A Russian Princess

Here Commissioner's Park reaches the north end of Dow's Lake, coming to an end at Preston Street. Tulip beds are in full force.

The pink tulips below are the Russian Princess of the title, a beautiful and delicate flower that contrasts nicely with the other tulips around it.

This panel carries on the story at hand.

Apricot Impression

We carry on today with more tulips from around Dow's Lake today.

The type name is slightly hidden for this tulip- it's called Apricot Impression.

And carrying on with the series of panels, here's this one.

To The Queen!

As part of the Tulip Festival, there are tulips on Parliament Hill. Here on the highest ground on the Hill, a statue of Queen Victoria has tulips at its base. We celebrate Victoria Day as a tribute to her, our Queen when Confederation was enacted in 1867. Compare this statue to this one I've shown you before.

There were a good deal many people about, so it wasn't possible to get pictures without others posing for shots, but it does give you a sense of scale. The groundhog (or groundhogs) that live on this hill didn't have a quiet weekend, with human visitors up around the Queen through each day.

Some bulbs were out, others just waiting to bloom, as you can see in this closeup.

Yesterday, soldiers mounted four Howitzers on the east side of Centre Block for an annual Victoria Day tradition.

It's a twenty one gun salute, and it is loud.

Back at Dow's Lake,  here is the next panel in the series.

Meowing

This flowerbed at Dow's Lake combines a kind of tulip called Christmas Dream, in pink, with a daffodil called Narcissus Thalia.

Nearby is this bed of yellow and orange.

With more pink standing close by.

Here is the next panel in the series.

And another set of painted tulip sculptures.

You might have been wondering about that post title. This sculpture is painted with cats. Which, of course, are the ultimate life form on the planet.

Today is Victoria Day in Canada. Tomorrow we'll be shifting to another location in the city for some more tulips, and other activities associated with the day.

Colours

A couple of days of warmth can work wonders in bringing tulips out and about. Here are some at Dow's Lake.

And we have the next panel in the series.

Some more of these tulip sculptures caught my eye. This one I photographed from both sides.

Norway

May 17th is Norway's National Day, or the Norwegian Constitution Day. This year is a day of special significance, as the constitution was enacted two hundred years ago today. Norwegians refer to it as well as Syttende Mai or Nasjonaldagen. Check out Bergen Daily Photo or Stavanger Daily Photo, two blogs from Norway for celebrations of the holiday from home.

I went over to the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau today for some tulip shots, and came across people en route with the Norwegian flag, in traditional Norwegian clothing. It turns out that the embassy here partnered with the Museum in celebrations of the bicentennial. Much of the celebrations were done by the time I arrived; one of the attendants mentioned there had been a brass band playing earlier and a good sized crowd that came out. Still, there were kids engaged in games, and people in traditional clothing strolling about. These are the steps between the Museum and the curatorial wing, decorated for the occasion, with the Norwegian and Canadian flags side by side.

The embassy also asked for something unusual for the occasion- reenactors from the period in uniform. We don't have period Norwegian uniformed fellows, but these reenactors came out with British uniforms of the time. They were quite popular for people to pose with. The Ottawa River forms a nice backdrop.

This woman graciously posed for me with the Museum's glass wall as a backdrop. She mentioned that her clothing was typical of northern parts of the country.

Bloom

Along the length of the Rideau Canal, tulip beds can be found with various colours blooming.

Down at Lansdowne Park, there are some beds of tulips set on the east side. This year the tulips are mostly yellow, with some red blooms in the mix as well.

These tulips surround a statue that was erected for the Calgary Winter Games in 1988.

Back at Dow's Lake, I leave you with another panel in the series.

Tulips

Down at Dow's Lake, we can always count on the paparazzi to be busy taking pictures. Fortunately their subject are far more appealing than certain wastes of oxygen who would go to the opening of an envelope just to get their pictures in the papers.

One of my grandfathers worked in the tulip industry in the Netherlands before immigrating. On one of his trips back years later, he was surprised by the new types of bulbs- he expected that only a handful of the bulbs he'd known in his time were in use.

This is something new in Commissioner's Park. These unusual sculptures are set up in various spots. I'm still not sure what to make of them. They look like something Edward Scissorhands might have had a go at.

Another kind of art is present here in the park. These large tulip sculptures are painted in different ways, some with Dutch designs, others with a distinctly Canadian look. They might include animals, sports teams, or even the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

More tulips to come. I'm leaving you today with the second panel here in the park.

Early Or Late

The Canadian Tulip Festival dates back to the aftermath of the Second World War, when the Dutch Royal Family and government began an annual tradition of sending tulips to Canada in thanks for the liberation of the Netherlands. In 1953, the festival was organized for the first time as a formal display thanks to the landscape photographer Malak Karsh and other supporters. It is a popular festival, drawing in hundreds of thousands of visitors each year in May to view the tulip beds in various parts of Ottawa and Gatineau, a rich variety of colour.

Commissioner's Park at Dow's Lake is one of the biggest tulip sites. These beds of tulips are inevitably the first to blossom each year, and this was the case again this year, though they were running quite late. I photographed them a few days ago.

I found myself wondering if these bulbs were quite ready.

Aside from the tulips here, daffodils also grow in a couple of locations in the park.

The difference is that they're not in a flowerbed- they spring out of the grass.

I'll leave off today with the first of these panels, which form a semi-circle elsewhere in the park. They tell the story of the festival and the connections between Canada and the Netherlands that rose out of the War. Just click on it for a larger version, and the text should be readable.