US Botanical Garden (Washington, DC)

Normally the holiday exhibit at the Botanic Garden is a month-long orchid display. This year, however, they had a special installation of model railroads running across and around reproductions of famous bridges and buildings all created from solely plant materials. So all the shingles and tiles are wooden, and the various other plant bits were used to create the diorama. A little odd, but quite impressive.

Look familiar? Even the heads over the windows are reproduced...

There were still a few nice orchids, even without a grand display... There were also alien sprawling cacti. Or possibly it is not really trying to take over the world, and is just mimicing someone's exotic hairstyle?

More fuzzy cacti! The round one on the left is called an old woman cactus while the taller one on the right is called an old man cactus. I'm not making this up, you know...

There are also giant flowers that light up to show you the plant's version of a circulatory system, complete with narration. On the right is a bit of desert oasis ecology.

(back)

In this location Carmen Sandiego would probably steal: the tourists