Yesterday's visit to Butchart Gardens was really only a pitstop because we were there mainly to visit Glenn's half-sister, her husband and his mother from the mainland. We found them in the Japanese Gardens, then went for lunch at the Blue Poppy restaurant in the gardens.
What a beautiful day for it. It would have been perfect for a picnic... if I was ever to have a picnic.
I don't remember statice being two-coloured like this but maybe I never paid attention to it.
There seems to be more Angel's Trumpet flowers near the entrance this year. A highly toxic plant, it is best not to touch with bare hands. I may have said it before but I do like its canteloupe colours.
This flower probably wouldn't win a beauty prize. In fact, the blackish tops remind me of horse droppings we sometimes see on the streets in our neighbourhood. Our visitors noted that the flowers had a smell. I rubbed the black part and, sure enough, noticed a smell thankfully not like horse droppings but more like popcorn. We didn't know what the plant was called so we popped by the plant identification booth and were told the plant is a Cassia but the name is being changed to Senna. The species is S. didymobotrya. Also called... ta-dah... popcorn plant!
New in the gift shop window is this carousel horse. Up until now there was a zebra in the window. Opening date for the carousel has now been moved to December. It looks like there will also be a rabbit, frog and camel among other animals. Apparently there could be up to 30 in all. The animals have been selected by the garden's owner to reflect different areas of the world that visitors come from. Each is hand-crafted from a single block of basswood and hand-painted by a company in Sun Valley (near LA) California. A figure can take up to 18 months to complete.
I like the plastic-like texture and the Thrills gum colour of this whirligig flower.
Columbines are one of my favourite flowers but I'm not happy with any of my photos of them this year.
Hosta leaves are intriguing.
I rode on a zebra while my sister sat in one of the bench-seat sleighs. A couple of horses were missing though. One was the first horse I rode on opening night - a white one with flowers. We were told it was being used in a parade, so apparently they have carousel animals in reserve. Instead, there was this white horse, which I like better, and also a horse with armour. The other missing animal was my favourite, the RCMP horse.
I spotted it a week later being used in this advertising display on the Empress Hotel lawn.
