Dahlia Garden Meetup

Text by Karen Johnson-Nieuwendijjk.

On Saturday, September 17th, a group of PSRI photographers converged on The Dahlia Patch, a beautiful Dahlia garden in West Greenwich. The flowers were in full bloom and all different sizes and colors. Rick Boucher had organized the meet-up and Joyce Boucher had arranged for a co-branding with the garden, which means, in simple terms,that they will help us promote PSRI and we will help promote them. Rick had also prepared a scavenger hunt to help us find different things to photograph. (No prizes were given though).

The Dahlia flowers weren’t the only attraction. There was a zinnia patch full of colorful flowers as well, and those flowers were visited by hummingbirds, butterflies, bees by the dozens, and even a praying mantis. The hummingbirds were the biggest attraction and because they were filling up before their long migration , they paid little attention to us photographers. Some even landed within a foot or two of us, too close even for our lenses to focus.

After the photo frenzy, we all retired to the Leyden Winery next to the garden and sampled some of their wines. Most had collected a Groupon so they would receive a discount on their purchases. Some people brought picnic lunches , some brought cheese, salami and crackers for snacks.

The cost of the day was minimal ($5) to enter the garden. There were bouquets of Dahlias to purchase or you could pick your own for a fee. The wines, as I said, were at a discount if you had a Groupon. It was a lovely day to be outside with our group and I hope we can do the same next year.