Stop in the rose garden. There are still a gazillion roses blooming all of the time.
And I took the arbor path that skirts the Japanese Garden to the Subtropical Garden.
These are the three trees in the Subtropical Garden that frame the wide open expanse of lawn by the Lilly Ponds.
Path around the Lilly Ponds. I wouldn't recommend walking this way; the plants have taken over the entire path.
Looking through the bamboo around the Lilly Ponds into the Desert Garden.
Big, creepy, baby statue
Water Lillies
The Billy Buttons are dying now. I feel like I should put together a collage to show the whole life cycle of these flowers.
I took my traditional break in the gallery overlooking the Japanese Garden, and there was this guy just kind of loitering around the drum bridge - kinda in the bushes, and watching the foot bridge anxiously. I was sitting next to a couple of benches full of guys from (judging by the accents) from a combination of the UK and New Zealand and they were running a full commentary on this guy hiding in the bushes. The debate centered around whether or not he was there to propose to some, as yet unidentified, woman or if he were just proposing to every woman who walked across the footbridge.
I wish I had my camera out and documented the whole thing, but when he reached into his pocket I couldn't resist snapping some pictures.
My benchmates applauded, yelled their congratulations, and then a photographer jumped out of the bushes and started taking photos. The girl under the umbrella was the "friend' who brought the newly-affianced to the gardens. It seems like they planned a "girls" day, but really it was all part of the plan.
It was really sweet, and an awesome place to propose. Congratulations and best wishes to this random couple!
Side note: it was a bizillion degrees and this poor guy was all decked out for the proposal. Sweating twice as much because he was so nervous, in addition to just being really too warm for comfort.
