Sunday, July 21, 2013

Vancouver (Day 1)


My day started with the 3:20 a.m Van Galder bus (from Janesville) to O'Hare airport this morning.  Of course, the check-in process was just as much fun as the security check point but I did make it to my gate with plenty of time to spare.  The 4.25 hour flight went well and I found myself quickly enjoying Vancouver this afternoon after checking in at the hotel and for the Perennial Plant Association Conference.  I'm sharing a room with Ed Lyon, former RBG Director and now Director of Allen Centennial Gardens (UW-Madison campus).  We walked around a bit later this afternoon and had a nice dinner at a local restaurant (Thai).  Ed's airport/travel nightmares were remarkable (including sleeping in the Denver airport last night..) but we're looking forward to a great week.  Above and below are photos from the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.  I saw this garden with my last trip to Vancouver (12 years ago?) and enjoyed it just as much.  Further down are shots from the Davie Village Community Garden just down the street from our hotel.  It was nice to see this garden in the middle of urbanization and the amazing amount of work and commitment to maintaining this space is evident.  Tomorrow Ed and I go on a bus tour to many gardens.  Some of the images below have descriptive captions.








Above is our hotel (we're on the 9th floor)
cool cascading cotoneasters (Cotoneaster sp.)
hanging baskets everywhere
street side planter with ornamental banana (Ensete) as a centerpice.
one of many sightseeing buses
lots of fresh fruit in many locations
water shot (note huge cruise ship)
neat overhead atrium
old archicture and new
downtown shot
neat living wall at the Vancouver Hospital

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