Tag Archives: montreal botanical garden

Summer’s Gone! Fall Colors Are In! – Landscape Photography

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River at Sunset with Fall Colors

Take Advantage of Fall Colors to Enhance Your Landscape PhotographySummer came and Summer’s Gone! It went by so quickly that all I can seem to think about are the missed opportunities. What did I forget to photograph before the end of Summer? I can’t lament and think about it for too long! Fall may be around for quite a while but in the North East and Southern / Eastern Canada the beauty of fall can be here one week end and gone the next. The foliage is changing and it’s changing at an astonishingly rapid  pace. In Montreal everyone heads North, like St-Donat, an hours drive, for some of the most beautiful colors. Don’t wait for the City colors to kick in because it will be too late to head out North. Fall Colors can be up to three weeks early just a stone drop north of Montreal. For those sleepy heads there’s always the Eastern Continue reading →

The Magic of Lanterns 2012 – 20th anniversary!

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The Magic of Lanterns - 20th anniversary!

20th edition of The Magic of Lanterns – The Celestial BanquetSound the Drums, It’s the 20th Anniversary of The Magic of Lanterns at the Montreal Botanical Garden! The tradition lives on in 2012 at the Chinese Garden of the Montreal Botanical Garden with this year’s Chinese Lantern display themed; “The Celestial Banquet”. Join Xi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West, as she hosts the “Feast of Peaches”. The Jade Emperor and his wife Xi Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West) ensured the deities’ everlasting existence by feasting them with the peaches of immortality. The immortals residing in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant banquet called the “Feast of Peaches” (蟠桃會 Pántáo Huì, or 蟠桃勝會 Pántáo Shènghuì). The immortals waited six thousand years before gathering for this magnificent feast; the peach tree put forth leaves once every thousand years and it required another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen. Statues depicting Xi Wangmu’s attendants often held Continue reading →

Killing Spree in Montreal’s Ile de la visitation Nature Park

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Dead Blackbird after Killing Spree

Teens use pellet gun to bring down birds…Litter, trash, broken glass bottles, prostitution, used condoms and drug paraphernalia are all common sites in Montreal‘s Ile de la visitation Nature Park. (Photos: GALLERY1 – GALLERY2) What I wasn’t expecting was a killing spree in Montreal that left a large number of dead birds along it’s shoreline. As I was taking photos an elderly man approached me and started a conversation. I brought up the dead birds and he informed me that young men were shooting at birds and squirrels with a pellet gun (Hand Gun). It goes without mention that I’m already disgusted by the general state of this nature park. The rest of Montreal and it’s parks are not much better. Even paid outdoor venues like the Montreal Botanical Garden are seeing a local crowd that grows less and less respectful every passing year. A lack of responsible and mature Continue reading →

Butterflies and Moths Go Free 2012

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Butterflies Go Free 2012

like Day and Night! February 16 to April 29, 2012From February 16 to April 29, 2012, the Main Exhibition Greenhouse and the Ferns Greenhouse of the Montreal Botanical Garden host the 15th edition of Butterflies Go Free. That’s right the 2012 edition of Butterflies go free will be featured in two separate greenhouses this year. Visitors to this special edition of Butterflies Go Free will discover species of butterflies with day or night behavior. Come admire over 2,000 butterflies and moths flying about in the two Botanical Garden greenhouses (the Main Exhibition Greenhouse and the Fern Greenhouse).   Pictures from our Gallery Featuring Butterflies from 2011 BROWSE AND BUY PRINTS ONLINE ON OUR PHOTO GALLERY: HTTP://PHOTOS.TROLETTIPHOTO.COM   Bug Bites Butterflies Go Free* In a greenhouse filled with tropical butterflies… a short presentation arrives just in time to answer the most frequent questions that pop to mind when observing these amazing insects. Continue reading →

Occupy Montreal under Snow!

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Queen Victoria Snowed-in Wearing V Mask

On Wednesday Morning, November 23rd, 2011, Montreal woke up under a blanket of snow. The first real snowfall for the 2011/2012 winter season. For the folks occupying Victoria Square, it was an uncomfortable morning following an uncomfortable night. Many of the tents on the grounds are not designed for winter. Some are even equipped with permanent ventilation screens under a rain proof dome. Wind and snow impregnated many of the tents ill suited for the Montreal Winter ahead. Hardcore supporters of the Occupy Montreal movement could be seen cleaning pathways between tents with everything from their hands, rakes and some fortunate ones had shovels. Luckily the temperatures were a mild -2 Celsius that quickly warmed up above freezing. The days ahead are scheduled to bring higher temps and rain, sure to melt away any signs of this first snow. Not all were present this morning. Many of the tents were empty. More of a symbol of Continue reading →

Last Call for Chinese Lanterns – Montreal Botanical Garden

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2011 Chinese Lanterns - MTL Botanical Garden

The Emperor’s First Procession comes to an end October 31, 2011 2011 Chinese Lanterns – MTL Botanical Garden The end of the season has arrived. The Montreal Botanical Garden is in its final strides before shutting down all but the indoor greenhouses. On Monday October 31st you have until 9PM to take a last look at this year’s, The Magic of Lanterns. The 2011 theme, The Emperor’s first Procession. There’s also a Halloween playground and the pumpkins in the Main Exhibition Greenhouse where you can also enjoy a presentation from Esmeralda the friendly local witch. (Welcome to Esmeralda and Abracadabra’s home) The sun sets early so you have plenty of time to enjoy the last of the Chinese Lanterns for 2011. Come in early and enjoy the tree house and the exhibit “Fait de Papiers” (Paper Work) also closing on October 31 but a few hours earlier at 6PM. Paper Work  Continue reading →

Crystal Symphony Sets Sail Saying Good-Bye to Montreal for the Winter

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Crystal Symphony - Last Sail out of Montreal for 2011

Saying Good-Bye to the Crystal Symphony marks the end of a Season! Crystal Symphony – Last Sail out of Montreal for 2011 With Canadian Thanksgiving over a week old you know it’s just going to get colder and colder in Montreal. Winter is knocking on the front door and before you know it, snow will be on the ground. The trees are almost bare of their leaves and every last bit of summer is gone. The Crystal Symphony Cruise Ship is no exception. Yesterday, the Crystal Symphony set sail from the Old Port of Montreal for the final time this year. More like an exodus before the St-Lawrence Seaway freezes over. The Crystal Symphony will sail North to the Atlantic Ocean and make it’s way south to New York. Eventually it will sail the Panama Canal and spend some time in Los Angeles hosting 7 Day Mexican Riviera Cruises through November and December. Continue reading →

ART – In and Around the City – Vol 1 Amphitrite

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Reflections of a Sea-Goddess - Amphitrite

The World Trade Center Montreal- Amphitrite, Sea-Goddess Reflections of a Sea-Goddess – Amphitrite It seems art is popping up everywhere! Not only in fully urban areas but also in urban nature environments. I’m often confronted with new artistic additions as I slither around looking to shoot the perfect Nature or Wildlife subject. Artists in cooperation with communities are leaving their mark in the city, parks, gardens and urban Nature environments. Not all of it is good. Some of it necessitates some clarification before it can be appreciated. Other pieces are acquired taste and only to be awed by the few! I was first exposed to injections of art in the search for nature and wildlife subjects at the Montreal Botanical Garden. From pieces strategically set around the grounds to expositions in many of the different pavilions. I suddenly realized that I was exposed to art in an original way, offbeat from the traditional Continue reading →

Sweet Corn Delicacies and the Three Sisters

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Squirrel Stealing Sweet Corn - Photo by Steve Troletti

Nature’s Corn Roast at The Montreal Botanical Garden Squirrel Stealing Sweet Corn Corn Roasts season or as the local French Canadians call it “épluchette de blé d’inde” is coming to an end.  The crops of delectable sweet corn are all but gone. The fields are still filled with corn destined for cattle feed but that’s not going to make it’s way onto our plates smothered in salt and butter. As humans we often overlook our little friends in nature partaking into the same irresistible delicacies. Well our little Sparrows who were quite vivacious with the late summer arrival of Millet have now made their way to the plant of the sweet corn. The top of these plants has turned into seeds making it an tempting addition to to our little Sparrow’s diet. Sweet corn is not just for humans and birds. Squirrels take the occasional break from nuts this time Continue reading →

Tremiscus helvelloides – Guepinia helvelloides – Rare Fungus?

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Tremiscus helvelloides - Guepinia helvelloides Fungus

A rare occurance in the Province of Quebec, Canada! Tremiscus helvelloides – Guepinia helvelloides Fungus This weekend as I was walking in a wooded patch of pine trees I came across fungus. I almost missed them at first! In an area that’s not very well lit due to the density of Pine trees, I almost walked by clumps of a fungus I had never seen before. Their gelatinous gummy bear texture and peach coloring was very peculiar. The ear shaped forms taken on by some of them made this fungus very interesting and intriguing. Upon examination I realized they grew in the top layer of pines and dried branches. They didn’t grow out of the soil itself. Photographing these fungus proved to be a real challenge! I was ill equipped with just a basic camera body and lens. I had no tripod, external flash or reflectors. I still captured them Continue reading →