July 30 -- Enid Haupt Garden (behind Smithsonian Castle)

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More clouds, from the hotel window.

On my way toward my last day in Washington for this trip.

Marigolds outside the hotel.

Smithsonian Castle.

This corner of the castle is right above the person in aqua in the pic above.

I thought the purple stuff above was castor bean, but did not recognize the biggest of the green plants.  A kind person on Instagram identified it for me as Dasylirion wheeleri.  So nice, to have access to helpful others with more knowledge than I have!

Love the varying curves of the young leaves.  (The older leaves seem to be stiffer?)

I went on around the corner of the Castle (we're behind it, now), and was tickled to find a monkeypuzzle tree.

When we were in Washington, the audiobook on my phone (which helps me go to sleep, and helps me go back to sleep after I wake up in the night) was Agatha Christie's Postern of Fate.  A monkeypuzzle tree is mentioned several times in the book.  For some reason I thought it was something like this (I saw one in a zoo, once, maybe?  With lemurs?  In Louisville, maybe?).

In any case, it seemed meet and right to find a real live monkeypuzzle tree somewhere, when I was hearing one mentioned nearly every night.

One of the few things I thought to look at a label for.  Lipstick palm.  Note red stems.

I did not enhance this color.  It is just as the camera and I remember it.

At the time I was looking at this next plant, I thought it was canna, but do they have that sort of assemblage we see at left, near the top?  Spiky bubble and points?  I have no idea.  In any case, the flowers are nicely orange.

Here it is with its summertime neighbors.

This is the attractive little plant in the lower left corner of the previous.

I follow a number of people on Instagram who grow succulents.  They are very photogenic (the plants, I mean -- and perhaps also the people; I wouldn't know).  Pleased to find a big bowl of succulents.

You see what I mean.  Photogenic. 

I believe these flowers were associated with the kind of plant above.  But wouldn't swear to it.

Closer crop of flower near center above.  With spider.  (Note web, upper right.)

I believe this next one has two babies growing, one on each side of the center of the plant.

Hibiscus.

I do not know what this is.  The flowers look morning-glory-ish, but the foliage?  Not so much.

And this is why they call them "coneflowers."  With Arts and Industries in background.

I think it's the same coneflowers, under the urn, with the Castle in the background.

The sky was beginning to drip.  I had thought of sitting for a bit, on one of these benches, but I decided that was a bad idea, given the increasing amount of rain.  Seeking shelter seemed prudent.

The pic above was taken at 11:41 am.  The one below was taken at 12:17 pm.  I'm showing this one out of sequence because I looked back at the archway in which I sheltered while waiting out the rain.  Behind the statue.  Note wrapped-up sun umbrellas in lower right.  They are part of a seating area.  If I'd had my wits about me, I could have borrowed one of the chairs that was about 10' outside my shelter, but by the time I thought of it, the chairs were very wet.

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