Winter was really, really, really long this year, so it was a treat when some friends and I recently visited the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I’d never been there so early in the season when the flower beds were being prepared and the magnolia trees were in bloom.
As we followed the various paths around the garden, I couldn’t help but remember how it looked during the Mosaiculture Internationales show last year. Photos from that show are posted on my blog here.
The annual Magic of Lanterns show is on at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I finally got a chance to see it on Saturday and the weather was perfect for a night time stroll. The line up to get into the section where the Chinese Garden is located was extremely long, but people were patient and smiling as everyone inched forward.
The annual exhibit has a new theme every year. Artisans in Shanghai create over 900 lanterns that are designed by a team from the Montreal Botanical Gardens. The results are beautiful. Ancient Chinese figures line the walkway to the main exhibit at the lake which comes alive with lanterns in the form of birds, insects, wild animals, trees and villagers.
It took us a couple of hours to see everything, not because of the size of the garden, but because of the size of the crowd! The stone pathways around the lake and the terrace surrounding the main pagoda were jam packed. If you’re a shutterbug like me, you may want to bring a tripod. The exhibit runs until November 3rd.
The Montreal Botanical Gardens is the host of the Mosaicultures Internationales this year. The theme is “Land of Hope” and the living larger-than-life sculptures from around the world are spectacular. Enough from me. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Clown Fish (aka Nemo) (Japan)
Polar Bear sculpture gets watered.
Memoires of a Childhood Dinner (France)
The Bird Tree (Canada)
Comesse’s Butterfly (France)
All In a Row (Madagascar)
Mother Earth (Canada)
Mother Earth (Canada)
Ambassadors of Hope (Canada)
Phoenix (China)
Spirits of the Wood (Canada)
Spirits of the Wood (Canada)
Guardians of the Island (Chile)
The Man Who Planted Trees (Canada)
The Man Who Planted Trees (Canada)
The Crane Girl, a True Story (China)
Park employee waters flowers in a pot.
The Uffington White Horse (England)
Fragile Frogs (United States)
Day's Lee 