| Jan was missing her garden, so when we were close to
Les Jardins de Metis we had to visit. The gardens were started by an English
lady..... Many of the plants are familiar, such as these aquilegia, though
they are a rather nice shade of blue. |  |
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This rock garden reminded us very much of the Valley Gardens in Harrogate,
especially with the stream running through the middle. |
| Plant names are a fascinating subject. We know
this plant as the lady's slipper orchid, but the French is the virgin's
clog. |  |
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The blue poppy (meconopsis) is the signature flower of the gardens, and it
was blooming profusely throughout. |
| This rock covered with different mosses is in fact a
piece of art, planted especially by an artist who works with living
materials, and placed exactly here to catch the dappled sunlight shining
through the trees. It looks nice, but it didn't exactly 'initiate a
dialogue' with us as the plaque tried to explain. |  |
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The lowly foxglove, but we forget how striking it can look when all the
bells are open, and this particular example is particularly well marked. |
| A rodgersia in flower, but the photo doesn't give any
real idea how big this leaf is. |  |
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Sometimes I just like the colours. Unfortunately when you get really close
the automatic focus system isn't as good as it might be and I have no manual
focus control. So many of these shots don't work. I think this one did. |
| The couple lived in the house on the estate until ....
died. There is now a restaurant on the ground floor, but there are also
numerous items belonging to both of them displayed inside. The large
upstairs windows are in the couple's bedroom suite... |  |
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and this is the view they look out on - a formal lawn leading to a lookout
over a bay in the banks of the St Lawrence River. |
| One room contains a small series of paintings of
flowers, of which this is one. The question is: which came first - the frame
or the painting? |  |
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Sometimes you are taken by a flower others it is just the overall design of
the garden. These were the beds at the end of the crab apple orchard. |
| An unusual container for a bonsai garden - this was
once a millstone. |  |
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A close up of the lilies. This was just the time of year for them. Gardens
are constantly changing, which is part of their allure.. |
| The thing with large gardens is that they enable lakes
to be created which brings in a whole new range of plants for the different
environment. |  |
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And they open up new vistas and on this scale bring a real air of
tranquility. |
| There are a number of garden sculptures using the same
materials - iron shapes filled with rocks. This one is a particularly
pleasing shape. |  |
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A part of the estate is devoted to experimental gardens, a sort of cross
between the Tate exhibition and the Chelsea flower show. Most didn't appeal
to us, but this item in an area displaying work by high school children
caught our eye. |
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