Wednesday April 24th 2024

While driving around over the last week I’ve seen a number of Magnolia trees in bloom. They have all been located on private property or another place that I can’t easily access. Today I set out on a search to find some Magnolias to photograph.

I decided to check out the parks in Clermont along Lake Minneola. I drove along about half the lake front before stopping at Lake Hiawatha Preserve. I didn’t see any Magnolia trees along my way. The preserve was new territory. I have never been there before. It is across the street from Lake Minneola and backs up to Lake Hiawatha. I explored the preserve looking for my target trees, but I didn’t find any. It is an interesting park with a dog park, a playground and a Disc Golf course. The dog park and the Disc golf course were getting some use, but the playground was empty.

By far the most interesting part of the park to me was across the street on the shore of Lake Minneola. There were piers that stretched through the shore grasses out into the lake. The view across the lake was great. It would be a great place to watch the organized boating activities that the lake frequently hosts.

I didn’t find any Magnolia trees today. In fact, I didn’t even see any while driving. I’ll keep watch over the next few days and probably try a couple of other excursions in search of Magnolia trees suitable for photography.