(aka, my botanical Holy Grail #1)
If you are not aware of The University of British Columbia's "Botanical Photo of the Day," please look at it and decide if you want to enrich your flower-life every day via e-mail.
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2009/05/penstemon_davidsonii_var_praeteritus.phpThis picture (link) of Penstemon davidsonii var. praeteritus was all it took to convince me to make a trip up to Fair Vancouver to see the Garden. The photo-of-the-day program continues to influence and fuel one's interests and enrich the span of one's wonder.
Here is the plant itself, an incredibly large specimen, upon my visit. Penstemon davidsonii var. preateritus is a plant I swear to see in the wild...
The gardens, in a sage act of not cutting down last year's dead flower stalks, has made a seasonal impromtu exhibit of Cardiodrinum giganteum. I love this kind of good horticulture. And it was worth the round four-thousand miles. UBC's Botanical Garden is a living collection of plants (those words arouse me every time...) for study purposes, placed in an aesthetic way for the enjoyment of the greater masses, including me.
It has an appropriate bend towards Asia and the continent's diverse Rhododendrons, which were in full bloom. Timing sometimes smiles on us.
The rock garden, to which I made my initial beeline, is curated by the fine Mr. Brent Hine. Thanks, Mr. Hine, for your time and broad knowledge. I wrote in my notes that this garden is "exquisitely labeled." It must have been pretty great to use such an inky word in my little notebook.
A specimen Larix lyalii, planted in 1975
Anemone palmata
I like the design of the rocks. Close and big. It is monumental yet passive, letting the plants shine as the real stars they are. I can count the number of gardens with rock arrangement of which I fully approve on three fingers, and this is one of them.
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