Five pages of images from across northern Florida: This page includes images from Maclay Gardens State Park in Tallahassee. Subsequent pages include more images from Tallahassee and Stephen Foster State Park in White Springs, two pages from Castaway Island Preserve in Jacksonville, and a page from Guana Tolomato Matanzas Preserve just north of St. Augustine.
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- - - - - Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park - Tallahassee, Florida - February 18, 2011 - - - - -

This park began as the southern home of New York financier Alfred B. Maclay. He and his wife designed the gardens with flowers that would bloom while they wintered here in January through April. His wife donated the land to the state a decade after his death. The park consists both of the home and adjacent land containing trails and a lake.

The bricks used on the walkway path through the gardens came from Augusta and Baltimore.
[Closeup of bricks. Bricks stamped with

Beautiful blooms
[A profusion of all pink flowers amid green leaves.]

A variegated beauty
[Close up of a red-pink and white flower with yellow stamen against the green leaves supporting it.]

Reflecting pool built near the home.
[Long, narrow, shallow, cement pool with very blue water built in a clearing leading to a view of Lake Hall.]

Pond built near the home.
[Two photos stitched together showing part of the pond. The pond has pink-blooming trees and other vegetation along the side reflecting in the water making it quite a colorful and peaceful scene.]

Many Dahoon holly tree berries along the trail through the grounds
[Close up of juicy-looking, red berries on a bush.]

I heard rustling to my right side. Here's one of the rustlers.
[Cropped photo depicting one turkey I saw through the trees.]

- - - - - Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park - July 2, 2011 - - - - -

Lake Hall
[The images has a view of the lake while looking through the trees which frame the top and outer edges of the photo. There is a lot of vegetative growth at the near edge, but further into the lake is just water at the top.]

Water lily
[One white, long-petaled bloom amid green pads atop the lake water.]

Brick walkway through the garden
[Brick walkway extending from the camera straight back to the middle of the photo. On either side is a plethora of green shrubs and trees with some Spanish moss hanging from them. Glints of blue sky can be see amid the tree leaves.]

Interesting light pattern through the leaves which some type of insects have visited.
[Sections of the leaves have been eaten away creating thick lines of sunlight through the holes while the rest of the leaves are intact.]

Pileated woodpecker
[A relatively large bird with a red crest, a black and white face and body and a long sharp beak is getting ready to peck an upper trunk of a tree in which it is perched.]

A 'bald' cardinal (Apparently some lose their crests at certain times of the year.)
[Cardinal with no red on its head - skin looks grey black. It's on the ground amid the leaves.]

Mushroom which reminded me of a beach umbrella.
[Very thin, white capped mushrooms on slender stems growing from a fallen tree trunk.]

Another type of mushroom
[Mushroom with a thick, flat cap approximately 3 inched in diameter atop a thick stem growing in the dirt.]

And another type of mushroom
[White, slightly concave crinkled circle atop a thin, leafless stem growing from the ground.]

Garden flower
[Horizontal, leafed stem growing from right to left. Amid the leaves are red, spikey blooms.]

Continue to more Tallahassee photos. (page 2 of 5)

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All photos © S. M. Garver