A pinch and a punch ... it's the end of the month!

Botanical Gardens, Berkeley, CA

A pinch and a punch ... it's the end of the month, and hopefully the end of winter too! I'm incredibly lucky because I've travelled all over the US and Canada and seen some wonderful gardens here in the last three months. So as I reach the end of my time here and get ready to travel to India to work once more on my hospital, I thought I'd post some of the art and statues I've seen during my garden visits - at least they (unlike me) remain in one place!

The Wave Garden, Richmond Point, CA

I spent a wonderful week in California last month, where spring had already arrived; I was lucky enough to go to North Carolina where I saw beautiful blue skies; then I travelled to Canada, where I saw butterflies like I've never seen before; and I even had a quick trip back home to England where I was able to enjoy the snowdrops.

Allan Gardens Conservatory, ON, Canada

I've spent a lot of time in Florida, where I've witnessed the ravages of unseasonably cold weather and the damage it's caused, but now finally the plants are coming back to life. But what my travels have really shown me is that climate change is becoming a stark reality - when I got caught in snow in Texas, I realised that the world is changing. We've all seen the way the weather's treated us in the last few months, so now we need to think about the future and how to help our planet.

Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Florida

Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog posts - there will be many more. If you want ideas for gardens to visit over the holidays and you live in Florida or near San Francisco, Toronto or Montreal, you might want to look at my US directory; and for English garden ideas you can also look at some I've seen on my travels. Happy Easter to you all!

Filoli, California

Rained out at Niagara, but saved by the gardens!

My husband and I spent last week in Canada and my regular readers will already know that we visited several gardens en route to Mont Tremblant to do some skiing. It was incredibly cold, but we could sense spring in the air as the fast-melting snow made way for new bulbs poking their heads out of the ground. We visited the Montreal Botanical Gardens and Toronto, where I waxed lyrical about the Allan Gardens Conservatory. We also went to Niagara Falls, which was a first for my husband .... where we got soaked and soggy!

But thank heavens for the Niagara Parks' Botanical Gardens there, and the wonderful Butterfly Conservatory, where we spent several happy hours watching the brightly-coloured creatures weaving their way through the tropical jungle glasshouse that is their home (above). I've never seen butterflies like this before, so two magnificent displays in a week prompted me to do some research on other facilities like this in the US.

It seems there are several places you can see magnificent butterfly displays, including the Cecil Day Butterfly Centre at Georgia's Calloway Gardens; the Butterfly Rainforest in Gainsville, FL; and at the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens. I haven't had the chance to visit any of these personally, but this link lists all the Butterfly Gardens in the US. With the Easter break coming up, they make wonderful diversions for adults and children alike!

As for the Botanical Gardens at Niagara - I'm sorry to say that they weren't looking their best in the pouring rain, although I could see that they would be wonderful in better weather and a different season. The end of winter is never a good time to visit a garden, when the grass is brown and there is little colour yet in the flower beds. But there were many spring flowers in bloom in the Butterfly Conservatory (below) so I shall return one day, and hope to see the Falls in the sunlight too!

A patch of heaven in downtown Toronto!

This post is for Helen of Toronto Gardens - we met this week in her home city (that's Helen on the right) and had the chance to talk about gardens, horticulture and blogging - as well as other things - and she's a wonderful lady!

It's all thanks to Helen that I got to see one of the most remarkable gardens I've visited on my travels - the Allan Gardens Conservatory - right in the heart of Cabbage Town in Toronto - an absolute gem! It's open daily from 10.00 to 5.00 and it's free - a series of garden rooms inside greenhouses, ranging from the cactus room to the spring flowers, but topped by a fantastic roof (top) which will leave you gasping on a day like today when the sky in Toronto was the same as a Carolina blue sky!

This morning was cold .... very cold, with a biting wind and sub-zero temperatures, but once I got inside the greenhouses, I was transported into a magical land of flowers. But what's really interesting about this garden is that if Helen hadn't told me about it, I would never have found it! It's not listed in the Toronto tourist guides; it doesn't appear in any of the great garden guides and for all intents and purposes, you wouldn't know it's there! But I for one, am putting it on the map because it's just too good to miss.

The spring flowers here are absolutely incredible with great displays of tulips and daffodils - in colours that I've never seen anywhere else - incredible purple tulips and daffodils with pink hearts - planted in huge clusters that will make your heart leap. And then there's the underplanting so that everywhere you look, you have amazing colour combinations!

Wander through the various conservatories and you'll see a range of different landscapes - from dense spring flowers to magnificent hydrangea displays and arid desert scenes - all in glasshouses in the middle of the city. If I lived in Toronto, I'd drop in all the time to catch this little patch of heaven!

What's so amazing about these lovely gardens is that there are only four gardeners looking after them - I chatted to one while I was there - and the floral displays are constantly changing throughout the seasons. This is definitely worth making a detour for - because it's the most wonderful surprise in the heart of a bustling city!

I was lucky because I was there on a beautiful sunny day (after getting soaked at Niagara the day before!), but I know that this garden would lift my spirits on any day!

Just waiting for those doors to open!!

Arrived in Toronto and very much hoping to meet up with Helen from Toronto Gardens later! But she's already given me some great leads on gardens to visit, so just "galloping" off to Niagara, and then returning to the city ... which has let me down on the weather today ... grey and overcast, but can't wait to see the Allan Gardens Conservatory (above) - it was closed when I went by earlier, but I could see all the flowers through the windows!! So watch this space .....

Thanks to Jean for some thoughts on Sissinghurst!

This post is for Jean at Jean's Garden who wrote about Sissinghurst in a post last week. Thanks for all your thoughts Jean and I thought that as The Galloping Gardener, I should join in the debate here, because I've never yet featured this "iconic" garden on my blog and wouldn't have considered doing so without your suggestion .... just too many coaches and crowds for me!

Jean has given a wonderful review of the garden in her post, so I'm only going to add some comment and some additional pictures, because although we English love this garden, we rarely visit because it is so crowded that it is virtually impossible to enjoy it, unless you can get ahead of the coach crowds, which really means visiting at the end of the day, or the end of the season.

But if you don't mind being part of the throng, you'll fall in love with this place the moment you arrive and catch sight of the oast houses (above). And of course, it's world famous for its White Garden (below) and the series of garden rooms that are synonymous with Sissinghurst .... It's steeped in history too because this was Vita Sackville West's home.

If you want to read a highly entertaining account on visiting Sissinghurst, check out Tom Turner's piece on Garden Visit - he's a brilliant writer and you'll see what he thinks about the property.

That said, if you're visiting from overseas, Sissinghurst is to the UK what Giverny is to France, so I guess that foreign gardeners will want to make the pilgrimage anyway - so good luck with the crowds and as I said earlier - visit late in the day and you'll see the gardens looking the way they do here in these pictures.

There are so many beautiful gardens in the UK - click here - Garden Visits 2009 to see some that I've reviewed in the last nine months! And if you're looking for iconic English gardens, there's also the Beth Chatto Gardens, Iford or Cothay Manors, Heale House, Waterperry Gardens or Kew, to name just a few.

Happy visiting and really hope that when you do, you'll let us know what you think of Vita Sackville West's former home, or any other UK garden that you visit!

Montreal's majestic Botanical Garden

Hey and look what at what's blooming in Rajasthan - check out the link to see! GG

I know we have many amazing botanical gardens in the UK, but nothing could have prepared me for the gardens I encountered in Montreal, Canada last week. They are quite incredible and even though it is too early in the season for the gardens to look their best, I spent a blissful day there in the glasshouses!

The Hacienda Greenhouse

Although plans had been in the making for 50 years to make a Botanical Garden in Montreal, it was not until 1936 that work finally commenced on the gardens that are there today, and this was largely due to the tireless efforts of Brother Marie-Victorin, a passionate scientist who was determined that Montreal should have its own showcase devoted to plants. By 1939 the basic structure was in place, and work continued from here.

Glasshouses are always one of the best aspects of botanical gardens the world over, and Montreal's were added in 1956. But here in Quebec, "glorious" is the only way to describe these magical greenhouses with their dazzling arrays of themed gardens that are guaranteed to give pleasure to visitors at any time of year. There is The Tropical Rainhouse Conservatory; the Orchids and Ferns; the Arid Regions conservatory; the Hacienda landscape (the glasshouse where huge cacti grow alongside desert-style houses, and give you the feeling that you are in the Mexican desert); and the wonderful Japanese garden where bonsai lovers can eat their hearts out!

The labelling is impressive too, as are the information boards throughout the glasshouses - beautiful clear descriptions with illustrations (above), that will delight adults and children alike. And unlike so many of the American gardens I've visited, there is also a wonderful guide book for the Montreal Botanical Gardens - a beautifully illustrated and hugely informative "must have" to remind you of your day out here.

The Montreal Botanical Garden is one of ten gardens belonging to the Gardens of Quebec group, which also includes the Morgan Arboretum, the Reford Gardens (Jardins de Metis) and several teaching gardens. Sadly, March is too early to visit most of these as there is little in flower after the winter, but I was more than happy with my visit to Montreal and will never forget the Butterfly Exhibition that I saw there last week!

If I've waxed lyrical here, it's not surprising - I visited at the end of winter when there are only a few signs of spring in the gardens - this is definitely one I'll put on my list to return to when everything is in in bloom!

Speechless Saturday!

Today I went to the Jardin Botanique de Montreal .... it was astounding, memorable and magical and I will never forget what I saw there in the main greenhouse - the "Butterflies Go Free" exhibition!

This was an extraordinary and uplifting show of life on earth, with thousands of butterflies and more importantly, hundreds of people, who were completely astounded by what they saw all around them - beautiful butterflies everywhere.

But what really made my spirits soar was the pleasure the butterflies gave the people! Talk about memorable moments.... each and every person (adults and children alike) was completely captivated by what they saw.

This incredible exhibition runs until the end of April, and if you live anywhere nearby... make the effort to get there .... you won't be disappointed.

I'll write about the gardens over the weekend, but in the meantime, enjoy the butterflies ....

Shades of purple as spring gets closer!

It's been a while since I posted, as I've been on the road again, and am now in Canada, enjoying the sunshine and returning to my rainbow colours - today is shades of purple in anticipation of spring!

No flowers here yet in the mountains near Montreal, but you can hear the birds singing, the snow is definitely melting and I'm planning to visit some gardens in the next couple of days.

So, I'll leave you with a reminder of things to come in the next few months ...

all the beautiful irises all over the world ......

I will start galloping again soon, but until then, enjoy the blooms!

Spring is finally coming!

No time for a full post today as I'm sitting at another airport, on my way back to the US, but I was blessed with wonderful weather in the UK this weekend and I got to see snowdrops!!

And not just snowdrops - there are crocuses appearing and daffodils - all peaking up through the very brown ground after all the snow this winter.

Promise to do a full post in the next few days - am on my way to Canada on Wednesday, and hoping that spring has arrived there too!

All the reds for UK Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day this Sunday in the UK, so I'm uploading lots of reds to share with all the other mothers who enjoy gardening. These are some of the wonderful red blooms I've seen in my travels in the last year .... and I know there will be many more in 2010.

Majorelle Garden, Marrakech

Upton Grey, the "hidden" Gertrude Jekyll garden

Glorious reds in California

Marie Selby Botanical Garden, Florida (bet the weather's warmer there than here!)

Glorious orange ... but where's the sun?

I hit the ground running today on arrival in the UK, and although the West Country was bathed in sunshine as we flew over, it had gone by the time I'd reached home. Here it's cold, grey and dull, so I look to some of the glorious oranges I've seen on my travels to cheer me up!

But the good news is that the snowdrops are still out, the daffodils are coming and my garden looks great, even on a grey day like today, so I'm going to get out there with my camera.

Happy Thursday and if the sun shines, I'll be posting spring flowers tomorrow!