VanDusen Gardens in Vancouver - Part 2

This was a gorgeous window box that was beside our table where we lunched at VanDusen Gardens. The restaurant was charming and the food was delicious. I had a seafood canneloni with fresh seafood. It was yummy! I highly recommend eating at VanDusen if you visit there.

Beautiful orange/salmon and yellow begonias are mixed with purple petunias.

Our table overlooked a topiary/sculpture type of garden. I'm posting some pictures from it in this blog post and there will be more in the next posting.

This slug was huge. It was created using different varieties of echeveria and alternanthera. The antennae were creatively made using another succulent called aeonium.

This snowboarder was made using the same mixed plant material. He was obviously created to represent the upcoming Winter Olympics that will be held next year in Vancouver.

Gorgeous color combinations in a mixed tropical border..

Bananas, Castor Bean, Tibouchina, Sago Palms, Cleome...






And my favorite Persicaria 'Red Dragon' again..

This was a very mature espalier acting as a fence..

Beside the tropical bed and on the way into the topiary garden.

There were so many Japanese Maples.. it was truly a treat for a collector.

There were also many different varieties of fuschia.

And so many gorgeous begonias...

Okay... for a little fun.. I took photos of the set created at VanDusen for the filming of 'Marmaduke. the Movie'

Here's a closeup of the sign again that's entering the "dogpark" all the blooms you see here are fake.

This is a beautiful wisteria vine across from the 'Bark Park' sign. It is real... however the blooms on it and the flowers at the base of each post were not.. ;)

The set from afar. It's hard to see but this shows a couple of the dog actors.










Here Jody was examining how they attached the fake wisteria blooms to the wisteria vine.

This border had fake blossoms attached to all the shrubs and in the ground. They used bright primary colors - I'm sure that the overall look of the movie would be bright and cartoon like.

Could this be Marmaduke? It is a Great Dane...

Cameras, Fake stones that looked like bones..and other props.

on the right were 4 people training 4 dogs. They ranged in size from tiny to large.

Okay ... I got a little carried away taking pics of the movie making.. It was just kindof fun. Okay.. back to the real garden photos...

One of my favorite Hydrangeas... Hydrangea preziosa... Mine didn't make it through the drought last year. Hopefully I can get a new one in the fall. The leaves feel like sandpaper and the flower bud looks like an egg.

This was a meditation garden. It was beautiful.. in the shade of larger trees with Japanese Maples, boulders, and fern stands.... with huge lawns of gorgeous green moss...

A shot of the Maze in a distance. Below I'll show photos of the maze up close as we walked through it.

Mrs. VanDusen's Garden.. Wildflowers and grasses with Boulder and a creek..

Beautiful Acanthus blooms.

There was a Monkey Puzzle tree in the center of the maze.. Jody thought that was appropriate.










Jody....lost/frustrated in the maze... ;)

We found our way to the middle....

The Vegetable Garden..









Beans, corn, different varieties of lettuce...

Peas, cardoon....

peas, lettuce...

Beans, carrots, tomatoes..

Brazilian verbena, cockscomb, cannas, sunflowers...

Globe thistle..

Cardoon in the background..























This bubbling pond was in the fern garden. Those are different maidenhair ferns spilling over into the pond.

A living willow fence...
This was an unbelievable weeping gingko. It was only maybe 8 or 9 feet tall but probably 15 - 20 feet wide. Too cool!!

Oh.. as we walked through the garden we later stumbled up on this on the other side of the Marmaduke set.. pet carriers full of cats!! The cat actors were being loaded up at the end of the filming and they didn't sound too happy to be in the carriers. Can you imagine training and/or trying to get a cat to do what you want it to do on cue? Good luck to them. ;) I've had years of experience trying that with very little success. Hahaha..

Jody loved the Blue Conifers. They had a lot of very impressive specimens.

Including many weeping varieties. I called this one Snuffalupakus (sp.?)

Here are a few more shots in the Japanese Maple Garden.