NATURAL BEAUTY IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Exploring Leu Gardens and More

Shaded path at Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida.

In August, my brother Tom spent several days in Orlando, Florida, before and after his trip to Paraguay. While most people think of Orlando as the home of Disney World, the city has much natural beauty too. One day Tom and a friend visited the Harry P. Leu Gardens, and sent me these photos.

Tom at Leu Gardens

Tropical plants flourish at Leu Gardens.

Colorful potted plants.

On another day in Orlando Tom wrote: Today I saw two cranes just in a park. Also, today we went to a natural spring, which was very beautiful. Water comes out of the earth--millions of gallons a day--and forms a river. We saw two manatees and there are also many fish that you can see.

Look for the large silhouettes in the water to see the manatees.

Tomorrow we will go kayaking at another spring. It is very hot here in the afternoons and humid!

With many thanks to Tom for sharing his photos of Orlando.

Go to the Leu Gardens website for information about hours and admission.

From the website: Explore an amazing botanical oasis nearly 50-acres minutes from Downtown Orlando. Each garden is designed specifically to further our mission: inspire visitors to appreciate and understand plants. The garden and historical home were deeded to the City of Orlando in 1961 by Mr. Harry P. Leu and his wife, Mary Jane. We hope you enjoy your visit.

THE ROYAL TYRELL MUSEUM, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, a Prehistoric Treasure Trove

Royal Tyrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

In early May, Art and I were in Canada, landing in Calgary, then driving about an hour and a half across the Alberta wheat fields to the town of Drumheller, located in the Canadian Badlands, where some of the world’s most impressive dinosaur fossils have been found. Our goal was to visit the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology, a treasure trove of fossils from the Dinosaur Age.

Dinosaur fossils at the Royal Tyrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

After buying our tickets at the museum entrance, we followed signs to the first room, which we found filled with life size models of dinosaurs and an introduction to life in Cretaceous Alberta. We felt as if we had stepped into another world.

Cretaceous Alberta. Seventy million years ago, eastern Alberta was warmer and wetter than it is today and was teeming with wildlife—dinosaurs of all sorts of shapes and sizes!

Dinosaurs lived from about 230 to 64 million years ago, during the Mesozoic Era.

A visit to the museum is a trip through time—3.9 billion years of evolution. 

While some skeletons are displayed in life-like poses, assembled as they would have been in the living animal---

Camarasaurus. The mounting of the skeletons in real-life poses recreates the drama of life in the past.

--or even as whole skeletons as they appeared when first discovered---

This T. rex skeleton is known as “black beauty". The bones became darkened by the element manganese during fossilization.

--it is more typical for fossil bones to be scattered, needing to be reassembled like a jigsaw puzzle.

A typical bonebed.

And not only are there fossils of dinosaurs at the museum, but also of plants, insects, fish, amphibians, birds, other reptiles.

Fossil impression of an early bird Confuciousornis sanctus (125-120 mya) from Liaoning Province China. Donated by the Chinese Academy of Science.

While most exhibits are just to look at, some invite participation. Standing next to this Camarasaurus hind limb, I look miniscule. In real life Camarasaurus grew to be 60 feet long and weighed 32 tons.

Camarasaurus right hind limb.

Albertosaurus sarcophagus hand--and my hand!

The remains of Borealopelta markmitchelli, found at a mine north of Fort McMurray, are of the best-preserved armored dinosaur in the world.  This dinosaur is named after Mark Mitchell, who worked on the specimen to prepare it for study and exhibit.  Analysis of pigments found with the skeleton suggest that the dinosaur was reddish-brown in real life.

Borealopelta markmitchelli

Most of the fossils on exhibit at the Tyrell Museum have been found in Canada, but some are from other places. A slab of fossilized ferns from a coal mine in Pennsylvania is mounted at the entrance to the Cretaceous Garden, a greenhouse with ferns, cycads, and other plants typical of the Dinosaur Age.

Ancient ferns preserved in coal.

Every day scientists are learning new things about dinosaurs. The large flat plates along the spine of Stegosaurus were probably used for display and species recognition, but traces of blood vessels suggest they may also have been used to help regulate body temperature.

Stegosaurus. This slow-moving, plant-eating dinosaur was about 20-25 feet long and weighed 2-5 tons.

 

Shonisaurus skeleton.

One whole room of the museum is devoted to the giant fossil of a sea reptile called Shonisaurus, the biggest and best-preserved giant sea reptile fossil ever found. I wrote about its discovery in my book Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age. It was a thrill to meet it in person--and to see all the other amazing fossils that fill the museum. (You can read more about Shonisaurus in a separate blog post at my Art and Books blog.)

The path through the museum winds its way through many rooms (including some on the second level) finally exiting through the gift shop. Among the many souvenirs for sale I was pleased to see a large selection of children's books about dinosaurs and the prehistoric world. We visited on a Saturday afternoon and the museum was filled with families of dinosaur enthusiasts. As we left the last room of the museum we were reminded of the importance of learning about the Earth's past:

Understanding ancient life and the circumstances in which it flourished or died, helps us recognize our place in nature, and how our decisions affect all life on Earth.

Royal Tyrell Museum seen from viewing platform.

During our visit we spent several hours in the museum, pausing for lunch in the museum cafeteria. We ate inside but on a warmer day one can sit on the patio overlooking a pond. At the end of the day, before going back to our car, we climbed the stairs to the top of the hill across from the museum for a panoramic view of the Red Deer River Valley. The next morning we returned for a hike around the Badlands Interpretive Trail and a visit to the hoodoos. (See my blog post of May 15, 2023.)

To plan a visit to the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology, visit the museum website.

Daspletosaurus skull.

NATURE AS ARTIST: HAWAII TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN, Hilo, HawaII

Malay Rose at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, Hilo, Hawaii

One of our favorite places on the Big Island of Hawaii is the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden near Hilo, a treasure trove of tropical plants from around the world. We visit the garden every time we are in Hawaii and I have written about it numerous times on this blog. (See links below for reports and photos from previous trips.) 

The giant leaves of this fan palm explode in a geometrical pattern.

No matter how many times we visit, it is always a new experience depending on the weather, time of day, and the constantly changing growth cycle of the plants. On this trip I was struck once again by the incredible variety of nature-- from big to small, simple to complex, subtle to brilliant, patterns of all kinds—all juxtaposed in the lush background of the steep coastal canyon. It was hard to stop taking pictures, each one becoming another canvas in nature’s art gallery. Here are just a few of my favorites!

The flower on this plant is like a tiny, elegant vase complete with its own blossom

The basket fern encircles the trunk of a tree, like a giant green bowl.

The brilliant blossom on the powder puff tree is hard to miss.

 Look closely at the center of each bloom for what looks like a tiny face. This is just one of hundreds of varieties of orchids displayed throughout the garden.

A tiny lizard is hiding in this flower. Can you find it? It wasn't until I looked at the photo after I got home that I saw it.

These are among dozens of varieties of ginger displayed in the garden.

These leaves overlap one another like an abstract painting.

The dark dots and stripes almost seem to be painted on these leaves, as if they were made of  ceramic.

The colors of this heliconia bloom are almost glow-in-the-dark. The plants are sometimes called lobster claws.

I love how the names of the plants often reflect how they look. Not surprisingly, this flower is called cat's whiskers.

Tickets to enter the garden are purchased at the gift shop next to the parking area. An annex to the gift shop has interesting displays of items collected by the Lutkenhouse family (who built and founded the garden) that reveal some of the early history of the area. Dan and Pauline Lutkenhouse founded the garden in 1978 and opened it to the public in 1984. It is now operated as a non-profit corporation. Admission for a day is $25 for adults, children ages 6 - 16 are $12. Children under 6 are free.

Directions: The Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is located on the 4-mile scenic drive off of Highway 19 (turn off just after the 7 mile marker). The scenic route goes through dense rainforest. This side of the Big Island is the rainy side, and, in fact, there was a small shower just before we arrived at the garden on our recent visit. (The gift shop provides umbrellas if needed.) But, whatever the weather or time of day, the garden is always worth a visit.

Report of our visit in 2015: https://theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com/2015/05/hawaii-tropical-botanical-garden-hilo.html

Report from 2012: https://theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com/2012/04/hawaiis-big-island-hilo-side.html

SHADY HIKE in JOAQUIN MILLER PARK in San Francisco’s East Bay

Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland, California, is one of many places in San Francisco’s East Bay where you can go to hike, bike, walk your dog, have a picnic or just enjoy nature. On a recent weekend my husband, son and I took a hike along the Palos Colorados trail, which winds its way along Palo Seco creek in a narrow canyon. (This trail is only for hikers or dogs on leash, but there is a biking trail on the other side of the creek. See map--link below.)

After parking our car at the trail head just off Mountain Boulevard, we set out along the path. After climbing a series of steps, the trail was fairly level, hugging the side of the canyon.  Far below, the creek gurgled as water made its way over the rocks and down the hill, ultimately ending in the ocean.

Gnarled California oaks grew along the side of the path, like creatures from a fairy tale. Along the lower slope, giant redwood trees towered more than a hundred feet into the sky.

As always, the hike was an opportunity for photography.

It was late summer and flowers were going to seed and ferns had developed their decorative spores.

The shady path was a perfect choice for a nice walk on a warm day.

For a map of the trails in Joaquin Miller Park, click HERE.
For some of the other trails in the park, click HERE.

For my post about an earlier visit to Joaquin Miller Park and the eccentric man who inspired the park's name, click HERE.