today, i took in the Toronto Botanical Garden's "through the gardens" event. the venue or venues are the gardens of the private residences of some of the mansions in the privileged district of toronto. i have already seen five gardens and only one impressed me. i mean, you've seen one garden, you've seen them all, right? maybe. until i got down accidentally at an address i wasn't planning on visiting.
WOW! was i floored and was i impressed! this property has the equivalent of four properties - apparently the owner bought the other three surrounding properties around them. i mean we went through an entrance and the exit we were ushered out to was about two blocks from where we came in!
from the tree-line sidewalk you pass under the pair of "dolgo" crabapple trees, you arrive at the entrance which is flanked by two water rills lined with slate-grey river rocks. the long walk towards the courtyard is lined with beds filled with 'Graham Thomas' Austin roses. how's that for a welcome and thank you for coming?
i'll skip the other stuff and we'll get right down to the grand terrace which faces the most spectacular features of the garden: "the grand allée of flowering dolgo trees" on two thirds of the 'yard' and an oversized outdoor pool on the left. the terrace overlooks two buildings at the end of the walk and the pool. the greenhouse at the end of the pool and an 'outdoor' gymnasium. between the two buildings is a pebbled courtyard with a central fountain. whew!
but! the only thing that really took my breath away, literally was this. the greenhouse which had only a "sparse" collection of rare flora and fauna - it has a damn friggin' library with comfortable looking settées. you can imagine i almost died seeing this. this building alone has a space more than the floor space of my apartment building. and all around are big bushes of the most beautiful and well-kept roses ever!
you can imagine that the next gardens i saw (which if i've seen them on their own would've been impressive) looked like its underprivileged cousins!
-o0o-
thank you for your views and comments. know that they are much appreciated. and i am continuing to catch up on yours. just please let me get through and sort the 2,000 photos i took today.
@russianblue - kass, i was thinking of you when i was going through those rich mansions' gardens. truly! this is at 37 cluny drive. the $50 i paid for two days tour is well worth even if i've seen this one alone. crazy money indeed! later on, i'll be seeing more of its 'poorer' cousins. hahaha! and all i wanted was to see how the gardens are laid out. i don't think i'll be planting a dolgo tree beside my apartment building. hahaha! thank you, kass.
@sarasdadandmom - terry, these windows do not look out to just the garden. they look out to the pool and patio then the rose garden then the terrace then the main house. hahaha! they have three gardeners and they each have their own section of the gardens, it's like a contest of who keeps the best garden within the garden. to be rich and have so much money. why, i could buy a really nice camera! heck, a studio maybe. thank you, terry.
@lesip - hahaha! no, my record was 3,000 in one sojourn, a few hundreds were bad. yesterday, because i was using a dSLR which i have only used a couple of times, i've already deleted 400. the photos i took with my p&s are all good all 500. i should be done by nightfall. hahaha! thank you, leslie.
Such a gorgeous place ....I love that greenhouse/library! Could live right there. Would love to tour the grounds and see all of the layouts of the gardens. Lucky you!! Now I see that you are shooting with the Nikon in the last few photos ... is this your new camera? How do you like it ... or do you like your old one better? Lots of new "bells and whistles, huh?" I still don't know what half of mine do. Have fun with it ... shoot LOTS of pics. There's always that button called DELETE> lol Love the angle and clarity of this photo ...the color is great! When I go to the Gardens now, I see more people with Canons hanging around their neck. Even the pro shooters that visit there have a Canon. I think in the end it's the photographer tho and not the camera. Right?!! Did you read the article about the "Stages of Photography" on here (discussions.) I don't even know if I'm out of stage one yet. Quite a humbling article. I shouldn't have read it. lol
sounds like you had such a wonderful time that matches this wonderful shot. what a task you have before you. what to keep, what to delete. i do not envy you.
Incredible how the other half lives. I once had a window flower pot with a nice yellow flower. Never knew what type it was, wanted to respect its privacy. LOL. Must have been beautiful though walking through all those gardens.
I'm not much of a flower person, but gardens have always facinated me. In some ways I think its a bit of meditation, for the gardener and the observer. In a way, its also a window into the calm side of the gardener's soul. Point of reference, Miyamoto Musashi is often considered the greatest swordsman to ever life. He never lost a duel. His techniques and philosophies on dueling and fighting are still used today. But later in life, he became known as Niten Dōraku, and is said to have created some of the most beautiful gardens and landscapes within Japan at the time. So many different sides to a person. Sorry for the rambling....caught me in a philosophical mood. :)
June 18th, 2012
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I'm not much of a flower person, but gardens have always facinated me. In some ways I think its a bit of meditation, for the gardener and the observer. In a way, its also a window into the calm side of the gardener's soul. Point of reference, Miyamoto Musashi is often considered the greatest swordsman to ever life. He never lost a duel. His techniques and philosophies on dueling and fighting are still used today. But later in life, he became known as Niten Dōraku, and is said to have created some of the most beautiful gardens and landscapes within Japan at the time. So many different sides to a person. Sorry for the rambling....caught me in a philosophical mood. :)