Last Friday Mike and I went to the Allen Gardens Conservatory. It was founded in 1860 by George William Allan, one-time mayor of Toronto and long-time president of the Horticultural Society of Toronto.
And today the winter bulbs are on display.
I can’t believe that having lived in the city almost 8 years I’ve never visited this place! I imagine that it would be nice to visit the park grounds in warmer months, but it’s lovely to visit in the winter too, because the green houses are so warm, with all the tropical plants and colourful array of flowers. One could almost forget that it’s ‑15°C and snowing endlessly outside.
I was happy to see the bauhinia, flower of Hong Kong again :D
I wonder how old this brass knob is.
I took most of the pictures with the Zumi. I figure Mike and I always have duplicate pictures, and since he brought his super camera he can take proper shots of the plants and I can experiment a bit.
I love this quaint little cactus.
Look how blue! The Zumi usually distort the colours but it’s pretty accurate with this plant — it’s really that blue. I’ve never seen that colour in a plant that’s not dyed before. It’s called the Jade Plant.
I was most mesmerized by this door, with the tree bark exterior. I wondered where it led to, why it had to be disguised… sort of. It’s quite plain to everyone that it’s a door. So perhaps the tree bark exterior is not a disguise? So why is it different from all the other doors? Hmm. And more amazingly, check out the picture of it — I didn’t realize how bizarre the focus was until I looked at it on my computer screen.
So! If you’re ever looking for great (and free) places to visit in Toronto I would highly recommend these gardens. Once the weather is nicer (and not snowing endlessly) we plan on visiting more of the historical gardens and museums in Toronto — there are so many awesome places so close to home that we haven’t seen.
And no matter how the weather is, I hope you have a lovely day!
