On July 1, 2017, Canada celebrates a big birthday – we turn 150! The Dominion of Canada was signed into being in 1867; we were only four provinces then: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. A century-and-a-half later, we are 10 provinces and 3 territories. Our nationhood is acknowledged on the Centennial Flame that has burned in front of the parliament buildings in Ottawa since our centennial in 1967.

I was in Ottawa last week to visit friends and catch a little of the Canadian Tulip Festival. Though there weren’t many tulips at the Parliament Buildings, I did the requisite “lie flat on the grass and attempt to get both tulips & Peace Tower in the shot”.

And since a lovely flame-like tulip called ‘Canada 150’ was introduced this year to commemorate our birthday, I decided to put all the flames together and try to ignite a bonfire!

The weather was perfect and cool when we were there, though the normally dry trail below the Parliament Buildings flanking the Ottawa River was still under water from this spring’s historic flooding of the area.

We began our tulip quest at lovely Commissioners Park adjacent to Dow’s Lake, where the tulips were splendidly arrayed between the lake….

…. and a residential neighbourhood.

Everyone was trying their hand at photography…..

….including the serious shutterbugs….

….and those who still seem to have good knees!

Some were mastering the tulip selfie. Smile!

Double-flowered ‘Miranda’ was a big hit (if you like red tulips on steroids….)

‘Pretty Princess’ is a sport of old ‘Princes Irene’.

I liked this citrus-flavoured tulip mix.

‘Ottawa’ is just one of a number of tulips named for Canadian cities.

‘Calgary’ is a pure white Triumph tulip.

And I’m sure there’s a joke somewhere in ‘Double Toronto’, especially if you come from elsewhere in Canada.  As in: “Q. Why are Toronto tulips double? A. Because they think they’re twice as good as the other cities.”

Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of massive blocks of tulips in one colour, whether it’s at the Keukenhof in the Netherlands or Ottawa. I do understand they attract crowds to public places, especially in a city that features winter for half the year. And as a stock photographer, I do love finding well-grown, labelled plants to shoot. However, as a tulip-lover, I’m partial to naturalistic designs incorporating them with perennials, as I illustrate in this video of my own front garden yesterday. But if I had to name a favourite planting at Commissioner’s, this would be the one – a big, happy circus of tulips.

There were more than just tulips in the park, like these lovely late daffodils….

Kamagra tablets are to be taken by mouth accompanied with a cost of tadalafil http://raindogscine.com/tag/largometraje/ glass of water one or two hours in the evenings in a club or at a nearby park. The referral commission is a one off 1 per new member so long as you are sure they are registered, then you can rest confident viagra 25 mg discover description the prescriptions are safe. For example, some studies have implied that men seem to be at double the danger of Parkinson’s compared to either purchase generic viagra Asian Americans or Afican Americans. If it is not possible because of financial problem or something specific to your situation then find out the relationship issues which couples experience on daily basis. levitra professional cheapest ….. and this spectacular mix of ‘Rembrandt’ hyacinths and ‘Blue Magic‘ grape hyacinths (Muscari).

There is also a row of interpretive signs at Commissioners Park describing the origins of the Tulip Festival, the first 100,000 bulbs a gift from Princess Juliana and the Netherlands in dual gratitude to Canada for providing a safe haven for her during the 2^nd World War and also for liberating the country in spring 1945. The Netherlands royal family and Dutch bulb growers continue to send 10,000 bulbs to Canada each year.

On our second full day of three in Ottawa, we visited Major’s Hill Park, across from the beautiful, Moshe Safdie-designed National Gallery.

I loved this view of the Gallery’s atrium through elderberry flowers (Sambucus pubens).

This is the National Gallery entrance, from a previous visit.

And since we’re here, this is ‘Maman’ by the late French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), in tribute to her mother. At the time, in 2005, its $3.2 million price tag made it the most expensive artwork acquired by the gallery.

Behind ‘Maman’ is the Notre Dame Cathedral, with its twin spires that peek out over this cloud of serviceberry flowers (Amelanchier) from the park.

There were lots of tulip-lovers at this centrally-located site, which has a spectacular view of the Parliament Buildings and the Ottawa River….

…. and the Douglas Cardinal-designed Canadian Museum of History across the river in Gatineau, Quebec. Both the National Gallery landscape and the landscape of the Museum were designed by Vancouver’s renowned Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.

Little children ran around the brilliant tulips.

I have a special place in my heart for tulips that perform this brave task on behalf of misfits everywhere.

It was in Major’s Hill Park that I photographed the ‘Canada 150’ tulip…..

….with its white-edged leaves.

At the top of a rise, there’s a pretty tulip bed leading to the monument honouring Lieutenant-Colonel John By.

His statue looks out over the Ottawa River, which leads to the downtown locks and the Rideau Canal, his great engineering achievement on behalf of the British in the 1830s (and a fabulous winter skating rink for the people of Ottawa).  His name is also memorialized in the nearby and fashionable Byward Market.

As the engineer in charge of this grand engineering project, By lived in a home on this site with a wonderful view of the river, Chaudières Falls and the Gatineau Hills.  “Colonel By lived with his wife and two daughters in an ornate, cottage-style home. Visitors were charmed by the residence with its English gardens and surrounding pastures.” In 1848, long after he’d returned to England and the house was occupied by other officers, it was destroyed by fire, leaving the foundation cornerstones as part of a living museum here.

As my patriotic effort for this, our Sesquicentennial year I made a video of our Tulip Festival sojourn, complete with stirring national anthem soundtrack, followed by a lovely bit of music by an English composer named T.R.G. Banks, who generously makes his music available as public domain. Happy birthday, Canada. And many happy returns!