A Botanical Garden Through an Artist’s Eyes

I started visiting this tropical botanical garden once or twice a year beginning in 2023. Here I’d like to share a collection of plant photos taken in January 2024.

It was bringing a monstera into my home that first sparked my interest in the diverse and fascinating forms of plants, and taught me to find comfort in the beauty of green. From early summer through early autumn, I water the plants lined up on my balcony each morning, taking in the greenery as I go. Come winter, I find myself longing for the tropical botanical garden and make my way there.

I visited again this year, 2026, camera in hand. I see the same plants year after year, yet time moves on — some have grown, some have withered, and occasionally new ones have taken their place. Lately, as I’ve been painting with plants as my theme, my way of looking at them has shifted, and so has the way I photograph them.

The first time I stepped inside a tropical botanical garden, I was overwhelmed to find plants I’d only ever seen sold in small pots at garden centers suddenly towering before me, several times their usual size. My own monstera has grown quite large, but it’s no match for the ones here. On my most recent visit, I spotted a monstera fruit for the very first time — I’ll share those photos in a future post.

Since I’m not photographing with a field guide in mind, I won’t be noting the names of the plants here. I wander with an eye for composition, capturing each plant for its atmosphere and feeling rather than its botanical detail.