post-worldcon 1: jardin botanique

[kirkcudbright]

The day after the con, we went to the Montréal Botanical Garden.





The Courtyard of the Senses is a garden for the blind, with plants classed as soft, rough, prickly, and sticky. A lot of them also have strongly scented flowers or leaves.






Visual textures








Elephant Ear totally looks plastic.








Orchids












Roses
















We went through the Chinese Garden backwards, starting with the Stone Boat, a very pretty gift shop.


Gathering storm clouds. It rained on and off all day.




"The mural on the left-hand wall features crested cranes, a symbol of longevity and hapiness. They are flying across the seas, bearing a message of friendship from China, to dance in the shade of the maples in Canada."


The Friendship Hall


The Tower of Condensing Clouds


IMHO, the best part of the Japanese Garden was the koi. I especially liked the one with the orange lipstick and eye-shadow.


Bits and pieces.

Comments

[zahraa]

Nice pictures! It sure was beautiful, wasn't it? I particularly enjoyed the alpine gardens.

[kirkcudbright.livejournal.com]

We missed the Alpine Garden. We took in the Shade Garden, Aquatic Garden, and Tree House, and then (between the hour, the no-lunch, and the rain) it was time to go.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i'm sorry i didn't get to this! i am reminded of foliage plants i want to have at home :)

[tb]

Thanks for those; the Jardin Botanique (and surrounding area) is one of my favorite places in Montreal. The pix make me less sad that I didn't make it there this trip.

I really love those purple and green leaves (2931); any idea what they were?

[kirkcudbright.livejournal.com]

I got the name plate in another shot (didn't always think to do that), identifying it as strobilanthes dyerianus (http://www.floridata.com/ref/S/stro_dye.cfm), or Persian Shield. It's apparently hardy to zone 9 (which is to say, not at all), and fussy indoors.

[tb]

Thanks for checking. Sounds like I'll mostly have to admire it in pictures or conservatories.