Visit to Sacramento Zoo

Near record-breaking temperatures today—78°F this afternoon. Stunning fall weather, so we decided to go to the Sacramento Zoo. It’s located next to Land Park, probably the most beautiful park in the entire Sacramento metro area. Large old trees, lawns, ponds; tranquil, elegant and stately. As we walked from our car through the park, leaves were fluttering from the towering old trees, rustling merrily as the wind chased them along the walkways. Bursts of yellow and red foliage against the blue sky. The laughter of children and the chirping of birds. A picture postcard of a day.

I love zoos not only for the animals but also for the plants and landscaping. Every zoo I’ve ever been to has interesting plants. The Sacramento Zoo is not exception. In fact, it has a lot of mature bamboo in many different places. Unfortunately, as is often the case in zoos, plants are either labeled sparsely or not at all.

I was able to recognize black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra), which is easy to do because the culms are, well, black. The bamboo with the thickest culms is, I believe, either Phyllostachys vivax or Phyllostachys bambusoides. The bamboo with the compressed internodes is golden bamboo, Phyllostachys aurea—a misnomer if ever there was one because it is almost always green instead of golden.

But I don’t want this post to be a tutorial of all the plants I saw at the zoo, but rather a collection of images that hopefully will brighten your day like going to the zoo today brightened mine.

101114_fall_color

101114_fall_color2

101114_branch_filigree

101114_fatsia_leaf

101114_palm_leaf2

101114_henon_grove

101114_henon_grove2

101114_goldenbamboo_culm 101114_culms_compressed1

101114_bamboo_closeup

 101114_blackbamboo_closeup 101114_blackbamboo_closeup2

101114_bamboo_roots

101114_henon_culm4 101114_henon_culm2

101114_henon_culm3

101114_bamboo_graffiti1 101114_bamboo_graffiti2

101114_conifer_with_white_needles

101114_monkeypuzzletree

101114_gardenia

101114_perennial_sunflower

101114_perennial_sunflower2

101114_palm_trunk

101114_tortoise

101114_giraffe

101114_zebra2

101114_orangutan2

101114_flamingo_bamboo

 101114_flamingo_with_waterdrops2

Comments

  1. Man, what great, great photos. It's amazing what you can do Gerhardt! When you come to Alaska to visit me you MUST teach me some tricks.

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  2. Shannon, I'll be glad to. We would love to come up and visit y'all soon. I'm just afraid I might never leave because I'd never run out of things to photograph :-).

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  3. Great photos, I love the different textures. Bravo.

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  4. Your photography is a real treat! I definitely feel like I've been on a quick, sunny outing. I understand your lament about the lack of plant labels in zoo gardens, too.

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  5. All of you, thank you very much for your kinds words. I really appreciate them.

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