| We went to the Van Dusen
gardens which cover 55 acres just south of Vancouver city. Unlike the
Butchart gardens, these are botanical gardens and show names for many of the plants.
It is thus of much more interest to gardeners.
There are a number of wire and moss sculptures like this Loch Ness
monster. |  |
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Even though it is not the season for colour some of the beds are very
attractive with a mix of plants which have been there all year. |
| I know I said this is a
botanical garden and the plants are named. Well there are exceptions so
I'm afraid we don't know what this is. The flower spike is about a foot
long! |  |
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These leaves are just huge. We had to put a hand in for perspective. |
| The minotaur was supposed
to be scary but Jan looks very happy..... |  |
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Big really blue hydrangeas seem to be very common here. I suppose the soil
must be very acid. |
| Many of the views are a
riot of texture and colour despite the season. Some real thought went into
the mix of plants. |  |
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Not quite weeping but certainly drooping. This conifer is very similar to
one in our garden. |
| The vegetable garden is
laid out in a circle with this ancient tractor at the centre. |  |
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Ah - they have trouble with moles too. |
| When you run out of
plants, use stones instead. There is art and design in the stone garden. |  |
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There are several small waterfalls and streams because a garden cannot
survive without water. The sound of it running and falling is very soothing. |
| It is hard to avoid
funghi in a garden. There are two different sorts in this area, the other
group is yellow. |  |
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I hope one day that the weeping willows I am planting will look like this. |
| Another mass of autumn
colour. there are a lot of trees in these gardens. |  |
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These gunnera almost overwhelm the bushes and trees around them. |
| More acers adding
wonderful colour to the beds. |  |
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There are a number of sculptures. This one looks right even if we
have no idea what it is meant to be. It is called Travertine Sculpture 75
and is by David Marshall. The blocks are apparently in a Fibonacci
series. |
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These are hardy fuschias, and hardy they will need to be this far north. |
| This lanterra has been
pruned to a small tree form. |  |
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A mass of seed heads. I wonder if anybody collects them. |
| These woody 'knees' growing
from the roots are a common characteristic of cypress trees and others of
the same family where they grow in swamps. Their purpose is unknown. |  |
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We just thought this fern is such an interesting and beautiful leaf shape and different to
anything else we have seen. |
| This is an attractive
bank at the side of the lake. The white plumes are a dwarf pampas grass. |  |
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One of the interesting planted areas just contained grasses of many
different colours and textures. |
| Another shot of the
grasses with me in for scale. |  |
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A pot full of pitcher plants. No not a pitcher full! |
| They trap and digest
insects. This one looks to have a hearty meal. |  |
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