Garden

 A reminder to members of City Daily Photo: the theme day for August is Sticky.

Each season I document the Landscapes Of Canada Gardens at the Canadian Museum of Nature. This area on the west side of the property features plants, trees, and grasses from four distinct ecosystems. A few days ago it was time for a summer look on an overcast morning. Boreal Forest is included in this approach, with the Museum in the background. Trees, shrubs, and plants of that vast ecosystem are thriving here.

Even lichen, which can be found on the trunk of this dead tree that predates the time of the Gardens.

Prairie Grassland is the next ecosystem. A large mix of plants, flowers, and grasses of the Canadian West grow very well throughout summer here in Ottawa.

The path goes beneath a sculpture here. This iceberg in steel was created by the late inventor and artist Bill Lishman.

On the one side of the path here lie plants of the next ecosystem: Arctic Tundra. Nestled among rocks are the plants, flowers, and grasses of the far north, which are doing quite well in this climate.

The path led me closer to the Museum. A set of three mammoths are here; they predate the Gardens and were shifted to this part of the property. Behind and among them are plants and flowers of the last of the ecosystems: Mammoth Steppe. Plants here were around in the time of the mammoths, and remain today. In the background, a model of the Moon hangs in the Queens Lantern.

Walking back west, I photographed this detail shot of Prairie Grassland growth.

Along with Mammoth Steppe.

And a wider view of Prairie Grassland.

From the west sidewalk, the grasses of Arctic Tundra were growing like mad.

One last shot from this spot, with the Museum and the iceberg. We'll be back here for fall colours.