what happens when you skip a year! New stuff. And this new building, which can be used for weddings and other events, is just spectacular.

It has beautiful (healthy) living walls, huge hanging baskets, and an incredible miniature erosion of the gardens made with all natural materials. Somebody worked very hard on that.

What excited me and Anita the most was the large collection of orchids.

I wished my mom could have seen these. But I was able to share all these photos with my friend Lynn, who inherited my mom’s and her dad’s love of orchids. Look at them!

Slipped among the conservatory plants and grounds were glass flowers. The artist is Craig Mitchell Smith.

The sculptures were set up among the gardens and sculptures. Each one was a bright new surprise. Here are some of them.

Also new were these amusing animals covered in artificial flowers and other doo-dads. Little kids just loved them.

Was this enough? No! The gardens and statues were still there to enjoy.

Was there more? Of course. Flowers, insects, and birds. The hummingbird moth was the most exciting thing for me and Anita, for sure. By the way, I did edit these. I just liked them all. I don’t identify most plants because I don’t know fancy plant hybrid names.

It was warm out, so we did take inside breaks inside a couple of galleries and the little cafe in the Old Kitchen building. The exhibits had lots of birds and other animal art, which is typical for Brookgreen and liked by me!

We didn’t make it to everything, but we could go back tomorrow if we wanted to