I was amazed on Sunday that I was able to take in three (3!!) plant sales. The "big one" was the plant sale at Van Dusen Garden in Vancouver, BC. Since the weather was not looking good, my husband consoled me with two local plant sales on the way to church, one operated by the Burnaby Rhododendron and Garden Society (BRAGS), and the other by the South Burnaby Garden Club. But after lunch, the weather improved, and I convinced my mom and daughter to join me at the Van Dusen sale.
I bought a number of treasures at each sale, some of them already on my mental "wish list" of plants, and others just struck me at the time as something I just needed to have. Some of the more exciting catches for me were Acanthus spinosus (Spiny bear's breeches), a trillium, a stunning purple oxalis, Lobelia cardinalis (I've tried to start it from seeds in previous years without success), and a monster-sized Bergenia and Japanese Anemone.
On the day of the annual sale, admission to Van Dusen Gardens, a picturesque 55-acre botanical garden in the heart of Vancouver, is free. So after plant shopping, we enjoyed a short walk through the gardens before it closed at 4PM. I wish we had a few more hours to explore it all. Here are some photos I snapped with our small camera on the way. I love the bright yellow euphorbia in this scene:
The bench looked very inviting, but we had no time to sit, we still had lots of garden to explore.
You need to get down low to appreciate the beauty of this Erythronium.
Fresh cones on a Picea abies (Weeping Norway Spruce).
The lighting is not good, but I liked the look of this Clematis meandering through the reddish Berberis.
three plant sales and 55 acres of gardens to explore? sounds like the perfect Sunday. here's hoping the better weather sticks around.
ReplyDeleteirena
What fun! Beautiful photos though strolling such a lovely place can be quite dangerous to my budget. :)
ReplyDeleteI see Euphorbia in that first shot. Mine is days away from blooming...