Summer on the Pond

I went out to Rutgers Gardens today intending to work on both my plot and the Herb Bed for which I am responsible as part of a team but it was much too hot to do more than give my plot a quick weeding.

Instead I took a stroll through the hedges and ornamental trees, snapping pictures of leaves, bark and flowers that caught my eye. When I arrived back at my car, I realized that I was close to the Pond Garden which I hadn’t visited in a while.

I first saw it at the end of 2005 in all of its autumnal glory.

I didn’t go back to it again until this past February when it wore a more bleak aspect.

I was eager to see its lush summer attire.

The difference of just a few months is amazing. What was once a frozen shoreline . . .

Now looks almost tropical.

A frozen passageway . . .

Has become an inviting respite from the heat.

The once icy stream . . .

Is now a cheerful, babbling brook.

When I got home and uploaded all of my photos from my stroll (you can see them on Flickr), I discovered that this was one of those days when the best picture of the day was a complete surprise, just a quick shot of some fungi that caught my eye in the Bamboo Forest.