Jernie's Hub

I have heard a lot about the Allan Gardens but I waited until the weather gets better to visit it. Looking at the map, it is just a walking distance from our place. I took the route, Church St. going to north until Gerrad St. then headed east to the Horticultural Ave.

It is a park and an indoor botanical garden which is one of Toronto's oldest since 1858. At the center of the park is a Victorian conservatory known as the Palm House constructed in 1910. The garden features six greenhouses comprising over 16,000 square feet of colourful seasonal plants which supplement the permanent plant collection. The garden and the main part of the property was donated by George William Allan, a one-time Mayor of Toronto and long-time Senator.

When I got there, a group of people dressed well were standing in front of the conservatory. There must have been a sort of wedding pictorial in the area. So I decided to wander around the park first and waited until the crowd disappeared. While sitting in one of the bences, the gray and blacks squirrels running around kept me amused. It's a pity I didn't have peanuts with me, it would have been fun. Also threre was a big flock of pigeons in the garden. It is definitely anice place to enjoy piece and nature.

After some minutes of waiting, the crowd was still there and there were no signs of them leaving so I went inside the conservatory and started exploring the green houses. The admission by the way is free. There are also organised tours available, check this website for details http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/tours/allangardens.htm

Inside the conservatory are rare tropical plants from all over the world ranging from palm trees, hibiscus, banana plants, coffee to cacti. As I have read, the trees in the park represent the northern tip of the Carolinian forest with species such as black cherry, American beech, red oak, sugar maple and sassafras. Most are over one hundred years old. But I am not well informed about the different kinds of trees so I could hardly identify which is which. The park is home to three varieties of squirrel, the gray, the black, and, unique to this park, the red tailed black squirrel. The park is also home to the city's largest flock of pigeons, a roving peregrine falcon and a statue of Robert Burns.

Here are some of my nice shots in the park.