People Taking Pictures - Early Spring at GPC - Showers of Flowers - Art Institute of Chicago - MyShadowProductions #224

Happy CINCO de MAYO !! I love how it always seems to fall on May 5th :)

It is also after the day when you might hear the phrase “May the Fourth (Force) Be With You” - aren’t humans so creative??

My “brain” seems a little scattered lately for a variety of reasons so luckily I have been busy getting out and taking pictures. I think you know what that means, right? Eventually (now) I will make Videos to share.

This Post I have 4 Videos and hopefully you can find some time to enjoy them and maybe even notice a few “new tricks” I have been learning with the iMovie app.

Video 1 - Garfield Park Conservatory and Gardens Early Spring 2026

Video 2 - GPC Spring Show - SHOWERS of FLOWERS - an ever evolving process that started mid January and continues through Mother’s Day. 95% of the flowering plants were started months earlier in the Conservatory’s greenhouses. The hundreds of plants are set/sunk in their pots and lightly covered with mulch for their time in the Show, with daily shuffling and replacement as needed including new varieties as they are Bloom ready. This year the center “island” was not constructed to allow for the “shower” of hanging plants.

Video 3 - Day Trip to The Art Institute of Chicago with Sights Before and After

Video 4 - People Taking Pictures (created from photos I have accumulated in an album over the past couple of years)

I haven’t done a HAIKU poem in a while so no better time than the present !!

They asked a Question 

What is your most liked Season?

the “PRESENT” SEASON !!

Let’s Keep on BLOOMING !!

Hunting Daffodils - Ikebana Show - GPC & Gardens SPRING 2026 - MyShadowProductions #223

Happy Spring all you Bloomers :) !!

Inside GPC at the Spring Flower Show

Let’s start with this, I need to correct something from my last Post so I can sleep again :) lol

In the last Post I wrote about kneeling on the ground and pruning faded growth on Hibiscus plants, WRONG ! They were Penstemon digitalis (Perennial known for its tall spikes of white, tubular flowers that attract pollinators like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds), perfect plant for a garden named “Pollinator Beds”.

You may not have noticed, but I take a lot of pictures :) Sometimes it is cool to see things in the picture that I had no idea were there. Here is one example:

There has been plenty of rain in the Chicago area over the last month and Spring has been Springing. The last 5 days though, the “growth” and “blooms” have been almost “visible” and “audible” if that makes sense?

For this Post I have been waiting for some words of “wisdom” and “humor” and “interest” to bloom in my head but no luck so far :)

I do have some Videos to share though, letting the pictures do the “talking”.

Video 1 : Hunting Daffodils Spring 2026 This video even includes another “Hunter” crossing my path :) Includes Daffodils at Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago Botanic Garden, Grant Park in Chicago, Morton Arboretum and Mt St Mary park in St Charles, IL and Central Park NYC (from a Follower, THANKS !).

Also, can you spot the picture in the Video of just “Wild tulips”?, I thought they looked like a daffodil :)

Video 2 : lkebana Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden. What is Ikebana? CLICK HERE to find out and then see what you think of the arrangements in the Video.

Video 3 : Garfield Park Conservatory & Gardens Spring 2026. 

The Conservatory’s “Backyard” - under appreciated in my opinion.

Due to the many recent rains the Fox River is flowing pretty fast and full. In Aurora at least, the fast flow and deep banks seem to accommodate the volume of water without flooding.

Here are a few photos from my walk today.

Until next time, happy living, planting, blooming and weeding wherever you are !!

(dandelions, creeping Charlie and bind weed are loving the rain here :)

FULL BLOOM AHEAD !!

Miscellaneous - Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show & Outdoor Walk - MyShadowProductions #222

Happy April everyone !!

I don’t have an April fools’ joke but I do have a few photos and comments to share :)

This is Post #222, remember the comedy-drama Room 222??

Well Preserved “FOSSIL” I found in the City Garden @ GPC

Have you ever overheard a child ask a question and then hear an answer from the “adult” with them and maybe think the answer might be “not quite right”? I was kneeling on the ground at GPC cutting last year’s faded growth from the newly awakening Hibiscus plants and I heard a little kid say “what is he doing”? The answer given to him was “that’s a worker” :) I didn’t look up, just hid my trademark smirk/smile and kept “working”/playing in the dirt and listening to the Plants grow!

Hibiscus Plants Coming Soon !!

And, on March 26th when I went to Morton Arboretum for my Phenolgy “LEAF Budding Check” with my group of Oak Trees there was a cool “coincidence”. My Uber driver from the Lisle Metra Station was named “LEIF” and amazingly he was also the driver on my return. In his words, “That never happens, until now I guess?”.

Now, official Blog Post stuff! Last year I went to the Orchid Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden in March and I repeated that again this year. It is a great way to look past some of the gray weather and brown landscapes and even see some of the first signs of Spring with a walk outdoors after the exhibit.

Click Here for my Video from Photos at the Feelin’ Groovy Orchid Show - 2026 - Chicago Botanic Garden.

After the Orchid Show it is always a good idea to wander around a few outdoor areas to see what nature has to offer, Click Here for a Video created from my photos doing just that :)

By the way, I am “Hunting Daffodils” for my next Post. If you would, PLEASE send me a photo or two of daffodils you see and I will mix them into my Video for some variety. Let me know if it is ok to share the general area/city or not, either way is fine with me. My email is kim-favero@hotmail.com or by text if you have my #, thank you!

Until next time,

FULL BLOOM AHEAD !!