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…
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…
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;-)…
the mattress had gone upstairs on Saturday, and the tables and couch put back in their usual space… I also changed the orchids on the sofa table, putting the ones that are blooming onto the dining room table and the ones that aren’t into the den…
it wasn’t until Monday morning that the carpet and coffee table made it back into their spots… my housemate had to lift the couch so I could slide the carpet under the feet to hold it in place…
I’ve now added a tray on the side table to keep it from getting scratched and added some flowers…
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…
the other day my grandson came to the door and said something had happened to my plants… he heard a crash as he was showering and came out to the shower caddy that we had installed in January laying in pieces on the floor with bits of orchids everywhere…
I was so shocked I didn’t even take a picture of the carnage…
it took a while to pick up the plants, sweep up the broken bits, and dump out the soil…
then, we ignored it for a few days, lol…
when we put it back up, we decided to use strapping and screws…
I still need to replace the one broken pot…
hopefully this time the whole shelf won’t come crashing down, lol…
just for fun I thought I would show some of the orchidaceae that we saw at Flora of the Philippines on Tuesday…
couldn’t help myself, lol…
there were a few other things that I photographed, lol… my buddies, the fish, were swimming around the pond…
we also saw some flowers on the very top of one of the first trees you see on entering the Tropical Biome… we only saw them thanks to a recommendation by one of the volunteers;-)…
went with a friend to see Flora of the Philippines…
we couldn’t figure out the new markers on many of the plants in the Tropical Biome, but eventually realized they represented the flag of the Philippines and demonstrated how many of the plants in the biomes originated there…
besides seeing where so many plants came from, there were hundreds of orchids… heaven for me…
what a treat…
after our wander through the biomes, we had lunch at Gather…
herbiggirlpants 