Visit to Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor, MI

So the kids and I were looking for something different to do last week and decided to head up to Matthaei Botanical Gardens for a visit. The weather was warm, but not too hot, and we had a great time.
They have a wonderful Conservatory inside – we took a quick look through where we saw a number of beautiful plants including some I couldn’t find identification on. My girls are 4 and almost 2 – they weren’t stopping for long to let Mom look for signs – so I snapped a few photos hoping to identify things later. If you have any ideas on what the unlabeled items are, please let me know! 🙂 
We then made our way outside to the Gaffield Children’s Garden. It’s a fantastic place for the kids to explore, interact and enjoy. I highly recommend it if you are in the area!

Purple Heart
Not sure – very cool leaves, though.

Not sure? Love the variegation on the leaves.

Pincushion Cactus
 

Black-Eyed Susans
 
Another not sure – beautiful leaves on this tree. Any ideas?
 

One of my all-time favorites – Purple Cone Flowers
 
Have you had a chance to visit any of your local botanical gardens or other interesting summer-time sites? I’d love to hear about it!
Do you have a favorite summer flower?
As usual, I can’t wait to do some sketching, even if from my reference photos. So many fun shapes and textures to capture!

2 thoughts on “Visit to Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor, MI

  1. The tree looks like a Redbud to me, though the leaves on mine are not turning pinkish. (But it sure looks like a Redbud)–The other plant, at first I thought some kind of a Begonia, but on closer look, I don't think so. Sounds like you and the kids had fun though. A great day.

  2. I'm sure you've got lots of 'inspiration' to start some fantastic drawings! wish I could get my grand kids to go to places like this. We have to do outside activities like bike riding! Maybe when they're 20!

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