 |
| Black-eyed Susans, Hoyt Park, Wauwatosa |
Is it my imagination or are there more flowers this year?
When a friend asked me that recently I agreed it seemed to be true. The couple
of experts I asked for corroboration differed in their judgments. The point
remains mysterious. And yet, I’ve come to believe it. Now and then over the
course of the summer I have been startled and amazed at the abundance.
 |
| Comfrey, West Bank Trail, Milwaukee River Greenway |
I didn’t set out in June to photograph flowers all summer.
Flowers are lovely, of course, like flags commemorating nature. But they
haven’t especially appealed to me as a subject before. As the summer
progressed, however, I noticed them more and more. Everywhere I went the parks—as
well as roadsides, yards, and random fields—were resplendent in colorful blossoms.
“Earth laughs in flowers,” wrote Emerson, and we smile along with them,
enchanted. I began to be more deliberate about finding and photographing them.
 |
| Sweet wild clover, Barloga Woods, Oak Creek |
And so, as is my custom, I sought out the parks—familiar ones
and some I’ve never been to before—with the best floral displays. Here I
present to you, dear reader, a summer bouquet gleaned from my wanderings: A
photo essay and personal award ceremony for flowers from parks all over the
metropolitan region, from the Kettle Moraine to the Lakeshore and many points
in between.
 |
| Menomonee River Parkway, Wauwatosa |
Like Edward Abbey I am drawn especially to wildflowers. "For
myself I hold no preferences among flowers, so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous,”
said Abbey. But unlike him, I am far from a purist. That quote is followed by
this characteristically caustic proclamation: “Bricks to all
greenhouses!” As for me, after a month or so of park-hopping to find
wildflowers I decided I also needed to visit a few gardens. Thankfully,
Milwaukee County has several.
 |
| Lobster Claw, The Domes, Mitchell Park, Milwaukee |
Photographing flowers in a conservatory
is like shooting ducks in a barrel. But I seldom pass up an opportunity to
revisit the Domes!
Despite the closure in 2014 due to structural instability attendance at the
iconic and unique structures has rebounded. I had to jostle among almost 2,200
other visitors the day I went.
 |
| Partridge pea, Three Bridges Park, Milwaukee |
After a while my task shifted from discovery to selectivity.
For this essay I’ve tried to narrow my choices to those places and flowers for
which my descriptions ran to superlatives. Hence the awards in a number of logical
and quirky categories. Forgive me if I missed your favorite park or summer
bloom. I hope you’ll leave a comment and tell me your picks.
An edited version of this story was published at Milwaukee Magazine. Click here to continue reading.
You can also click here to see more photos and additional parks at Flickr.
 |
| Washington Park, Milwaukee |
No comments:
Post a Comment