The official "Garden Bloggers Fling" festivities kicked off late enough on Thursday, June 4th that Andrew and I had an entire day to explore Toronto and adjust to the time difference. I've previously only ever "Flung" in my own, West Coast, time zone (Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland). I now have an entirely different level of appreciation for those that have participated in the jam-packed touring schedule while also being seriously out of wack with their internal clock!
This was the official home base for the 2015 Fling, the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Huge, old, and glamorous.
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As I was taking that shot above I realized a flat-bed truck was going by loaded up with a couple of trees.
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What a nice welcome for a garden blogger!
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Old City Hall
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With some very serious gargoyles...
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Our destination that afternoon was a store called Muji, Andrew was familiar with them from his time spent living in Japan, and was excited to share their simple, clean, design aesthetic with me. I loved it and we learned they have a store in San Francisco, much closer to home. En-route we happened upon Trinity Square. I was intrigued by the shallow pond edge.
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It reminded me of a big city downtown, hugging the waterfront, much like Toronto does. Tall buildings giving way to shorter ones closer to the water.
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Simple
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And very nicely done.
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Now I'm fast forwarding to later in the day, evening actually. We're walking back to the hotel after wrapping up the opening event held at Lee Valley Tools. Lee Valley was a very generous sponsor of the Toronto Fling, sadly I was so overwhelmed (seeing everyone again, shopping) I didn't take a single photo at the store. I'm sure I'll be doing a future post about them though, when I spend my $50 gift card (!). So, as I was writing, we're walking back to the hotel when out of the corner of my eye I catch sight of this...
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Bamboo, indoors!
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Naturally I had to go investigate.
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There was an architectural rendering display going on but I was only interested in checking out the bamboo.
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I looked around for signage explaining what the fragments were from, and why they planted bamboo, indoors. I found nothing.
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There was more on the other side of the lobby too.
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Fast forward again and now it's Sunday, when us bloggers visited Evergreen Brick Works. I loved it and will definitely be posting a bunch of photos. I didn't take this one though, Laurin of Ravenscourt Gardens did - and then posted it to my Facebook page...
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It was because of her that I later spotted this one in the Subway. I could start a whole collection of danger signs!
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It wasn't until saying goodbye to Pam, on the last night of the Fling (Sunday), that I noticed for days we'd been walking right underneath a blooming agave in the hotel lobby.
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Well, a painting (wallpaper?) one anyway.
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There was also an iceberg. Something for everyone!
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Palms, agaves, opuntias. I love it!
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Now it's Monday. Some of the bloggers took part in an optional third (or fourth, if you count the opening event on Thursday night as day one) day and traveled to Niagara Falls. I chose instead to spend the day seeing more of the city with Andrew, in fact we had two extra days to goof-off. This flower (or, I assume, sculpture of) was at the Royal Ontario Museum.
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Who knew? If you're curious (and you should be) check out this short (2 minute) "documentary" on YouTube. the flower really looks like that and it's huge!
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Also at the ROM was this tree-shaped "lamp."
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I loved the idea of leaf-shaped shadows all over my walls.
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Finally there was this little guy, and wouldn't you know it I didn't manage to capture any info on him, darn. So...you're probably wondering: yes, I did take a lot of garden/plant photos and I promise to start sharing them on Thursday!
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All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
This was the official home base for the 2015 Fling, the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Huge, old, and glamorous.
As I was taking that shot above I realized a flat-bed truck was going by loaded up with a couple of trees.
What a nice welcome for a garden blogger!
Old City Hall
With some very serious gargoyles...
Our destination that afternoon was a store called Muji, Andrew was familiar with them from his time spent living in Japan, and was excited to share their simple, clean, design aesthetic with me. I loved it and we learned they have a store in San Francisco, much closer to home. En-route we happened upon Trinity Square. I was intrigued by the shallow pond edge.
It reminded me of a big city downtown, hugging the waterfront, much like Toronto does. Tall buildings giving way to shorter ones closer to the water.
Simple
And very nicely done.
Now I'm fast forwarding to later in the day, evening actually. We're walking back to the hotel after wrapping up the opening event held at Lee Valley Tools. Lee Valley was a very generous sponsor of the Toronto Fling, sadly I was so overwhelmed (seeing everyone again, shopping) I didn't take a single photo at the store. I'm sure I'll be doing a future post about them though, when I spend my $50 gift card (!). So, as I was writing, we're walking back to the hotel when out of the corner of my eye I catch sight of this...
Bamboo, indoors!
Naturally I had to go investigate.
There was an architectural rendering display going on but I was only interested in checking out the bamboo.
I looked around for signage explaining what the fragments were from, and why they planted bamboo, indoors. I found nothing.
There was more on the other side of the lobby too.
Fast forward again and now it's Sunday, when us bloggers visited Evergreen Brick Works. I loved it and will definitely be posting a bunch of photos. I didn't take this one though, Laurin of Ravenscourt Gardens did - and then posted it to my Facebook page...
It was because of her that I later spotted this one in the Subway. I could start a whole collection of danger signs!
It wasn't until saying goodbye to Pam, on the last night of the Fling (Sunday), that I noticed for days we'd been walking right underneath a blooming agave in the hotel lobby.
Well, a painting (wallpaper?) one anyway.
There was also an iceberg. Something for everyone!
Palms, agaves, opuntias. I love it!
Now it's Monday. Some of the bloggers took part in an optional third (or fourth, if you count the opening event on Thursday night as day one) day and traveled to Niagara Falls. I chose instead to spend the day seeing more of the city with Andrew, in fact we had two extra days to goof-off. This flower (or, I assume, sculpture of) was at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Who knew? If you're curious (and you should be) check out this short (2 minute) "documentary" on YouTube. the flower really looks like that and it's huge!
Also at the ROM was this tree-shaped "lamp."
I loved the idea of leaf-shaped shadows all over my walls.
Finally there was this little guy, and wouldn't you know it I didn't manage to capture any info on him, darn. So...you're probably wondering: yes, I did take a lot of garden/plant photos and I promise to start sharing them on Thursday!
All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.