A Garden In The Spring

 It has been my habit for the last few years to visit the Landscapes Of Canada Gardens each season to document it. This is at the west end of the property at the Canadian Museum of Nature. It consists of plants, shrubs, grasses, and flowers from four distinctive ecosystems across Canada. I came by one day in late April. We begin with Boreal Forest, where trees, bushes, and plants of that vast ecosystem are present here.

Beyond it is Prairie Grassland, short at this time of the year, but it grows quickly, transplanted from the west. A careful eye will note a path to the right. Unfortunately local dog walkers appear to be too lazy to actually stay on the path, and have worn a path by cutting right through the grass.

This is why, in general, I hate people. I don't blame the dogs, it's the people.

Low lying bushes here in the Boreal Forest section caught my eye.

Looking across to the Museum. Once the warmth really settles in, the grasses will grow and at least block the view of that worn path made by said lazy people.

Across the path is an art installation, an iceberg in stainless steel by the late artist and inventor Bill Lishman.

Taken from the west side of the property, this includes the Museum and iceberg. Among the rocks and stones here are plants of the third ecosystem, Arctic Tundra.

The fourth ecosystem is Mammoth Steppe, where plants that existed at the time of the mammoths thrive today.

A family of mammoths are here along the trail. These statues predate the Garden. Beyond, the Queens Lantern of the Museum houses a model of the Moon.

And a preview of things to come: tulips in the beds outside the main entrance. They weren't open, but they were showing colour.