I have converted the rest of the family to the awesomeness of botanical gardens. And so, we were all pretty excited to go check out Montreal’s Jardin Botanique.
After we arrived, the first area that we walked through was the Chinese garden. And it was flipping AMAZING!!! Probably my favorite thing we say on this particular day. And it was huge. There were several buildings, a large water feature, a waterfall, and several smaller gardens all within the Chinese Garden.
It was fairly early in the morning, but it was already hot. And super humid. So being in this section combined with the heat and humidity really reminded us of our time in Vietnam. So, that was kinda fun too.
We went to the Japanese garden next. We were all especially impressed with the various bansai trees we saw. Seriously, it was so interesting. Lots of different species can be made into a bansai, it’s all about the method of cultivation. The oldest bansai was 275 years old!! That’s from 1747 folks!! It’s older than ‘Murica! That is crazy. 🤯🤯
We were also very appreciative of the fans we found in one of the buildings in the Japanese garden. It was really starting to get hot.
Next, we went in search of a good place to have a snack and to rest for a moment. We found a nice little pavilion in the Japanese garden that was perfect.
We were still pretty hot, and so the shade garden sounded like a mighty fine place to hang out. (BTW–‘Shade’ in French is ‘ombre’…. whoa. Everything makes sense!! 🤯🤯). It was really lovely for all the reasons.
Next, we decided to make our way to the greenhouses (we all love those tropical plants!) And as we were going, we came across something very unexpected: A steampunk garden installation/performance art piece called L’Expédition végétale.
It was basically a 4-story steampunk-themed flying machine covered in plants. Surrounding the ship, Aéroflorale II, were lots of small “experiments” relating to the photovoltaic properties (the ability to produce energy) of plants. Jonas participated in one of the experiments and quoted a poem, which he memorized for school, to a bunch of plants.
While we were there, the “scientists” were climbing up and down and around on the flying machine and “conducting experiments” and “scouting out the land” (at least I think so…. it was all in French…)
It was all rather geeky and just plain awesome.
But, let’s be honest, our kids’ favorite part was the cool water that was misting out in some places and dripping out in others. They all got pretty dang wet. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
I just pretended I didn’t know them: “Cute kids. I wonder who they belong to…” 😂😂😂
We were lucky to see this installation because it will be moving to a different location a week from today.
We continued making our way to the Greenhouses. But as we were going, we came across the aquatic gardens. They had Giant water lilies!! I’ve wanted to see those in person for a while! So, I was excited that they had some. Especially because Montreal winters are definitely not conducive to giant water lilies. There must be some behind-the-scenes magic.
Finally, we made our way to the Greenhouses.
And I have to tell you, when we walked in, I was expecting it to get hotter and more humid. But, it felt exactly the same as it did outside. There really was very little difference. 😳😳😳. No wonder we were all dying! It was basically a tropical climate outside!
But of course, the greenhouses were lovely. We loved seeing all the different kinds of tropical plants. There was one particular section where they highlighted the plants that produce spices. That was fun to see.
We were pretty worn out from the heat after walking around in it all day, so we exited through the gift shop. I took the twins outside to wait while Jonathan and the other kids completed their purchases.
We then made our way back to the car and began the drive back to New Hampshire. But first. Here are some more pretty plants… if that’s your thing:
We had a lovely weekend in Montreal. I would love to come back sometime! It is a beautiful city!
Also, I can’t talk about Montreal for so long without mentioning my one of my favorite series: the Inspector Gamache series (they’re mysteries by Louise Penny!) ‘Cause this is where the series takes place!! I saw TWO Sûreté du Québec cars. But I was too slow to get a picture of either one. 😭 Also, we drove through the Eastern townships.🤩 But, we didn’t accidentally end up in Three Pines. 😭 So I didn’t get to meet Ruth, Myrna, Gabri, Olivier, or Clara. But Montreal was pretty awesome on its own. ❤️
