Writing a weekly garden blog can cause some anxiety, especially in early spring and late fall. How do you keep it fresh and interesting when your subject matter has gone to sleep or is yet to wake up? 16 acres is a lot of garden, especially in the heart of a city, but I always worry that I won’t have anything new to keep your interest.
As I turned the corner on the final stretch of my journey into the Gardens, and got a panoramic view from the northwest  corner of the Gardens, all doubts were swept away. I was itching to park the car and start to photograph.

The tulips, azaleas and magnolias were peaking and most of the trees where leafing out. The Gardens were filled with bright and beautiful young things.

From across Griffin’s pond a group of children captured my attention, with their freshness and delight at being out and about in the beautiful surroundings.

Wherever I pointed my camera to photograph the emerging flora, the faces of delighted children appeared. It was unintentional. The strollers these women where pushing were filled with chattering gleeful children who were as captivated by the budding scene as I was.

I decided to look at the scene from a childs eyes, so I crouched down and was rewarded with a much fuller panorama.

I walked past the bird enclosure to say Hi! to Flora the goose and forgot all about her. The Rhododendrons have popped… I didn’t think this would happen for weeks!

I’m a Acer palmatum (Japanese maple tree) fanatic. I have five varieties in my garden. This Acer palmatum var. dissectum (Laceleaf Japanese maple), is one of my favorites. It’s pale green spring foliage turn to a luminescent yellow/orange in the fall.

Nature improves on our best intentions. This azalea wraps itself around the upper bridge like a beautiful shawl, allowing us to admire it from all sides.

The best bang for your buck. Perennial borders reward us year after year with a minimum of effort and cash output. While they don’t flower as long as annuals, a well planned perennial border provides a changing and colorful palette throughout the season.

The upper and the lower bridges stand out against a backdrop of flowering shrubs.

Young children, puppies and kittens never fail to mesmerize us. Nature intends it this way so that we are compelled to focus our attention on them while they are still dependent on us. These girls won the prize for the prettiest flowers in the Gardens.

It’s Sunday morning and my garden beckons me. It’s time to dress my garden in its summer finery (a little earlier than past years, but the weather promises to hold off on frost until the fall).The season is kicking off, and in the past two days of this sunny and warm Victoria Day weekend, the trees have leafed out before my eyes. The world is shinning very bright at this moment, get out and enjoy it.
Next Saturday (May 26), the Halifax Public Gardens will be holding an open house at their ‘Display House’ greenhouse. Hope to see you there!