Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, BC

My absence of posts from my garden are in no way reflective of lack of activity there, since I've been spending a lot of time weeding and pruning and hauling away wheelbarrows of plant material every week.  But I guess I've been getting lazy with not carrying the camera with me into the yard.

Today I went with my 13 year old to Queen Elizabeth Park, and was also too lazy to carry my camera, mainly since I knew I had my mobile phone camera anyhow.  I ended up taking a number of photos, because there was just so much beauty there.  I hope I convey some of it with my sample of photos here.

The beautiful dome roof of the Bloedel Conservatory, which apparently was built in 1969, is under repairs (although the conservatory remains open for visitors), so in the meantime there is this funny tent-like scaffolding rising high above the dome.

As you may have noticed, the Gunnera manicata (which as a kid I used to think was a giant rhubarb!) is featured in many of my photos.  This plant is the highlight of the park, in my opinion, and is now also a much-loved plant in my garden, too.

Another much-loved plant in my yard, the Davidii involucrata (dove or handkerchief) tree, was also inspired by the grand old tree at Queen Elizabeth Park.  Mine is still years away from blooming, but the QE tree not only blooms but is full of fruits/nuts at this time of year.  The gardeners had removed a branch, and I pinched off this piece, which shows the beautifully textured leaves and the nuts.  (If you follow my ceramics blog, you'll soon see some pieces which were inspired and created from the Davidii leaves.  The first one is #28 of this set, and I have two more pieces in progress.)