Our Visit to Reiman Gardens...Hope Somebody Brought the Really Big Bug Spray- Part 1

Today, while I am sitting inside watching it pour, I am thinking about what a hot and sunny day it was yesterday. A storm front moved through...and it is 30 degrees cooler today than yesterday. I am not too sad about this though, we really needed the rain. My garden looked parched...the ground was cracked...the plants all looked puckered. You could feel the relief in the air when the rain came down...the smell and the feel of the moisture was fantastic.

But yesterday was a different story.  It was 95 degrees and blazing sunlight.  Of course that is the day we picked to go to Reiman Gardens in Ames, Iowa.  We love Reiman Gardens...we almost always have a membership and we go several times a year.  Every year they have a different theme, and this year the theme is 'INSECTS'.  Not just any insects, GIANT INSECTS.  For those of you that don't know...my son absolutely loves bugs of all kinds.  He was very excited to see the gardens this year.  The first sculpture we saw was a praying mantis, eating a sculpture bug, no less! This is one of the smaller pieces of art, and by smaller, I mean only 10 feet tall or so.  (only!)

Next we found this giant ladybug.  The bugs aren't all together, they are staggered throughout the gardens, some hidden back into the foliage, some out in the middle of meadows.  This lady bug could eat some serious aphids!

When we saw the giant mosquito...we started getting kind of silly.  First my son posed like he was bracing for the world's biggest mosquito bite.

And then it was my turn.  This picture cracks me up...I'm like, "Say what?!!!" to the mosquito. 

Then I got REALLY silly...I couldn't help myself.  When I was pretending to be trapped in the giant spider's web, my son was rolling his eyes.  For an almost 8-year-old, he has already got the eye-roll thing down pretty good. 

My son wanted to hug the daddy longlegs.  He considers them 'good' spiders.  I am not sure about that title, but I suppose I am not TOO afraid of daddy longlegs.  After some reflection...I don't know if I would need the giant bug spray after all.  Most of the insects we ran into are beneficial insects.  However, I need some supersize bug spray or a flyswatter to smack that mosquito!

Reiman Gardens has an extensive collection of roses.  While touring those, we spotted the giant ant.  I can tell from my son's expression that he doesn't want that ant visiting our picnic lunch!

We saw even more, but there were just too many cool pictures for one post.  Check back next time for more giant insects and maybe even some cool plants!