An April Winter's Day

Back in the midst of January, when all was cold, I looked forward to a short vacation time-off in April. Spring would be starting, I was sure. Warmth and the first signs of green would be popping up around Minnesota.

Ah, but a winter night's dream.

Yesterday was a day of sunshine. Yes, that is true. Something we have not seen a whole lot of in the past weeks of April. So we headed to St. Paul for a visit to the Como Park Conservatory.

Here then were our initial sights from April 20, 2013 

in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A wishful sign on the left here that tells us that summer is always to be found at the Conservatory.

Or below, a bit of false advertising 

for a season that is yet to be seen.

And this is the Conservatory. A day and a half after another April snowstorm in the Twin Cities.

The Japanese Garden officially re-opened on Friday.

(We're going back in July!)

These are the outside Bonsai trees with

the Conservatory dome in the background.

Fortunately these are all-weather trees.

And below, one of the real beauties-

a Ponderosa Pine

looking like it is somewhere in the Rockies

in mid-winter.

Yes, inside were a lot of tropical and seasonal flora. But why ruin this tongue-in-cheek look at a Minnesota April? I will save those for another day. :)