Farewell to Winter

I was at Toronto Botanical Gardens this past Sunday and the snow was melting into beautiful crystal patterns, and I was able to capture a few in the courtyard garden.

Spring Awakenings!

I see flowers everywhere I go and thought I'd give you 2 great examples.

On Saturday I was on Bloor Street West shopping.  I caught this Ranunculus out behind a fruit and vegetable store before they took the rack to the front for sales.

Then on Sunday I was in Plantworld.  It is a wonderful garden centre and nursery in my neighbourhood.  It's grown over the 25 years I've lived here in the Kingsway/Sunnylea area.  I  got this beautiful little Grape Hyacinth (Muscari) in the lovely afternoon light.

'Symmetry in the Grasses' Gets Feature Today!!

What a great start to the week!  The weather is so warm it's like April, and I find one of my images is featured on the homepage of redbubble, the site where my work can be purchased.  I'm at the bottom right with 'Symmetry in the Grasses'.

Here it is as it would appear framed for your wall.

My Winter Conservatory

I have a conservatory greenhouse, originally built in 1915.  It was dismantled, refurbished and moved to my place in 1993, thanks to Jamie Goad, the well-known Toronto architect.  This is a beautiful structure in the Victorian tradition.  I have recently started using HDR image processing, and the greenhouse images really benefit so that there's both a beautiful blue sunny sky and the details inside.

Canada Blooms - Inspirations of Spring

Canada Blooms was so inspirational last week.  The perennial greenhouse was a delight of flowers, grasses, and fern leaves unfolding.  I took my favourite images and have made a set of greeting cards.  Here they are:

Can't Wait for Spring

Charlie Dobbin, the horticultural director of Canada Blooms spoke at the Etobicoke Horticultural Society last year about the Canada Blooms show.  I was fascinated by the forcing greenhouses and the work it takes to get the materials ready on schedule.  I asked to visit the forcing greenhouses and this week had the opportunity to see the large greenhouses with trees, shurbs and perennials leafing out. 


Here's what the balled, bagged trees look like.

Of course, here's what's coming out.

And here is a sour cherry in bloom.

Getting Set for Valentine's Day

It's a few weeks away, so I've been thinking about Valentine's Day.  I was at Donlands and Danforth last week, and saw some wonderful red paint on a white wall.  It might have been graffiti or messy workers, I'm not sure.  As soon as I saw it, I intuitively  recognized a shape.  When I got it into Lightroom (yes the software is called the opposite of a film darkroom), I was able to bring out what I saw.  It was a half a heart, and I duplicated and manipulated it slightly to bring out an entire heart.  I have named it Heart Wide Open, an Urban Valentine.  


You can buy a card or print at redbubble and a bag (lots of types) at zazzle! 

Niagara Butterflies

The Niagara Butterfly Conservatory is a beautiful place to visit in the winter.  We stopped in just after the New Year and enjoyed the children, butterflies, flowers and warm weather of the lush tropical landscape.  Niagara Falls in a very wintery, snowy place, and the day we were there was an excellent demonstration of that.  

However, once inside, the drive through the snow is worth it, and the magic of butterflies comes through.

Winter Blues

I did some indoor photography yesterday with cyclamen.  Indoor work lets you sit down, change the colour of the sky, the amount of light, the position of the flowers.  These are the portraits.




"Winter Blues"
Indoor cyclamen looks out to the blue winter sky, longing for the warm summer days outside.

"Spring Longing"
Indoor cyclamen sees the blue winter skies outdoors, filled with frost and snow. It feels alone and wonders if it will ever see Spring, despite the company of its Kin.

Winter Water

While I was at Humber Nurseries last week, I visited the wintering Koi in their water tanks.  Here are a few abstracts from that visit.