Monday Walk in the Botanical Garden

Today I am taking you to the botanical garden in my town, Zagreb. On rare dry weekends I often go there as it is my oasis in the centre of the town and there I can admire all types of exotic blooms especially the sorts of water lilies that can’t be found anywhere near in the area.

 

 

The botanical garden is situated in the very centre of the town, at about 7 minutes walk from the main square. The building in the background with cute owl figures on the roof belongs to the State Archives. Some years back it hosted the National Library and was the most inspiring place for studying when I was a student. The light in this photo came out wrong, but I want to show you a wide angle of the garden regardless.

 

botanicki vrt

The moment I step on the grounds of the botanical garden I head to the water lily section. Naturally, it is the part that is attracting most visitors.

 

lily closed

 

Some lilies are still closed and others decided it was time to open their petals.

lily opened

 

Familiar sounds are coming from a pond. I have to crouch to see who is calling me. Here it is: the first baby frog I have ever seen. It can’t be bigger than 2 cm (smaller than an inch).

mala zaba

 

Another gorgeous water lily catches my eye.

lily pad_natural

 

There is a fountain that you can admire from a bench. Less then perfect composition shows how relaxed I am.

botanicki_fontana

I might stroll through more shadowed parts of the park (I’ll show them some other time), but I just  want to sit here and enjoy the buzz of bees and soft sprinkling of fountains. After all, you won’t find prettier blooms than those lilies.

It is dinner time for some…

busy bee

and the bell announces it is time to go home. Shame, as  I would happily camp here for another hour.

 

botanicki_stenge

 

I hope that our hostess Jo will enjoy this walk. I know she can’t resist pretty blooms and water element. Hop over to her place to see where she is taking us this Monday.

walking-logo

 

 

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 Category: Croatia, Photography      Tagged: , , ,

88 Comments on “Monday Walk in the Botanical Garden”

  2. So many treats in this post, Paula. Three stunning flowers – the purple one particularly pleases my scorpionic heart – and an insect at work (is it a bee?). I also like the prospects – I didn’t see the entrance from that perspective. It’s quite grand. Were these taken with the camera that died?

    I was so excited to see you were posting about somewhere I’ve actually been. Me. In Zagreb. I’m a bit disbelieving now. But I blogged there, therefore I was there!

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    • I actually thought of you while I was compiling these images, and I thought that you weren’t able to see lilies in bloom at that time. Yes, that’s a bee. You are right, Meg. This was taken with my dead camera. The worst part is that it is new – I got it for Christmas. 😦 You wouldn’t believe how down I am now.

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  3. Fabulous, Paula! I adore water lilies (who doesn’t?) but that baby frog is the cutest thing and what a fantastic shot of him. It’s funny because not long before I went to Paris I visited Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland and thought you might be rather intrigued by the place. It will be a Thursday’s Special one day (and there were water lilies too, which is what reminded me) 🙂
    Thank you very much. I do both appreciate and love this.

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  6. Pingback: Water Lily Porn | Cardinal Guzman

  8. Something I never thought to ask you, Paula – and it may appear awfully rude, but isn’t meant to be AT ALL: where do Croatians learn such perfect English ? Or were you born ex-patriate and have now returned ?

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  10. What terrific photos – the buildings in the background look fascinating and your macro shots are really good.

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    • 🙂 You are up early. What time is it, Colline? Our botanical garden is open only from April to October, but in late Summer it is showcasing really beautiful water lilies. The entrance is free 🙂

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    • Hi Jo. They said they would call tomorrow afternoon after diagnosis. I just handed it over to the middle man :S. Needless to say, it is a difficult day. What peeves me is that the camera was a Christmas present to me, so not even a year old. How is your boy doing?

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    • Hello Sue, these happened about two weeks ago. We have been having serious rain since then, to the extent that some of our towns are under serious flood threat. I have had a very quiet weekend at home and when I tried to take pics inside my almost new camera decided to die. Are you nervous about your trip?

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  20. Beautiful place and photos. I really like the wide angel one, even if the light is a bit off. I wish that I had a lens with wide angle. My favorite is the bee having dinner, it’s a lovely photo with the Dof, colors and background.

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        • They mentioned a high sum of money and about a month to two months waiting period which was not acceptable. Hubby is thinking of ordering a part and fixing it himself ;)I could not wait for the part to come from China so I bought an upgrade. It was too upsetting being without camera, I am much better now though I might opt for some less expensive travels for a while. Hugs Jo.

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            • She is fine. 🙂 Thank you, Jo, though she is the type that hates spending more than I do – it is just money. Thank God we are all safe and dry for now 🙂

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                • It is on the island called Dugi otok which translates as Long Island :D. There was an article on daily telegraph where they called it Croatian Hawaii. I am familiar with our southern and northern islands, and it is time I got acquainted with the ones in central Adriatic. The accommodation is more pricey than on other islands but it will be cheaper than Seychelles or actual Hawaii 😉 You should come too.

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                    • Hvar particularly is very tourist oriented and it is far south for hubby to want to drive. I was there once just stopped for an hour many years ago, as for Korčula I was there often as a child and later as a tourist guide. I like the old town of Korčula – it’s like a mini Dubrovnik with a better layout of streets. They say that Marco Polo was born there. I used to show tourists the house where he was supposedly born. We have a lot of surnames Depolo in Dubrovnik and particularly on Korčula so it must be true 🙂

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                    • There is one island that I would absolutely recommend if you even want to go so south – it is Mljet 🙂 They say that Odysseus spent several years there – you see, I still remember a few facts from my years as a tourist guide 😀

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  24. I enjoyed your hand picked selections to share from the gardens – I find the amount of photos you gave us is just perfect – not overwhelming and well – I hardly ever get to see water lilies and so I enjoyed those in different stages too. and the music was a nice touch 🙂

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    • ps – sorry to hear about your camera – I came here from Jo’s blog and well, hope the camera doctor can help.
      peace

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  26. A beautiful tour. I love seeing blooms up close, they are so unexpectedly complex. The frog is wonderful, I remember having one this small on my finger tip as a child. I am married to an archivist, so I’ll show him this wonderful building.

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  27. Love each and every one of your nature pics… even the first one, the lighting is just fine. Excellent photography, Paula. You do this so well. I absolutely love them. 😉

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  28. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : Santa Luzia | restlessjo

  29. Pingback: Jo's Monday walk : Santa Luzia

  30. Wow! THIS is what you want to see first thing in the morning. I actually love the first photograph – beautiful colors and composition!

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  31. I’m another one who adores walking around Botanic Gardens, well, actually, ANY garden. This is so peaceful. And I love the photo of your lotus bud.

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