The 446-acre National Arboretum, situated in Northeast Washington along the Anacostia River, has a huge collection of azaleas that draws crowds until July. We have gone in years past and thought this time we’d go when the azaleas were supposed to be at their peak, but I think a lot of them bloomed early due to our unseasonably warm weather in February. Still, it was a beautiful display and a pleasant time spent walking around the enormous grounds, especially after the sun came out. We also got to see one of several resident bald eagles and its nest, so an added bonus (except a third of the park was closed to the public because of them).

I think the orange and gold azaleas were my favorites, although there were relatively few of them in the gardens. We were also lucky that the dogwood were blooming!

Azalea forest, posted earlier: