Tulip Beds In Afternoon Light

I like to close out my Tulip Festival series with posts back at Dow's Lake, and so that is what I'm doing today and over the next two posts. Most of the shots in these posts were taken in late afternoon early evening conditions on the last Friday of the festival, with some from a second visit on Victoria Day morning three days later. I started at the south end of Commissioners Park and started touring the flower beds. As you can see, I wasn't alone.

A Walk Within Major's Hill Park

I returned to Major's Hill Park on the last Sunday of the Tulip Festival, a few days after my previous visit, to look in on the tulip beds here.

This view from the east end of one of them looks down the long row of them, with Colonel John By's statue at the far end and Parliament Hill beyond.

And here we get the view from the west end, with the Colonel looking quite distinguished.

Lilacs were coming into bloom at this time as well, and there are bushes lining the top of the bluff, overlooking the Ottawa River and Gatineau on its far shore.

Along this pathway, there are tulips in planters.

The beds at the north end of the park were at peak, with the National Gallery and Notre Dame as backdrops.

Colours On The Gatineau Shore

On Victoria Day, as mentioned in yesterday's post, I got a lot of walking in, including an excursion across the Ottawa River into Gatineau. There are tulip beds to be found here, especially at the Canadian Museum of History, with beds near both the exhibition and curatorial wings.

The space between the two wings offers a splendid view back across the river to Ottawa, with the Chateau Laurier and Parliament Hill visible over there. The museum's fountain was back up and running for the season since my last visit.

Here we have a tulip bed with the curatorial wing in the background. First Nations architect Douglas Cardinal designed this museum, and its grand curves reflect his indigenous heritage. It is a masterpiece of architecture.

Heading east, this is the other side of the curatorial wing, with tulips in the flowerbeds before it.

More proof of squirrels being gardeners- this tulip was one of several growing in the bushes behind the formal beds.

I crossed over towards the main entrance of Jacques Cartier Park, having had decided to take the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge back to Ottawa. These tulips were lining the entrance.

Another item at this entrance is a larger than life statue of the great Montreal hockey player Maurice "Rocket" Richard.

Here we have a view of the tulips in the park itself, with views of the Alexandra Bridge and the Ottawa skyline. You might notice structures here in the park. MosaiCanada was held here last year, and it seems the topiary exhibit is going to be back on again this year. This portion of the park was fenced off, with people at work on the grounds for that purpose.

My path took me past more tulips.

And I finish with a touch of the future- many of you will remember the Mother Earth topiary that was the highlight of MosaiCanada. This is how she looks as a work in progress. Workers were using a lift for some tasks on the topiary as I passed by. I shall have to get over here when the event gets underway.

Paying A Visit To New Edinburgh

On Victoria Day, I went about extensively through Ottawa and Gatineau on one final day for photographing tulips. The shots in this post represent the last of those stops (though I'll have more posts ahead before I'm done with this series). I went to New Edinburgh, the neighbourhood on the east shore of the Rideau River where it meets its end, and came to Rideau Hall, the official residence of Canada's Governor General. I photographed this flowerbed outside the main gates. The property, which has nearly eighty acres of land, doesn't have tulip beds formally (at least in the public grounds), but one can find them in spots like this. I expect to be up in the area this weekend- Doors Open includes the South African High Commission, for instance, and there are other nearby spots on my to-visit list.

I passed by these lovely blue flowers as I walked the grounds. The Governor General is largely a ceremonial role, representing the Queen, but it's worthwhile to have a head of state who stays out of politics. The property, which dates back to before Confederation, has housed the Governor Generals since 1867, and was originally home to Thomas McKay, the man who founded what was the village of New Edinburgh.

I remembered that there were trilliums on the property last year at this time, and sure enough, they were back.

This totem pole is on the grounds. The Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation of the Pacific Coast gave this to Governor General Lord Alexander in 1946, and its features incorporate elements of their culture. I have featured it before, and in fact a previous shot I took of it ended up on the cover for an issue of the magazine Canada's History last year. It has a place of prominence here on the grounds.

I couldn't leave the grounds without taking a shot of the manor itself. This time of year, the high season for tours is underway.

Many of the trees on the grounds are the result of ceremonial plantings by visiting dignitaries for over a century. I can't recall if this particular one was one of those, but a sound from above caught my ear. A woodpecker was hard at work up in the tree, and while most of him blends into the bark in this shot, that splash of his red head gives him away.

From Rideau Hall, I walked back to the parkland surrounding the Rideau River and Green Island, where the river splits into two branches and meets the Ottawa River. These tree blossoms, with the Ottawa River and the Gatineau shore, caught my eye.

There are tulip beds here in the park.

And there are two waterfalls. The Rideau River takes its name from the French word for curtain, and meets a beautiful end as the Rideau Falls. This is the east branch, photographed from the observation platform.

Here we see it from the outlook on Green Island itself.

And here we have the west branch, photographed from the platform by the National Research Council.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Me

The first day of the month is a theme day for the members of City Daily Photo. For June, that theme happens to be Me. How are others interpreting this? Have a look right here. 

As I am busy here with my Tulip Festival series for a few more days, have a look at my writer's blog today for a post about Ottawa Race Weekend, the running event which took place here last weekend. And a reminder to those readers in the local area- Doors Open Ottawa is this weekend, with sites ranging across the city, including out in the rural outlying areas. 

For this theme, I start with a shot of myself taken in February during Winterlude. I came into Ottawa's City Hall one weekend day and found displays in the atrium from two national museums and several local ones. Included in all that was a pilot's seat from a military plane, courtesy of the Canada Aviation And Space Museum. One of the staffers manning the table display took a photograph of me in it.

As part of Canada 150 last year, there was an event held here downtown called Kontinuum, put on by a production company called Moment Factory. A multimedia show, it took place in a future LRT station beneath the city over the course of the summer. I came through on several occasions and enjoyed it Before going in, the visitor was given a card to use to scan their own image, which would also be incorporated into the show. That card contained a download code one could use on the website to retrieve their own image, either as a jpg or a gif. I downloaded a number of mine as stills before the site closed up at New Year's, and here they are, watermarked with the event name and featuring some colourful takes from my numerous visits.

This, meanwhile, dates back to Winterlude, where a trailer was set up in Confederation Park with items promoting the Black Panther film. That included the chance to get yourself photographed with T'Challa himself. A photographer took the shot, sent it off watermarked to your email, complete with the Panther right beside you- even though he wasn't physically present when I was standing there.

And I finish with a recent one, another movie tie-in. One of the shops at the Rideau Centre mall had a promotional display outside for the Star Wars film Solo. I thought it fit the theme quite well, so I sat down and had my picture taken.