Queen Elizabeth Park

On my last trip to Vancouver, mid-May, I visited Queen Elizabeth Park and the Bloedel Conservatory. Here are some highlights:

ferns looking like strange creatures of the deeps

rhodos

This colour combination caught my eye...

Hellebores

Handkerchief tree, Davidia involucrata.

the last two photos are not from the Park, but from the neighborhood where my parents live:

mountains

In Kelowna, BC, this week, I am visiting my Other Favorite Daughter Who Lives Too Far Away. One of her roommates took us up to Knox Mountain, where I had the opportunity to get my first real good look of the Okanagan Valley.





This immediately caught my eye, as aromatic plants have always fascinated me. It must be in the wormwood family. It seems to grow to quite some size especially along the lower reaches of the mountain.

From the plane as we came in to Kelowna's airport, I saw masses and masses of these bright yellow daisy-like flowers on the mountain sides. The lady beside me laughed and laughed when I commented on them, wondering what they were. We were touching down and the lawns around the airport were full of dandelions in full bloom, you see. She thought I was marveling at mundane dandelions, which of course, we also have in the GTA in abundance! However, I had a lingering thought that what I had spotted from the plane was different....
Near my daugthter's home in Kelowna is a small wetlands area, where wildlife is attracted by the water. On sunny days, my daughter is horrified to find that she is like her mother, amused and delighted to observe turtles competing with each other for a spot on this log on which they gather to absorb the sun's warmth. Today, it was cold, overcast, and there was a bitterly cold wind.
Gardens in some parts of town, particularly the historic Abbott St., along the lake, are lush and interesting.

things seen

Recent adventures along a river that meanders through the centre of my city brought opportunities to look.

Look at that logjam!

Look at the fungi. The subtle repetition of pattern, texture and colour pleases me.

Look at the pretty dogtooth violets, aka trout lilies (Erythronium americanum).

Look at the burned grass...oooh! What's that??

Look at all the dead snails! How curious!

Then earlier, at Easter, I visited my friend M., and she has this pretty cat whom I know you'll all enjoy meeting.