Wednesday, October 30, 2019

An Autumn Stroll In The Gardens

To the Illuminati spammer who's been hitting this page and others I read, I believe I speak on behalf of so many people when I make the following suggestion to you. Get yourself out on a boat. Head out to deep waters in the ocean. Something with a mile or two down to the bottom. Sit down, put your feet into a deep tray. Pour cement into the tray. When it's dry, shuffle over to the stern and throw yourself overboard.

The grounds of the Canadian Museum of Nature are ideal for fall colours. On the east side, a sculpture of a mother and baby dinosaur, the species chasmosaurus irvinensis, are located.


On the west side of the museum are the Landscapes Of Canada Gardens. This presents the plants of four distinct ecosystems along a pathway. It starts with a trio of mammoths, life sized, and the plants around them all from the time these animals walked the earth. It is called the Mammoth Steppe.


The museum dates back more than a century, first built as a memorial museum for Queen Victoria. It's seen more than one use over time, but exclusively houses galleries focused on nature now.


Some of the plants of the time of the mammoths have carried on long after those ice age animals departed from this world. They do quite well here now.


Across the path from the mammoths is the largest of the four areas, the Prairie Grassland. Its mix of grasses and flowers grew well this year.


I crossed to the sidewalk to the west to get this view of the museum. An iceberg sculpture of steel looms over the path, and the plants in the foreground are all part of the next ecosystem present here: Arctic Tundra. Amid the rocks, shrubs and plants native to the far north thrive here over the summer.


This is back on the path. The red of the trees at the far end of the Prairie Grassland stood out.


The last of the four ecosystems present in the Gardens is Boreal Forest. Bushes and ferns are seen here, at the end of their annual growing cycle.


These fall colours are across the path, typical of boreal woodlands. The museum itself is just visible in the background.


I took another view of the museum from this area.


This is a visual treat this time of year. Tamaracks may look like coniferous trees, with their needles, but they are in fact deciduous trees. The green needles turn gold late in the fall. These trees exist widely in the vast stretches of the boreal forest in Canada, and can be found in some parts of the United States, as far south as West Virginia.


A final view of the museum from the path. I'll next show them at some point in the winter, and am probably going to be paying a visit inside before that. December and January are good months to fill a photoblog with museum posts, after all. Tomorrow is Hallowe'en, so we'll pick up with fall colours after that- my theme day post has several shots with fall colours in the background around a brown object. That brown object is something you've seen before, but you'll get no further clues out of me.

36 comments:

  1. I laughed at your message to the spammer. Interesting about the tamarack. I did not know they are deciduous.

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  2. Cute dinosaurs, funny, we have some in front of our House of Science at the museum-part, too.
    Must be great to have the plants from "back then", too.

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  3. Thanks for speaking out to the spammer on our behalf. Enjoy your walks and the photos you took.

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  4. Beautiful gardens, good idea with the spammer

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  5. I am always surprised at the number of people who publish spammers' comments.

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  6. ...things look about the same there!

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  7. I don't mind being reminded of this fine museum from time to time.

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  8. Quite a walk. Do you think mammoths will ever roam the earth again?

    Janis
    GDP

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  9. dinos ... way cool. i know they love fall ... for sure. ( ;

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  10. I have seen so many dinosaur movies and shows and documentaries, not to mention all the dinosaur toys scattered throughout the house , that for a second I forgot...and had to do a double-take at the photo...oh, it's a statue! It looks so real. 😂

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  11. Some very nice shots of fall colours again, William, but most of all I enjoyed your suggestion for that spammer. I am not bothered by it myself, but I heartily support your suggestion for that spammer! :-)

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  12. I would love to take my grandchildren to the museums in Ottawa when they are older. This one is a must see.

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  13. It is a wonderful spot. It's almost enough motivation to go see it, but life is complicated!!!

    So sorry about the spammers. Such trolls.

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  14. @Linda: I have seen tamaracks en masse in that gold state.

    @John: they do indeed.

    @Iris: while the mammoths didn't make it, the plants did fine.

    @Nancy: thank you.

    @Bill: and I didn't even make mention that he looks like a sex offender.

    @David: hence why I always check comments. I just wish blogger would ban the idiot.

    @Tom: that doesn't surprise me.

    @Anvilcloud: it is quite a museum.

    @Francisco: thank you.

    @Janis: scientifically it would be irresponsible.

    @Beth: thanks.

    @Sandi: it does.

    @Jan: spammers irritate me.

    @Marie: they'd enjoy it.

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  15. It's a beautiful museum. I laughed at your solution to the spammer, but I hope he takes you up on that. :-)

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  16. The mother and baby dinosaur are stunning! :-)

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  17. I always enjoy your tours of the gardens there.

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  18. I love your sharing this garden and its diversity!

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  19. The museum looks fabulous surrounded by autumn colour William.. will we see Chateau Laurier in autumn?

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  20. It's a beautiful museum and nice place to stroll around!

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  21. I hate the spammers too. Love those grasses and what a lovely building.

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  22. I see fall creeping into these photos!

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  23. I like seeing these dinosaurs and I see some fall color :). Spammers are disliked by all of us. You gave him some good advice.

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  24. @Jennifer: you should try to visit when you can.

    @DJan: so do I!

    @Ella: I like them.

    @RedPat: it's quite a place in all seasons.

    @Barbara: I think the garden was a wonderful concept.

    @Grace: actually I have some shots of the Chateau coming up.

    @Tamago: it certainly is.

    @Jeanie: the gardens and museum are quite different, but fit well together.

    @Sharon: yes, the fall colours turned out nicely.

    @Michelle: there's plenty of dinosaurs inside too.

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  25. Ah you have illuminated a solution to spammers! I concur. I especially like the crennelated towers on that museum. They knew how to design and build back in those days, by cracky! (Hmm, am I getting old?)

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  26. What a truly interesting and inspiring place you live. Thanks for the walk.

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  27. What a glorious Autumn stroll in the gardens, lovely photographs.

    All the best Jan

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  28. It is fascinating to note that the ecosystem is relatable to the Age from which the sculpted existed. Wow!

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  29. It looks very fertile this time of year. Very nice!

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  30. I like the museum building and the dinosaurs too:)

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  31. @Catalyst: they did well.

    @Bill: they are.

    @Gemel: you're welcome.

    @Jan: that it is.

    @Magiceye: indeed.

    @Kay: yes, it does.

    @Cloudia: thanks.

    @Italiafinlandia: definitely.

    @Rosie: me too.

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