Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Happy first day of summer

I received our new "friends of the garden" cards yesterday. These cards entitle us to unlimited visits to the botanical garden for one year. (And it only cost the equivalent of two visits!) So I shot up there yesterday to see what other beings have to say about the summer equinox.

This tree was clearly celebrating with thousands upon thousands of blooms.


One of nature's oft repeated patterns. The hexagon.


Blue is rare in nature. I'm not sure if these are "natural" but they are pretty darn blue.


Well these guys were triumphant in their welcoming of summer.


This is my favorite shot I got yesterday. It is now my computer wallpaper for the season.

(All pictures are clickable for screen-filling versions)

20 comments:

Lyvvie said...

Wonderful!! We love a visit to the botanics. Thanks for sharing those! I guess we'll have lots more in the future, since you got the annual membership and all? Yeah? Good!

Greg the Surly said...

Nice Pics. Thank you for sharing those.

Snooze said...

I've never been to the botanical gardens in Montreal. I'll have to visit the next time I'm in town.

Kevin said...

Very nice.

Jack said...

Hi Torn!

Cool pics.

To you and every one who reads this, please help Kelly in his challenge.

Rambling along in life

Thanks.

Timmy said...

that last one looks like canabis.

epicurist said...

Great pics. Just don't eat the digitalis...poisonous little bugger! Sorry I have been such a lax blog neighbour, but summer is about and I am as well. BTW, I'll likley be in MTL for the Gay games, and would love to meet up with you locals for a drink and a hello. Will message you closer to the time. :)

GayProf said...

Man -- I am so jealous. I love flowers and blooming stuff. Regardless of what the calendar might say, it has been summer for months in Texas. Anything that might bloom long ago shriveled up in the scorching heat. Is nothing right with this state?

Thanks for the pics, though!

Anonymous said...

Nice pics!

I look forward to your blog every day for your beautiful take on the world.

Enjoy your season at the botanical garden.

Jane

Naked Boy said...

Is the bottom pic 420?

Anonymous said...

I'm such a sissy nerd. Here are the flowers in the pictures in order: Northern Catalpa, Allium, Delphiniums (they really are blue), Purple Foxglove (digitalis heart medicine is made from these) and Purple Coneflower (No not cannabis) While the other boys in my neighborhood were out playing ball I was reading and watching PBS. Such a wimpish nerd.

Bugsy said...

Lovely pictures! I love the blue flowers because they are blue!

Tony Adams said...

We loved the Botanical gardens. We used to blade and play frisbee in/through the adjacent park (cruisy, incidentally).
For the record, your pictures show Catalpa, Clerodendrum, Delphinium, Digitalis, and Echinacea. Catalpa is a tree with no real merit. Clerodendrum comes in myriad formats. Outside, we grew it as Glory Bower and used its fluff in Christmas wreaths. Indoors, we have a very showy one that blooms regularly in a stong red/white combo. Delphinium is fussy. It needs full sun, but moist soil. The strong blue is a great reward. Digitalis is difficult for most people because it is a biennial: first year you get greenery. Second year it flowers. Third year it's gone. You need to seed it in for a couple of years to get the cycle going. It is medicinal and yet poisonous if you overdo, like so many things in life, n'est-ce pas? Echinacea is good for you, but we grew it in Provincetown just for the flower. Again, it's a biennial. It is medicinal, if you boil the roots and make tea, but who ever really does that? Buy the pills at Pharmaprix.

Nicki said...

Beautiful photos. I love other people's plants. Mostly because I kill all of my own. Or have them bloom out of season. My mums are blooming right now. By the time fall rolls around, they'll be all withered up. The Plant Gods do not smile on me.

dawn said...

Uh, do you ever work? Or do you just go to gardens and on bike rides and take videos of yourself? Is there any way I could get this gig? Other than the fact that I could give a fark about plants and am not a fan of exercise I think I'd be great fit for the job.

A Bear in the Woods said...

I love the bell shaped things. Are they Hollyhocks?

r said...

Love flowers. Happy first day of summer!

anabel said...

Hey, speaking of plants, don't give up on the hydranga. Em gave me one as a house warming present last November and it slowly went to stick but I just kept the soil moist and now it has new leaves all over it.

Jason said...

I know nothing about flowers. What is the botanical gardens called in Montreal? I don't remember there being one.

Kalv1n said...

These are wonderful shots. Maybe I will have to go out park wondering myself soon...