Smithsonian Castle Gardens and the Giant Dutchman's Pipe

We have been avoiding it because of the heat and humidity. It's been a while since we took a walk on the Mall on a Sunday afternoon. But because it was only 79 and cloudy we thought we would give it a try. By the time we got to the Smithsonian Castle, I know that nature really loves the heat and humidity, even though it is only 79 degrees - but we humans need to avoid it for a lot of reasons. It feels more and more like Florida here, even with all the recent rain storms. But to walk around the castle grounds is spectacular to say the least. The birds fly about and all the houses are occupied by the feathered creatures. The east garden is not a better known and traveled path, but it has some of the most unusual inhabitants. Take the Giant Dutchman's Pipe as an example. It is the strangest looking thing we have seen and looks sort of like an orchid. If it is the same plant hanging above us on the vine it looks like tennis balls stuck in something. A few of the flowers fell to the ground and my husband thought he might try to plant them. I don't think anything will come of it. In fact I hope nothing does. They are probably quite unique, but pretty ugly - to me. It hardly matters when we pass through this way, we always see something quite different.