For those following along with my “Borrowed Garden” series, these are images taken at the Hill Country Water Gardens in Cedar Park, Texas. The borrowed garden is a favorite spot of mine to take pictures. Between the flowers, the ponds, the native grasses and plants, the gargoyles, and the fish there is always something going down at the Borrowed Garden. Every season brings a new surprise and I find it so peaceful and tranquil to spend time in the gardens with the plants. Recently, the gardens celebrated a birthday. They turned 25! All I could think of was that song by the Beatles, “You say it’s your birthday…” Happy 25th to the Borrowed Garden!
To celebrate, they had a big anniversary day with a market and some live music. Not wanting to go for the big event, instead I opted to go the following day. Still wanting to celebrate, I visited at a more quiet time and avoided the crowds.
I’ve always enjoyed shooting the ponds and over the years have gotten some great shots there. Of course, I’m especially grateful that they allow me in to photograph the ponds and I always feel a bit renewed after a visit. It’s such a tranquil spot. Even in the heat, there are shady corners and wonderful plants to help cool things down a bit. Today, I thought I would share some images from the birthday celebration visit.
This is a red leaf study. It’s a close up shot from a plant. For my visit this time, I noticed the Japanese maple trees were there and were really quite lovely, but there were also some plants with red leaves that looked great.
I mentioned the Japanese maple trees, yes? Oh, were they quite the treat. I love photographing these and this time there were quite a few of them. Here’s a sample:
Being a fan of abstract images, I often experiment over at the Borrowed Garden. This visit was no exception. I opted to do some abstracts. There were some lotus leaves out along with some native grasses which all make for wonderful abstracts.
Here is a lotus leaf as seen at the ponds:
Finally, a few abstract images to round out my visit:
I want to send a special shout out to the folks at the Hill Country Water Gardens today to wish them a very Happy Birthday. Thanks for 25 wonderful years and here’s to 25 more. May your garden grow on!
Until next bloom…
