A Visit to Auckland’s Botanic Gardens

As I mentioned in my previous post, one thing I’ve been thinking about doing is visiting other gardens besides my own, whether public or private and sharing some of my observations.

When it comes to inspiration you can’t beat a visit to a public botanic garden. For one thing they have a much bigger budget than any private gardens I know of so they are usually always well kept and there’s something of interest to see all year round — and they’re usually free to visit which is always a bonus. 

I happened to be in the vicinity of the Auckland’s botanic gardens at around midday recently so I decided to go there to eat my lunch. I had my camera with me so I thought I would take a look around and if possible get a few nice shots.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the best. It had been raining all morning and had been blowing a gale too, so I wasn’t too hopeful about getting anything particularly outstanding. Being the first week of spring you never know what surprises await you when you visit any garden. Not that I was looking for garden inspiration particularly but I was looking for some interesting subject matter for my renewed interest in photography, so what better place to go for a keen gardener like myself?

Sadly the wind ruined many of my shots, so I’m keen to go back again on a nice still day. However, the Cactus Gardens were seemingly unnaffected by the wind so I managed to get this stunning shot. The clouds may help you to appreciate what was happening in the atmosphere on that day. The sun even came out momentarily between the clouds. I had fun processing this using the HDR technique. I think this could work quite well as a stretched canvas print.

The particular area I was interested in seeing was the section dedicated to Magnolias. I’ve noticed around Auckland all the magnolias coming out in bloom this time of year. They really are quite a spectacular plant but grow far too big for my garden. So here’s a few pics I got...

The rhododendrons were also blooming. They seemed to be a magnet for the Tuis with several of them in one tree feeding on the nectar.

Botanic gardens are well worth a visit. Why not take a visit to a botanic garden near you if you have one in your area.