I figured that Mamie must be bored silly by the same old
walk around our complex,
so this morning I dropped off My Guy for his Wednesday art class in town, parked the car, and hitched up her leash.
so this morning I dropped off My Guy for his Wednesday art class in town, parked the car, and hitched up her leash.
We began in
what’s called the Cultural Campus – a sort of quadrangle containing the Venice
Art Center,
the Community Center, and the skeleton of the new library that’s being built.
We meandered
with no real direction, but after a left turn past the Cultural
Center I found myself in a park.
I’d driven by it many times but hadn’t paid it much attention. From the road it
just looks like a square with a bunch of trees, but on foot it was a different
story.
At first
glance, it’s like most parks, with a couple of swings, some sculptures for the
kids to play on.
It’s actually an arboretum, filled with plants indigenous to Florida.
I enjoyed it in spite of the truly
hokey poem by Joyce Kilmer that my family always made fun of.
 | |
| Cuban Royal Palm - Mature height 50 ft |
What really fascinated me were the palm
trees – tall ones, squatty ones, silver ones. Did you know there are over 2,500
species of palm trees?
 |
| Washington Palm - Origin, Mexico |
 | |||||||
| Canary Island Date Palm |
 |
| Ribbon Fan Palm Able to withstand temps down to 20 degrees |
My favorite, the beautiful silvery Bismark Palm
The person
who had the most fun, though, was Mamie. New things to sniff, new things to
see.
And squirrels!
After weeks in a condo, with only
sidewalks to roam, she could finally chase a squirrel to a tree, where she
circled and barked and barked and barked.
We both had smiles on our faces on
the walk back to the car.
Fun to see all the different types of Palm Trees! Fun for Mamie to hunt squirrels you will have to take her back for a repeat visit!:)
ReplyDeleteThat poem makes my tree loving self feel more than a little nauseous. I knew that there were lots of palms but hadn't ever heard about (or seen) the Bismark palm. What a stunner - and thank you for the smiles.
ReplyDeleteOh my, I remember all our dogs and their squirrel treeing duties.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the fun that Mamie had :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a few of those palm varieties here, mostly the date palms in the suburbs and those taller ones out along the beaches. I've seen a ribbon fan palm just one block from where I live.
We recently discovered Joyce Kilmer in our poetry group . Can’t remember the poem but the poet did not go down a storm.
ReplyDeleteLovely palm trees, we have none of them except in sheltered indoor botanic gardens.
Poor Mamie, is she ever allowed off the leach? Bring her here, there are acres of interesting places to roam freely, there’s even a small river for bathing on a hot day.
Since we only adopted her a year ago, I've been hesitant to let her off the leash except in our yard. But she's been good for short spurts, so I'm going to search out some free-range spots for her.
DeleteOh, what fun! I love palm trees and had no idea there are so many different kinds. Glad Mamie got to enjoy all those fresh smells. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about there being more than one kind of palm tree. That Bismark Palm is actually beautiful. Palm trees are pretty in Florida.
ReplyDeleteIs that West Blalock Park? It looks much better than it did when I lived there -- it was just grass then, with some pine trees that were suffering from overwatering!
ReplyDeleteWow. Good memory, Steve. Yes, according to the plaque there, it was named after the 1st mayor of Venice.
DeleteAnd all the trees and plant life seem to have been added somewhat recently.
I'm glad they did something with it. I remember the name because I wrote an article about it -- and specifically, those suffering pines. I remember when the folks at City Hall told me it was a designated arboretum I found that pretty absurd, since there were very few trees and they weren't too healthy! (This was in 1995 or so.)
Deletethe palm trees around here really took a hit with our harsh winter this year. didn't kill them but all the fronds turned brown and have been cut off so all the palm trees around here are naked.
ReplyDeleteI know that I was shocked years ago to find palm trees in Canada in coastal British Columbia.
ReplyDelete