nature | as I walk Toronto

Archive for the ‘nature’ Category

autumn lingers on

Posted: November 4, 2015 in history, nature, public art
Tags: autumn, campus, colours, fall, horse statue, leaves, Mary Pickford, nature, Northrop Frye, Queens Park, sculpture, Sir Daniel Wilson residence, statues, trees, U of T, University College, University of Toronto

The first three days of November have been wonderful – three beautiful warm sunny days, perfect fall weather.

below: Taking advantage of the warm afternoon in front of Osgoode Hall.

below: On St. George Street in front of Sir Daniel Wilson residence, University College

below: Looking across Kings College Circle towards University College

below: Maple leaves still on the tree.

below: Mary Pickford looks over University Avenue.

a bust of Mary Pickford, she is resting her head in one of her hands. In the background is a building along with some bushes and a tree with yellow and orange leaves.

There is an historical plaque beside this statue and it reads: “Born in 1893 in a house which stood near this site, Gladys Marie Smith appeared on stage in Toronto at the age of five. Her theatrical career took her to Broadway in 1907 where she adopted the name Mary Pickford. The actress’s earliest film, “Her First Biscuits”, was released by the Biograph Company in 1909 and she soon established herself as the international cinema’s first great star. Her golden curls and children’s roles endeared her to millions as “America’s Sweetheart”. She was instrumental in founding and directing a major film production company and starred in over fifty feature length films including “Hearts Adrift”, “Pollyanna” and “Coquette”. For the last named film, she received the 1929 Academy Award as the year’s best actress. “

below: Two women outside Emmanuel College, Queens Park Circle

below: Northrop Frye sits on a bench on the campus of Victoria College (U of T).

A statue of a man, Northrop Frye, sits on a bench with his legs crossed and an open book on his lap. Another book sits beside him on the bench.

This life sized statue was created by Darren Byers and Fred Harrison and was unveiled in October 2012.

spring blossoms in Mount Pleasant

Posted: May 16, 2015 in nature
Tags: blossoms, branches, buds, cemetery, chestnut, forsythia, lilac, mount pleasant, new growth, petals, pink buds, pink flowers, spring, Toronto, trees, tulips, white flowers

This week all the flowering trees and shrubs have come to life. Also, a number of times I have looked out the subway window as the train passed Mount Pleasant cemetery and noticed the blossoms on the trees there. Past experience says that the pinks and whites of these trees may not last long. So I took my camera and macro lens to Mount Pleasant cemetery and played.

There were lilacs and forsythia and many others that I don’t now the name of.

below: Apparently this tree is called a Moose Maple.

ritual of spring

Posted: May 4, 2015 in nature
Tags: blossoms, cherry, Japanese, RObarts, sakura, spring, Toronto, U of T

The Sakura Project

The Sakura Project was started in the year 2000 with the objective of planting 3000 Japanese flowering cherry (Sakura) trees in Ontario as a symbol of Japan-Canada friendship. By the time the project came to an end in the autumn of 2012, 3,082 trees had been planted at 58 locations across Ontario. One of the locations was the St. George campus of the University of Toronto. Here, at the corner of Harbord and Huron streets, 70 trees were planted in 2005.

Today, 4 May, the trees were in full bloom. Perfect. (Well, almost perfect – a little blue sky instead of the cloud cover would have been an added bonus)

winter trees

Posted: March 10, 2015 in general Toronto, nature
Tags: alley, bare branches, blue sky, branches, buildings, city, deciduous trees, garages, houses, lane, laneway, no leaves, residences, shadows, snow, street scenes, Toronto, trees, urban, winter

Bare branches, snow, and sometimes blue sky –
things that usually only come together in winter.

Views that are hidden behind summer leaves are revealed in winter’s barrenness.

Trees take on a different character when they have no leaves

and they cast a different shadow.

Toronto is a city of trees. They are everywhere, and a surprising number of them are large, mature trees.

When we think of trees we usually think of shade on a hot day, or maybe the joy that spring buds bring, or maybe the rustle of fallen leaves in the autumn. The winter tree is often overlooked but they too add to the character of this city.

a break in winter

Posted: February 22, 2015 in locations, nature
Tags: Allan Gardens, can't wait for spring, cheerful, close ups of flowers, colours, conservatory, daffodils, flowers, green house, hibiscus, macros, plants, poinsettia, thorns, tired of winter, Toronto, tulips, warm, warmth

Yesterday Toronto got a brief respite from the frigid temperatures that we’ve been experiencing. Instead, more snow fell. I think that most of us are getting tired of this thing called winter, including me. So, here are a few photos from inside the conservatory at Allan Gardens to brighten your day.

Centennial Park conservatory

Posted: July 13, 2014 in locations, nature
Tags: bougainvillea, cacti, Centennial Park, coleus, conservatory, Etobicoke, flowers, gardens, geraniums, green, greenhouse, leaf, leaves, path, pink, plants, red anthurium, rocks, stones, Toronto

I ventured out to Etobicoke because I heard that Centennial Park had a conservatory and I was curious about what was there. Taking photos of flowers and plants is not my forte but it was an interesting place to experiment with colour, texture and composition. I do not know the names of most of the plants that I saw there, and very few were labelled. There were geraniums, anthuriums (red & white), bougainvillea, bamboo, lots of different cacti and succulents, to name a few. The photos below represent only a sample of what was growing there today.