Vacation Pics 3: Botanical Gardens

Thursday of our vacation we went to the Botanical Gardens and the Iowa History Museum. Both were great. We were at the gardens first, which I plan to never go to again (I BARELY withstood the heat and hummmmmmmidity of that jungle-like place.), and I filled both disks of the camera taking pictures. This didn't hurt my feelings too bad because I lllllllllllike pictures of flowers (Well, the real thing is better, but sometimes pictures have to do.) and ... we'll be at the history museum often 'cause ... it's temperature controlled, some of the exhibits are changed regularly, and ... it's free. XD

Most of these pictures I will not be able to describe very well. Sorry, I'm no botanist....

Some of the pictures won't be so hard to ID; I took pics including details when I could, haha! There was little visibly exciting about the top of this tree; I just was amazed that there's a Starfruit Tree growing in Des Moines. :)
This place is set up for dates and as a quiet study location (quiet, except all the waterfalls!) so there are lots of lights, none of which benefited us much since we were there at mid-day, but the lights are also fashioned and painted beautifully to kinda blend into the scenery, but also be beautiful when you notice them, as illustrated by the lamp in this picture with a "Screw Pine". This picture is a close-up of the one following it:


I tried fiddling some with the camera's (few, simple) settings. It gave me some success I wouldn't have had otherwise. Orchid:
Pomegranate Tree, obviously:
Orchid (These were hard to shoot 'cause their location was rather dark, and there was a large fan blowing nearby. I wanted to choose a longer shutter time, but their movement on the fan's air disallowed that....):

The tallest plant in there is the Queen Palm. HUGE ol' thing!!
Wall of orchids:
Natasha standing nearby for a size comparison of this huge red blossom.
Another cuh-RAZY size comparison:
This is me in front of bananas. While they're growing. A first! Hahaha! See the curls/frizziness? Can you FEEEEEEEL the humidity???? ~shudder~
Pretty, with the light coming down on the pathway, and the lamp in the foreground....
This purple blossom astounded me.
Close-up, from a different angle. It is just SOAKED in dampness.
These stairs went up to an overlook of one of the waterfalls. So much humidity in the air, haha!
Yes, that is a trash receptacle. Good size comparison.
Heart garden close-up:
Heart garden:
"Flamingo Plant"

The sunlight reflecting off this blossom was BRILLIANT!

Outside of Botanical Gardens. I hadn't realized before how many gardens there are OUTSIDE the dome!! We visited only the dome on this hot, July day; that was ALL any of us could take. The other gardens may get a visit sometime later ... when we have another coupon, ha.
This pretty arrangement was just outside the door of the Botanical Center.