Photography by John Michael

3+ Wonders of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

The Gardens are heading for a long winter nap, as you can see in the photo below, the ponds are bare of the summer greens and colors of the waterlilies and lotus

except for the tropical waterlily – Victoria (those lilypads reach up to 8 feet in diameter!)

a “flock” of turtles out in the sun trying to overcome the cooling of the ponds…

A big splash of purple from one of the waterlilies …

Wait ’til you see the calendar I”m composing about this wonderful place…

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

I took a new friend to the gardens – 14 acres of ponds with waterlilies, water hyacinths, lotus – to see what was left after a very vibrant summer growing season. The ponds were winding down and most of the blooms were gone. What did remain were a few lotus that pushed out the last bursts of color. There’s one below.

Went to the back of the ponds and among the tropicals were the “pricklies” and they are known for pushing their flower buds through the lilypad. The vibrant pink flower sat on top of the deep green pad.

MERRY CHRISTMAS… Praying for Peace…

For the past several years, I have designed and printed my own Christmas Cards to further personalize my wishes for one of the most special days of the year.

I put nearly 100 of these cards into the mail and here is a virtual view of what others have received via the US Postal Service.

The second page of the card has a number of my photos highlighting some of the results of my photography.
The top line of four photos show a sequence of the Victoria waterlily captured at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, DC — A night blooming variety, it’s lilypads are up to 5 feet (yes FEET!) in diameter. The bud of this species resembles and is the size of a football and when it first opens, the flower is a snowy white. The veins of the petals begin to turn pink and finally the flower heads into a pink to almost red color before fading over the two days that this takes. The fourth photo on that line is a purple (a fave color of someone special) waterlily. This gem in the national park system also has ponds and ponds of lotus.

The second line of photos are captured from spending over a dozen final honor missions and the rigourous training of the Presidential Salute Battery of the 3d Infantry Regiment – “The Old Guard” and the distinction on the third line of the challenge coin that I was awarded when made part of the platoon and their photographer in October.

Finally, the last line of photos contain two photos from my other work in Arlington National Cemetery.

On a regular basis I have photographed the final honors at ANC as my way of “giving back” to those who have served to keep the United States free and allow those who live here to enjoy things the rest of the world envies. From those photographs, I then produce a memorial book that is presented to the next of kin – A fitting tribute to their loved one.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Slideshow

If you haven’t seen them, I’ve got a growing album of the waterlilies and lotus that I’ve captured over the past four years at this gem in the crown of the National Park Service System in the United States.

Please enjoy —

I have created greeting cards – Notecards and Print enlargements are available for purchase. Please contact me for further details if you’d like to purchase any of what you see.

Thank you.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens – The VICTORIA Waterlily

I returned to the gardens and because of the warm weather, the tropicals were still much in bloom and growing. Despite the other ponds being stripped of their vegetation (the Lotus ponds were BARE … what had been waving “elephant ear” leaves and seed pods was now short “stumps” poking out of the mud, since these ponds were drained)

Alas, my quest that I had been in pursuit of the last time I had visited, was going through it’s changes. The exterior of the bud, the size of a football (or a coconut still in its husk) had peeled away to reveal the snow white bud still tight. Now the flower was open and the center lines of the petals were pink. Another flower had totally turned nearly red in color signifying it’s end of cycle of the two day blooming.

Victorias are “night bloomers” so one must get to them before the midday sun forces the bloom to close its petals.

Enjoy the photos…

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in October

A day off – I have been following the prescription of my girlfriend, and decided it was time for some R&R – After a week of editing, cropping and posting photos, I decided it was time for a bit of a change. I needed to recharge the batteries and my eyes were strained. The weather here in the Washington, DC area has been just wonderful. Last week seemed more like summer than October with temperatures in the high 80s and into the 90s. So finally with a sunny day and cool temperatures, it was off to see one of my favorite places — that gem of the National Park Service – Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens located in Southeast Washington DC. There are 14 acres of ponds that one can stroll among and take in the natural beauty of the park as tended to by the friendly staff of the park.

This day is also a milestone in that it was 4 years ago this weekend that I first visited the park — as a result of a somewhat of a bittersweet situation.

Autumn has reached the gardens with the ponds mostly bare of the colors that summer brings. The ponds that were teaming with color during the summer are now getting ready for their winter rest. The lily ponds were nearly just smatterings of lily pads with only a few “last lilies of summer” poking their colors out into the bright sun. The ponds where the lotus have grown have been “sheared” of the vegetation and looked as if they had been drained. A few flatbottom boats were in the mud — I wondered where the vegetation went, since only a month ago the same pond had been stuffed full with 3 – 4 foot high plants with the seed pods hanging bearing the hard shelled lotus seeds.

In the pond nearest the park buildings, a flock of Canada geese had taken up temporary residence and were feeding — often disappearing down into the water — they appeared “headless”. They eyed me warily as I stood and watched them disappear beneath the surface only to snap a few photos of these now headless fowl.

As I meandered to the back ponds on a quest to get photos of the Victoria waterlilies — the ones that have lily pads that are HUGE — 3 to 4 feet in diameter, I came across a rather novel scene of lily buds poking their way through the a lily pad (shown to the right) Seems that this sight bears another trip back to the gardens in a day or so to catch this rare sight in photo form as the buds open finally into color.

I encountered a husband and wife couple who were visiting from Michigan and we spoke a while. It seems that she had been in the US Army in the 1960s and was stationed at Fort Myer – South Post in what she referred to as the “WAC Shacks” — At that time, Fort Myer had a section called “South Post” before Arlington National Cemetery absorbed that land to lay to rest the United States’s military heroes. I shared with them some of the work I’ve done at ANC photographing the final honors of the military. I’ve been blessed to have the privilege of doing this work – “The Old Guard” executes their missions within those hallowed grounds in such a spectacular way.

The pond with the Victoria had two blooms. I learned from one of the rangers that the flower lasts only two days, and that the colors change during those days. Sadly I had missed the peak bloom of these two. Beneath the surface and poking their tips up above the water were several more buds that looked as if they would burst into bloom within the next two days. So a second reason to return.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

One of the hidden gems in the National Park System and in the Washington DC area — it’s over 100 years old and one of my favorite places to photograph and explore and relax — it’s away from the crowds and the 14 plus acres of ponds are filled with the work of nature (with a little help from the park rangers) — known for the waterlilies that grace the ponds, there are also lotus that are rather majestic.

It was begun by a Federal officer returning from the US Civil War. The park has a rather interesting background — if you check out my website, you’ll find a small selection of the numerous photographs I’ve collected there since 2003. Many people who are lifetime residents of the Washington, DC area have never visited this wonderful place.