Allan Gardens (founded in 1858) is one of the oldest parks in Toronto, Canada. It has a conservatory (greenhouse), a playground and two fenced off-leash areas for dogs. It is operated by Toronto Parks which also runs Centennial Park Conservatory. It is open every day of the year.
In 1879, the Pavilion Hall was built. It included a glass conservatory and was also used for concerts and social events. Oscar Wilde gave a lecture here in May 1882. The Hall burned down in 1902. It was replaced by the existing Victorian style conservatory known as the Palm House in 1910 (shown above). This was designed by former City Architect Robert McCallum. The Cool House was added in 1924 and the northern Tropical House in 1956. The Arid (Cactus) House and the southern, double-width Tropical House were moved from Exhibition Park in the 1950s.
Rare tropical plants from all over the globe are nurtured inside five greenhouses covering 16,000 square feet. The southern “Tropical House” has a waterwheel and tropical plants like orchids and bromeliads. The “Cool House” has a waterfall, Kashmirian Cypress, small pond and citrus trees. The central Palm House houses tall bananas, bamboo and a huge Screw Pine. Another tropical house has many kinds of hibiscus, datura and a cycad. The Cactus House has a wide variety of cacti and succulents.
- excerpts taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Gardens
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thank you for taking your time to view and your comments are much appreciated. remind me if i haven't been to your album and i will do so at the first opportunity.
I wish that this was in my backyard!! A lifetime of photo ops....gorgeous architecture too. The variety of plants and trees is endless and so fantastic. What a place. LOVE your collage!
