had another solo visit to The Leaf on Friday as I’d read that the flowering trees in the current display area were nearly finished blooming due to the heat…
I was surprised at how many people were there as I expected everyone to be outside enjoying the 17° C gorgeous weather…
as I entered the Tropical Biome I had to stop and wait a minute for the fog to clear from my glasses, lol…
happy to see the tiny flowers on two of the three cacao trees…
everything looked lush amidst the cooling mist that seems to be keeping the flora happy… quite surprised at how much the plants have grown… just last week it was easy to see all the way to the waterfall and now it is blocked again…
fun to watch one of the zoo keepers feeding the koi as I don’t often get to see that;-)…
the Mediterranean Biome had many flowers and the Babs Asper Display area held lots of plants, flowers, small trees, topiaries, and a truck filled with tulips…
the Butterfly Garden was busy with butterflies flitting about happily as they enjoyed the sunlight… the misting machines were also busy adding to the humidity and it felt very warm, lol…
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;-)…
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…
the ones in the den have been getting buds and have also been sitting in water, sort of by accident, lol, so I decided to try that for all the other ones…
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…
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…
