Strathcona and Cottonwood Community Gardens: Open House and Epic Plant Sale
July 09 2010 | Gardening and Vancouver | 8 Comments »
You Gotta See This: Phoenix Perennials
Today I dropped by my very favourite nursery in the Greater Vancouver area and the blooms on display simply blew my mind. So gorgeous it was worth a shout out.
Phoenix Perennials in Richmond features one of the largest selections of perennials in Canada with over 4,000 plants. Not only are the plants beautiful, rare, and impecably tended to by great staff, but right now the whole place looks like a plant carnival with so many rich colours of blooms and leaves and bracts.
It’s really the best show in town and the good news gets better: this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is The Summer Sizzle – 30% off plants, pots, and iron work. There are a series of free workshops this weekend as well - check out the e-newsletter for more details.
I’m hoping to steal a little of my time (which has been currently dedicated to the community garden) to get there myself and pick up a few show stoppers for my front yard garden. Hmmm, now where can I find some room….
July 07 2010 | Gardening and Vancouver | 9 Comments »
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Day 1: Torch Relay
Today is officially the first day of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games here in Vancouver and the energy around town is off the charts. There are people here for all over the world buzzing with excitement, waving Canadian flags and ready for an amazing party. The weather has been really warm here, so there has been some concern over the snow levels on the mountains (it is a WINTER games after all) and so while many are braving storms in the East, we are hoping for lots of snow. Organizers are reporting that they have the snow under control so let’s hope so for the athletes’ sake.
I did brave the rain today to see the Torch Relay which went through my neighbourhood yesterday and again today. All the kids came out of school to cheer on the torchbearers and the Olympic Flame. Many wore patriotic red and white, including the famous red mitts which it is altogether too warm for.
Unfortunately some nasty protesters caused the relay to change routes this morning, so I missed it the first time (and so did many of the school kids) but I was able to catch up to it later. I do hope that protesters aren’t going to hamper anymore fun in the city, as most everyone here is ready for a great time. I know I am and I have my red mitts to prove it!
I’m going to try to find garden related Olympics stories for the rest of this month, but since gardening is pretty much on hold so I can zip line through downtown Vancouver and be part of a Flash Mob on Robson Street, Garden Therapy may just become Olympic Therapy for February 2010.
February 12 2010 | Photography and Vancouver | 2 Comments »
Reifel Bird Sanctuary With Point & Shoot
Last week I picked up a lightweight point and shoot with good zoom and macro capabilities to use as my everyday camera. The DSLR that I have been using has a superb Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom Lens but its quality glass is incredibly heavy and therefore it’s difficult for me to carry for even a short length of time. After some research I settled on the Canon Powershot SX10IS. The initial tests at the dog park and in the house were disappointing but I was gifted one beautiful sunny day so I took it out to the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Ladner, BC to see the migratory snow geese and the winter ducks.
The test went just as I expected: the 20x zoom function and video capabilities were fun to use, but the picture quality was grainy and inconsistent. The digital viewfinder was slow and shaky, making it difficult to compose the shots and the focus speed was so slow that I missed much of what I was hoping to take. The macro setting was successful in bright light but required you to position the camera mere centimeters from of the subject for a decent shot. Here is a selection of the photos I took, mostly in zoom mode which was very handy to have at a bird sanctuary.
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- The Reifel Bird Santuary from up on the blind. The Snow Geese are the white band at land’s end.
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- The band of white zoomed in shows a few of the Snow Geese that migrate here from the Arctic for the winter.
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- The Sandhill Cranes landing was taken from the blind at almost full zoom.
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- This photo was taken of Sandhill Crane was wading in the pond from the blind at almost full zoom.
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- A showy male Bufflehead duck that was only 10 feet away in great light, but still the photo is grainy when zoomed in.
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- A V of Snow Geese flying overhead taken at nornal range.
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- This flying Sandhill Crane was taken at normal range. The same photo taken with the DSLR was far superior in sharpness and colour.
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- The Sandhill Cranes are some of the most interesting birds at the island.
I thought it would be nice to have a lighter weight everyday use camera but I miss the speed, flexibility and by far the quality of the DSLR I’ve been using. The solution could be to buy a lighter multipurpose lens for travel and everyday yet I also really liked the Ultra Zoom function and the digital video. It’s back to the drawing board I guess.
November 30 2009 | Photography and Vancouver | 3 Comments »
Testing Out a New Camera at the Park…
I bought a digital point & shoot today and tested it out at the park. So far I’m not very happy with it. It feels like I’m handcuffed, wearing a girdle and stuck in traffic: it’s slow and there is too much restriction. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow as I’m going to take it to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary. It would be nice to have something a little smaller to carry around. But who knows, maybe I’m just a DSLR kinda gal.
Late Afternoon at Trout Lake in Vancouver
I’d love to get any recommendations on what cameras people are using out there for all the amazing shots of gardens and food I see you taking. If you shoot with something you like I’d be overjoyed if you’d leave me a comment and let me know.
November 26 2009 | Photography and Vancouver | 4 Comments »
Fall Foliage from East to West
Not long ago I returned from a trip through New England at the height of peak fall foliage. Driving from Ontario through Quebec, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine gave a dynamic variety of scenery to drink in. The colours lit up like neon signs when hit by the sun and changed so dramatically from the golden waves of black walnut, horse chestnut, and white poplar leaves, to fiery puffs of sugar maple and oak trees, to the stark white of the bare birch trees. Still inspired upon my return to Vancouver I snapped a few more photos from within my neighbourhood. We may not have sprawling hillsides of hardwoods, but we do have some amazing examples of season’s change that begged to be captured. The photos below show a tiny sampling of what I thought was the best this fall had to offer, from East to West.
- Birch Trees in Mackenzie King Estate, Quebec
- Amazing Fall Foliage
- Fall Foliage in John Hendry Park, Vancouver, BC.
November 12 2009 | Photography and Vancouver | 3 Comments »
East Vancouver Garden Tour – June 2009
Back in June I went on the East Vancouver Garden Tour and saw 12 private gardens and a few others as I passed by on the walking tour.
This beautiful front yard garden is almost completely covered by a magnificent old Japanese Maple. From the street you can see only the large mass of leaves but if you follow a path and duck under the tree you will find a fantasy hideaway beneath the stunning canopy of the maple.
This is a typical example of the whimsical gardens in East Van. I almost walked by this little guy as I left the garden (even though he is about the size of a cat) because he was tucked so neatly in the ivy. Flies beware!
This was a little girl’s fairlyland. In a garden amongst blooming roses and teacups on pedestals there was the most magnificent birdhouse/treehouse. It was sweetly decorated with pretty flower-print flags, delicate fabrics, and at the very top there was a pink feather wreath acting as a peephole to the sky. When I arrived the garden was a buzz with girls dressed up beautifully, romping around in the birdcage not at all unlike little birds.
This gorgeous beast, also known as Nicky, came out to greet us from his owners’ potted vegetable garden. He had quite the system of planks built for him to climb on. Lucky boy.
July 15 2009 | Flowers and Gardening and Photography and Vancouver | 1 Comment »
