Monday, June 8
Today was a cooler, partly cloudy day. Perfect for a trip to
Swan Lake Iris Gardens in Sumter. Sumter is about 35 miles from us and is also the nearest large city to us...
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| magnolia |
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| fading blossoms; still beautiful |
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| one of the residents |
The gardens are home to some of the most intensive plantings of Japanese Iris in the United States. The iris' bloomed early this year; fortunately for us we were still able to see some in bloom...
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| simply beautiful |
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| my favorite color |
A beautiful day to walk around the island. This is truly a beautiful and peaceful place...
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| love the cypress trees |
Swan Lake Iris Gardens is also home to all eight known species of swan. These swans, the royalty of waterfowl, are gathered from all over the world. They grace the ponds and gardens all year round...
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| black (Australian) swan |
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| black (Australian) swan |
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| very regal |
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| mute swan; the swan of fairy tales |
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| whooper swan; native to Europe and Asia |
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| whooper swan |
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| trumpeter swans; native to North America |
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| he's got a long climb |
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| trumpeter swan among the cypress knees |
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| black-neck swan; native to South America |
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| so precious. mom was not afraid. she kept a close eye on her chicks |
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| more cypress knees |
We left the ponds and continued our walk to and through the gardens. The gardens include the butterfly garden...
as well as the Braille and Chocolate Gardens...
All of the plantings in the Braille Garden are designed to stimulate your sense of smell as well as touch; the plant tags are in braille...
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| plantings in the Braille Garden |
while the plantings in the Chocolate Garden are the color of chocolate, or flowers that give off a chocolate scent...
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| a lovely bench... |
Swan Lake Gardens is located on both sides of Liberty Street. We left the ponds and gardens and crossed over McDuff Crosswalk to the Cypress Boardwalk...
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| McDuff Crosswalk |
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| view from the crosswalk |
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| cypress boardwalk. we absolutely loved walking through this swamp. |
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| heading back to McDuff Crosswalk |
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| heading back to the parking lot, we came across this sculpture. love it. more cypress knees in background |
These photos simply do not do justice to the beauty and serenity of this place. We will make another visit to these gardens this fall.
Til next time,
Ron, Dawn & Coop
