botanical weekend

Last weekend was basically what you get when two earth signs (Taurus & Capricorn) get married. I had an appointment in Burlington, so Geoff and I decided to finally visit the Royal Botanical Gardens, which we had been meaning to do for ages. First we stopped in at Son of a Peach for a delicious wild mushroom pizza, then drove over to the Arboretum part of the gardens, as the lilac dell there was in full bloom. I think the lilacs were not as lush this year, possibly because of the cold winter, and they were a little sparse in spots, but they still smelled incredible. I had never seen so many different varieties growing so close to each other so I loved compared all the different colours and shapes and scents as I drifted from lilac to lilac.

These photos are a little overblown with glorious sunshine but all this warm weather and bright light still feels like such a novelty—some of us were convinced they would never get here.

After the lilacs, we went over to the RBG Centre to enjoy the Mediterranean greenhouse & cacti and succulent collection. More incredible smells of eucalyptus, olive, bottle brush, lavender. I was in my own personal version of heaven.

The next time we go we’ll need to give ourselves more than just a couple of hours because the RBG is huge and there is so much to explore!

The next morning we headed over to Allan Gardens for the Toronto Cactus and Succulent Club’s annual show and sale. In the past few years Geoff has gotten back in to collecting plants (his interest took a bit of a hit once we started living with cats, but they’re not as interested in our plants anymore, and we have southern exposure to take advantage of), and he found out about the sale while researching where one can find cacti that are a little more unusual than the ones we typically find in plant stores here. It was a fun event! It was busy and some of the tables were cleared out within the first hour, so we were glad we showed up early. I’ve never been particularly interested in collecting succulents or cacti myself (beyond thinking they were cool to have around, but not actively looking for them), but I found two that had flowers, which I loved. Geoff picked out a copper spoons & a crinkle leaf succulent. Once again, I overheard a discussion about how the cold winter lead to some members losing some of their plants, so fingers crossed that next year’s event is even better.