Pretty pictures from Washington, DC

I haven't had much time to post lately, because I've been in Washington, DC, since Wednesday. I'm here for a library conference, because the ad revenue from this blog isn't enough to allow me to quit my day job (so start clicking on those ads! I want more time to garden). When I left Portland, it was cold and miserable, with January weather persisting into April. Here it actually looks and feels like spring. I haven't had a lot of time to explore garden-related sites, but I did take a lovely walk Sunday evening through a beautiful neighborhood that is either a) occupied by gardeners, or (more likely) b) occupied by people wealthy enough to hire gardeners. Here are a few pictures:

Lovely front garden


Does anyone know what these are? They’re really pretty, and I think I’ve seen them before, but I can’t identify them.


And here’s a closeup of the mystery flower:


That's about it for garden-related activities on this trip. When I was here last June, I visited the National Botanical Garden, so I'll share a few pics from there to round out my Dateline Washington post (or as we call it in the Northwest, The Other Washington).

Bananas!


Pineapples!


Papayas!


(hmm... I must've been hungry)

And something that would be difficult to grow in rainy Portland: