Tag Archives: flowers

snowdrops…

10 Thursday Apr 2025

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finally made it outside for a walk…

it was overcast and around +2°C…

had on my sandals, gloves, a toque, and a spring jacket…

walked by some infill housing construction but happily didn’t get my shoes too muddy…

lovely to be outdoors… I was watching for signs of spring and was happy to see the water flowing in parts of the creek, although closer to home the creek was still ice-covered…

did find these cute little snowdrops…

but that was it… guess it is going to be a while yet before things start to pop up;-)…

trimming…

02 Wednesday Apr 2025

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got some lovely flowers on Tuesday…

had fun trimming and putting them into a couple of vases…

one went onto the living room table right by where I spend a good portion of the day…

the second went into the den so I can enjoy them while watching tv…

great way to start my birthday month, lol…

nursery…

22 Saturday Mar 2025

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had a lovely wander around The Leaf on Wednesday…

I went on my own for the first time and for anyone who knows me, that is pretty good…

the cacao trees are looking a bit sad, but most of the Tropical Biome looked good…

I spent quite some time watching the fish… they were very active swimming around the pond and a number of plants have been trimmed back so they are also much easier to see;-)…

the orchids in the Mediterranean Biome are still doing very well, with tons of blooms on them…

and the biggest surprise was the Butterfly Garden, which had more butterflies flying around than I’ve ever seen here…

zoo staff were letting a good number emerge from the nursery and there were many people admiring them as well… it is always fun to hear what the keepers have to say about the butterflies… they record each one as they release it…

then I took one last walk through the biomes as I waited for my ride…

matting…

06 Thursday Mar 2025

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had a fun time remembering the “installation” which a friend helped me install a number of years ago as I was making adjustments to them…

the installation consists of twenty-nine photos of water lilies which I had taken…

over the years a number of the pictures had slipped in the frames and I finally got around to removing them one by one and taping the photos to the matting before reinstalling them on the wall…

there had been wine and a lot of laughter as we worked away to get all the pictures up on the wall, lol…

this time my housemate was able to help with the pieces I couldn’t reach, lol…

happy to have this project completed…

free…

22 Saturday Feb 2025

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the butterflies are free;-)…

the closed in piece is still in the centre, but the door has been removed…

butterflies were flitting about all over the space… yay…

there weren’t too many, but it may have been the end of the two week cycle…

so happy to see them free and all the people sitting in the space watching them…

arches…

21 Friday Feb 2025

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as you enter the Mediterranean biome there are dozens of amaryllis in various stages… some nearly done, while others are fully open… many with multiple petals…

absolutely gorgeous…

and then you step into the Babs Asper display area… twelve hundred orchids in one place;-)… heaven…

the Blooms in Winter display is so lovely, a perfect place to enjoy the beauty of orchids…

there are a number of arches to walk through and benches to sit on and enjoy the views…

orchids everywhere, beautiful shapes and sizes…

what a delight;-)…

can’t wait to go back;-)…

thinning…

20 Thursday Feb 2025

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had a wonderful time at The Leaf on Tuesday…

first I spent time at the registration desk where they had to make me a new card as mine had stopped working… apparently the website has been misbehaving a bit, so hopefully the new card will solve that issue;-)…

then we went through the biomes… there were a number of baskets of orchids throughout the Tropical biome…

very humid, and it was obvious that there had been a serious trim and thinning of many of the plants…

the cacao trees had been cutback and all the pods have been removed…

the koi were very active… while we were there one of the zoo keepers came along and fed them… clearly the fish were waiting for them, lol…

the dwarf banana is just starting with a new set of banana fingers…

my housemate pointed out the difference between the dwarf and regular bananas… the dwarf has the banana fingers coming out of the flower, whereas the full-size banana has a flower at the end and the fingers below…

there are always subtle changes in the Tropical biome each time I visit;-)…

FDV…

25 Saturday Jan 2025

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on Wednesday, my daughter and I spent six hours at The Leaf…

upon arrival we were surprised and delighted to discover a coat check for members… my coat was free and we paid $2 for my guest…

we were a bit early and shared a Rice Krispies square and hot chocolate while we waited for our entry time to the Biomes…

we had a great time in the Tropical Biome where we came across the head gardener and had an excellent conversation about the cacao trees and chocolate…

we visited the Mediterranean Biome to see the Fleurs de Villes displays and met and talked with at least four of the designers…

lunch at Gather was a delicious tomato bisque and grilled cheese focaccia for me, and duck poutine for my daughter…

for dessert she had the honey cake and I enjoyed the squash creme brûlée, which was delicious, lol…

back to visit both biomes where we learned about orchids from a regular gardener talk in the Tropical Biome, talked with two of the zoo staff who shared lots of information about the butterflies and the 52 koi in the pond…

we also got to hear a few violin pieces by Gwen Hoebig, who was one of the models for the FDV displays… my daughter took this photo…

it was hard to pick a favourite, but this time I chose the hoop dancer…