MONTREAL FLORA AND OTHER AREA GARDENS
	BY BRUCE ZIMMERMAN

On June 14th, 2006 the Garden Writers Association  held it's District VII Symposium. The sponsors  were Tourisme du Quebec: Tourisme Montreal; Montreal Flora; Via Rail; Holiday Inn; Guidtour; Montreal Botanical Garden.  We visited numerous gardens from downtown Montreal and the surrounding area. Included were great restaurants and private gardens.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn select Montreal Centre-Ville. Ph: 514- 878-9888.
www.yul-downtown.hiselect.com

The first evening we strolled the cobblestone streets of the Old City of Montreal enjoying the fine weather, the architecture and the history of the old town. We stopped to admire the Governors residence built in the 18th century. It houses a collection that bridges the Amerindian prehistory to the beginning of the 20th century. The Cafe over looks a replica of the 18th century garden with it's espalier fruit trees and over-flowing herbs and vegetables.

We had dinner at Les Filles Du Roy (Daughters of the King) for a fabulous dinner. Reservations are necessary Ph: 514-282-1725  www.pierreducalvet.ca. The restaurant is typical of 18th century architecture of New France. Here the illustrious occupant Pierre du Calvet a supporter of the American Revolution held meetings with George Washington's foreign envoy Benjamin Franklin in 1775-1776.

Every night I wandered on my own, always ending up at the free open air French Language Music Festival. This is curious as I am unilingual but good music in any language is good music. I had no problems making myself clear as I guess Biere is Beer in English too. It was different walking the closed-off streets drinking biere.

On the second day we toured more gardens and had a superior lunch at Boris Bistro. Ph: 514-848-9575  www.borisbistro.com You are wise to get reservation s even for lunch if you can. After lunch we walked to the Parc des Eclusiers to visit the site of International Flora Montreal 2006. Now this is some fun gardens for kids and this lucky big kid. This was the only time it rained but only for a short time. From here we walked back to the Hotel.

The next day we took the Metro (subway) to the Montreal Botanical Garden. Ph: 514-842-1453 http://www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin I could get lost in there day after day. I took in the Insectarium where a very obliging guy let  his live insects crawl all over me. I bought bugs souvenirs for my daughters. I then hoped the free shuttle to the Biodome. The different biospheres are great but for some reason the inhabitants would not sit still for photographs. I hopped the shuttle back to the Montreal Botanical Garden and continued my exploration of the Leslie Hancock Garden area and the woods. I found my way back to the hotel via the Metro. I took Via Rail to and from Montreal and to be honest it is the way to go. No stress and no gas bills.  The train from Toronto to St. Catharines had a Casino Car. It is decorated in an  Art Deco style. In this train car I was taught to play Black Jack for fun while drinking Niagara VQA Wines and eating fine Quebec Cheeses.

Flora Is On Again In The Summer Of 2007 With Some New Gardens As Well As Many Of The Great Gardens From Last Year.

These are only a few of my favourite shots.

MONTREAL BIO DOME
Just Who Is Looking at Who?
	I Took This Picture Of A Northern Starfish. At The Time It Was About 15 to 18 Inches Underwater
More Colourful Northern Ocean Creatures
	Can't You Just See Him Saying I Am More Beautiful Than You!
GARDENS OF MONTREAL
The Most Beautiful Rose Arbour I Have Ever Seen
	Espalier Fruit Trees In The Recreated 16th Century Garden Of The French  Governors
The Burn Hospital's Contemplative Garden in Montreal
	This Is The Most Beautiful Rural Garden Gate I Have Seen
MONTREAL BOTANICAL GARDENS
Big, Bold, Beautiful Now That's What I Call A Flower
	This Is An Impressive Collection Of Bonsai Well Staged In A Beautiful setting
Montreal Botanical Garden's Bromeliad House The Spanish Moss Is In The Top Right Corner And The Impressive Really Big Flower Does Not Even Look Out Of Place
	This Is Just One Of A Huge Number Of Orchids In The Montreal Botanical Gardens Orchid House
You Have Heard Of The Sorcerers Apprentice Well - I Think This Is Mother Nature's Apprentice.
	Clean Neat Lines Make This A Restful Garden Garden With Great Koi
This Gold Bronze And Grey Blue Koi Is Just One Of A Huge Number Of Koi I Saw  The One That Got Away Was Pure Yellow With Huge Flowing Fins
MONTREAL'S FLORA
	This Is A Roof Garden Just Opposite The Entrance To Flora
In This Garden One Is Never Alone For This Couple I was Told By The Designer That It Was Time For A Cigarette
	This Was Just One Of The Cool Gardens For Children In Flora. You Sit And Bounce On The Balls
These Floating Gardens Are  Loosely Anchored So They Move With The Wind Direction
	This Picture Looks Across Several Gardens  In Flora
My Family Says That This Picture By Kathy Wood  In Flora Is The Best Picture Of Me In Recent Times Oh! The Other Guy On My Left Is Michel Gauthier General Director Of Flora