Jean Talon Market 2018

There are two large outdoor farmers' markets in Montreal - Jean Talon is on the Northeast side

and the Atwater is on the Southwest side.  I particularly enjoy the Jean Talon for its

colors and aromas and enormous variety.  I spent several hours walking around.  There are

also specialty fish shops and butchers and cheese shops and flowers.

This is one of the booths; they are open seven days a week.

Peppers of all kinds and colors were available, as well as eggplant in various colors.

Chanterelles Mushrooms are fairly rare, but the "Mushroom Man" had lots.

"Organic" fruit and vegetables are obviously popular in Canada also.

Peppers of many kinds and colors, from sweet to very strong, were everywhere.

Fishmongers were numerous and had all sorts of fish from the Atlantic and Pacific 

as well as lakes.  There was also a fresh oyster bar which had more than a dozen kinds

of fresh oysters.  They had a counter where you could sit and eat.  A tray of 12 oysters,

3 each of 4 varieties, cost $30 CAD (or about $22 U.S.)  Many people were enjoying

the oysters.

Each shop displayed their wares so beautifully, that it looked like a series of

17th century Dutch still lifes.

Peaches and plums were in season, and shops had varieties from a number of the different 

provinces  in Canada, and people obviously knew the difference between peaches from

British Columbia and peaches from Quebec, or elsewhere.

Quebec seems to like garlic of many kinds.  These were very large, but there were

dozens of different sizes and varieties of garlic.

One booth sold dried flowers for the coming winter.

Fruit was very popular, and Canadian know the difference between locations, just as  I know

the difference between a New Jersey blueberry and a California blueberry.  The light tan

fruit is "Quebec Berry" or "Cherry of the Earth."  You can find it only in Quebec and only

at the end of summer.  It has kind of a paper wrapping on it, and the fruit is very sweet and

delicious.  It is never exported or sold elsewhere.

Cauliflower came in many colors and obviously does wonders for soups and salads.

Thesde are mini-cauliflowers.

Some stalls had more than a dozen different types of eggs.

Peppers are both decorative and functional.  This florist was selling strands of peppers

to hang in your kitchen, as well as pepper plants you might like to grow.

Two shops were devoted entirely to sausages, all freshly made.  There were dozens of kinds

in each shop, and customers seemed to know them well, getting one foot of this variety and

two feet of another variety.

Several shops had specialty pates, which I enjoy very much.  Here you can see Pheasant with

Pistachio, Duck with Cognac, and many more.

Several shops were devoted entirely to cheese and had hundreds of varieties of cheese.

Employees were very knowledgeable and could tell you about the flavors and aromas

and how they could be best used.  All the stores were very busy.  These are

all soft cheese.

Mushrooms were very popular, and you could get all sorts of them.

Dried flower bouquets.

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Montreal Botanic Gardens 2018

Last week I visited Montreal and their Botanic Gardens.  It is a very large area of more than

190 acres on the Northeast side of the city and consists of many different gardens.  There is
also a large Arboretum, with many trees.

Entrance to the Gardens with impatiens, cannas, and papayas.

Montreal specializes in several flowers, and for this time of the year, Cannas and

Coneflowers.   Montreal has more varieties and colors of each than I have ever seen

anywhere else.  These are rich Magenta Cannas.

Yellow Sunshine Cannas.  These are large, tall flowers; plants are about 5 feet high.

Variegated Cherry Red New Guinea Impatiens.

"Tiki Peach Whirl" Copperleafs.  We have many Copperleafs in S. Florida, and they

range from small plants to large bushes six feet high.  This is a new mini-variety.

Two varieties of Elephant Ears / Colocasia.  These are gigantic plants, and make a

very nice contrast to smaller flowers.

"Tikie Peach Whirl" Copperleafs  and a Papaya plant loaded with fruit, and Yellow Cannas.

As you enter the Gardens, if you look to the right, you see the Olympic Park.

This is the great ski-jump, and if you look closely, you will see one of the cable cars

climbing the structure and bringing tourists to the top for a splendid view.

The first area you see is the Rose Garden.  They have 1,100 different varieties of roses,

and 10,000 separate rose bushes of every color and size.  This is "Heart and Soul," 

a floribunda rose, with clusters of flowers.

"Heart 'n Soul" Floribunda Rose

The Rose Garden continues on the right, but I want to turn off to the left and visit the

Chinese Garden first.  The entrance is marked by this very unusual large stone, and

below it is "Lemon Ball Sedum," a new ground cover plant.

You wander through a forest and then come upon this first courtyard in the Chinese Garden.

Lions guard the entrance, and lanterns light up at night.  It is constructed in the style
of a 17th century Ming Dynasty Garden.

There is a large lake and a number of buildings in the Chinese Gardens.  This is the

Friendship Hall, and the lake is just on the other side.

"Good Luck Dragon" inside Friendship Hall.  This was designed by an artist so that the

scales of the dragon are each a wish by a visitor.  The two ladies are writing down their

wishes and hopes.  (See below.) 

The "scales" on the Good Luck Dragon.

Moongate in one of the courtyards.

Part of the lake and another building.

The Chinese Garden was preparing for the "Lantern Festival," which is held in

September.  Hundreds of lanterns are created with iron armatures and a nylon fabric

stretched over it and lights inside.  At night these are all illuminated to create a

magical environment.  This is the Flying Fish.

In the lake, you can see many lanterns (of fish, fishermen, children, birds, frogs, etc.)

being set up.

A bed of Black-eyed Susans leads to the next building and courtyard, which houses

the collection of bonsai trees.

Panda Lanterns on the hill.

Bonsai Trees in the courtyard.  Some of these are 90 years old.

A Dragon Lantern

Crane Lanterns could be found in a number of places, including the Rose Garden.

These will all be illuminated at night and lead you through the Gardens.

A group of Crane Lanterns and lots of roses.

In the forest there was a multitude of red lanterns, which will be lighted.

A bed of pale blue flowers provided contrast.

Chartreuse Zinnias

"Touch of Class" Hybrid Tea Rose

"Carmela" Hybrid Tea Rose

"Cosmos Fairy Tale" Floribunda Rose, clusters of flowers.

"Electron" Hybrid Tea Rose

"Walking on Sunshine" Floribunda Rose.  Each cluster had flowers in a variety of

shades, from pale yellow to intense bright yellow.

"Good as Gold" Hybrid Tea Rose

"Good as Gold" Hybrid Tea Rose

Rudbeckia

Japanese Pink Lotus in the Japanese Garden.   It is more than a foot in diameter.

The pod on the right is what it looks like after it blooms.

After you walk through another small forest behind the Japanese Garden, you come out

onto the vast English Meadow, which is filled with flowers from spring through fall.

These are Black-eyed Susans.

The English Meadow and Brook.  Those are hosta on the right.

Intense Blue Meadow Flowers

A visitor to the Gardens, with Black-eyed Susans, Orange Cannas, and Elephant Ears.

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