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Pictures Places

A Laurentian Jaunt, Part. 3

Nature

It was cold and rainy when we were at Mount Tremblant. Well, “cold” — it ranged between 8C and 15C (46ºF to 60ºF). As mentioned in Part 1, this was actually a good thing, as it kept away the mosquitos.… [Read More]

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Musings and Observations Pictures

Consider the Dandelion

Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are one of those plants that people generally either hate or scarcely notice at all. While they produce cheerful yellow flowers and “puffballs” of floating seeds that fascinate young and old, for some reason they’re stereotypically the scourge of The Great North American Lawn.… [Read More]

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Experiences Pictures Places Tourism

Springing

We made our first visit to the Jardin Botanique this year, and to paraphrase William Gibson: spring has arrived, it’s just not even distributed. (As always, click on pictures to see ’em biggish).… [Read More]

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Pictures

Flowers

I’ve been trying to write a post here about the situation with the unhoused in Montreal in comparison to Los Angeles. It’s turning into a term-paper-like research project, though.

So in the meantime, here are some nice spring flowers at the Jardin Botanique.

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Pictures Très Intéressant

Crabapple Redux

In response to my Crabapple evolution post, one person commented to me that “[T]he trees are ugly 51 weeks out of the year. They’re only pretty during the one week that they bloom.… [Read More]

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Pictures Très Intéressant

Crabapple Evolution

From the front-facing window and small balcony at the apartment, there’s a view of the street below and the shaded courtyard of the house across. When we first arrived, the trees were mostly bare or just beginning to leaf out.… [Read More]

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Pictures

Spring Colo(u)rs

Did I just mention that one of the advantages of our north/south migration is experiencing some seasons twice? Well, here’s some Springtime evidence of that.

At the botanical gardens, the magnolias are in bloom, and the Japanese garden has a variety of fruit trees still with blossoms: cherries, crabapples, and plum trees.… [Read More]

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Pictures Très Intéressant

Rose Mallow

We’ve tried to make a weekly ritual of biking to the Jardin Botanique Sunday mornings for a coffee in their café and a wander around the gardens. As mentioned before, our Accès Montréal card gives us free access to the outdoor (best) parts of the garden.… [Read More]

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Experiences Musings and Observations Places

I’m Sohrry

Sohry I’ve not been posting recently, been having some health challenges. Ready to get back up to speed now! Here are some flowers. Hope you’ll forgive me.

peonies, Chinese garden @ the Jardin Botanique

Some of these health problems were not so much caused by our bug-out to Montréal (though that was exhausting) but by the place we moved into.… [Read More]

Categories
Experiences Only in Montréal

Summer Snow

It has been blazingly hot this week, and yet there’s snow:

No, Hell hasn’t frozen over. These floaty bits are part of the seed release strategy for the eastern cottonwood.

Each tree can release 40 million seeds per season, so even a few cottonwoods can create quite a show.… [Read More]