Winter In Toronto

This is our second winter in Toronto, and it looks like we might actually get to enjoy a white Christmas. Last year it really did not snow at all. Any snow that came down melted the next day. The weather Network keeps threatening snow, but it rarely comes. I get “SPECIAL WEATHER ALERTS” warning residents to stay home due to VERY hazardous conditions, and nothing happens - no snow to speak of. But this year it snowed two days before Christmas and it might actually hang around long enough to make Christmas a nice festive white. So with both children here in Toronto with us, we decided to go out for a nice walking tour in the snow.

First stop was at Allan Gardens Conservatory for a photo opportunity with their Poinsettia Display. I have written previously about this really spectacular site which is just two blocks from the condo and it is especially nice at Christmas with their poinsettias looking so festive.

Allan Gardens 

Next stop was a coffee shop that Regis wanted to try from a little Toronto Coffee Shop passport book she got from a friend, but we discovered that this particular shop only had two inside seats so the coffee was taken to go and as we walked through the falling snow in downtown Toronto, the nice hot coffee kept everyone warm. As I stood outside the coffee shop waiting for everyone’s orders to be filled, I watched a woman in tan leather pants and tall stiletto shoes trying to navigate through the slushy, slippery sidewalks - she perhaps thought her pointy heels were going to provide a bit of winter traction? 

We stopped for the required photo with the Toronto sign behind the popular skating rink at Nathan Philips Square and then toured the Financial District, stopping into the various bank building to see the fancy Christmas decorations in the foyer of the buildings, each bank trying to outdo their rivals. 

Nathan Philips Square

By then, the snow had stopped and we decided to follow the underground network of the PATH through to the Eaton Centre and the giant animated Christmas Tree. Then out onto Dundas Square (I believe it has been renamed but everyone still knows it as “Dundas Square”) and onto a little bar behind Yonge St. for drinks and snacks. 

All in all, the gently falling snow and the pleasant temperatures provided a nice day to wander the winter wonderland of the big city. The falling snow actually hid the tallest of the city’s skyscrapers and seeing the totally unprepared pedestrians provided ongoing entertainment; they were either totally overdressed bundled in full length hooded puffy parkas or completely ignoring the snow,  dressed in shorts, high heels, blue suede shoes, fuzzy slippers, or other inappropriate attire. Welcome to winter in Toronto!

Eatons Centre Christmas Tree

Skating at Collage park

Yonge Street 

Close-ups

One city block from our Toronto Condo is Allan Gardens which has a beautiful conservatory full of beautiful plants. I have visited a couple of times and always enjoy it, finding new things to see every visit. At Christmas it is especially nice with an amazing display of Poinsettias. I went there recently with my sister when she visited and this time I looked at things a bit differently, taking close-ups of some of the plants. It made for some interesting patterns and photos. 

So, this post there is not much to read but some interesting pictures I hope. However, don’t ask me what the plants are.

Gardens

My Dartmouth Garden

I have a lovely garden back in Nova Scotia that I built around plants I got from my mother from her gardens and I do miss watching the various plants come up again every spring and bloom in their own time. My gardens were mostly made up of perennials, that dependably came up every year, and required little serious work. I liked my gardens to be mostly trouble free and although I did work on organizing and maintaining it, I did not want to have to be constantly “gardening”; I wanted to enjoy the gardens with minimal work. I am hoping that my daughter is enjoying it while I am in Toronto. 

Here in Toronto, I have discovered many lovely gardens during my walks exploring the various neighbourhoods, so I have been able to enjoy the gardens here without having to look after them. Some of the best gardens are in a neighbourhood called CabbageTown, and I have yet to see any actual cabbages growing in the gardens there, but walking down the streets of stately houses in the area, there are many really nice gardens between the houses and the street; in fact most of the houses have minimal front lawns and maximum front gardens. There is even an organized “Garden Tour” that you can take exploring some of the best CabbageTown gardens. 

Edwards Garden Park

There is one neighbourhood here called “The Garden District”, where my son lives, but it actually has very few nice gardens that I have found. The district is named for the Allen Gardens Park, which houses a beautiful domed glass conservatory full of beautiful plants that we have visited a couple of times. It features a beautiful display of Poinsettias at Christmas and has a spectacular collection of succulents in one of the greenhouses. 

Some beautiful gardens appear in unexpected places. On a walk to the downtown IKEA, we took a different route and found a street of townhouses with spectacular roses blooming out front in their gardens, and another walk from St. Lawrence Market took us past an amazing rose display bordering a busy downtown intersection. 

Now Regis has turned “gardener” here in Toronto and is faithfully maintaining a little vegetable garden on our balcony, and is constantly jealous of the size of the tomato plants grown by the retired nun living under us, but she says it must be divine intervention at work rather than gardening skill. 

Allen gardens

Rose display on Richmond St.

Edwards Garden Park

This garden needs some work

In Allen Gardens

Regis' little balcony garden