Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea, known as bougainvillée or bougainvillier in French, is a genus of woody vines native to South America, whose insignificant flowers are surrounded by very showy coloured bracts, in pink, red, orange, yellow, white, or purple.

Bougainvillea is not hardy enough to survive Toronto winters outside, but it can grow outside in the summer and move indoors for the winter. My dad grew a lovely bougainvillea as a houseplant. The specimen shown is in a greenhouse at Allan Gardens.

Euphorbia milii

Euphorbia milii, known in English as "crown of thorns", "Christ plant", or "Siamese lucky plant", and in French as couronne d'épines, couronne de Christ, or épine de Christ, is a viciously thorny shrub native to Madagascar. The small flowers are surrounded by red, pink, or white bracts.

This is another tropical which is nowhere near hardy enough to grow in Toronto, except as a houseplant or better still in a greenhouse (this one's in the Allan Gardens conservatory). Because it's poisonous and the thorns would be hard to live with, I think I'll just admire it from afar.

Allan Gardens: a tropical escape from Toronto's winter!

This Sunday I spent an enjoyable hour on a tropical vacation, at the Allan Gardens greenhouses, located on Carlton east of Jarvis. (Not only a convenient location for me, but free too!) The entrance features a high domed ceiling and some very large plants. The tree on the left is a common screw pine (Pandanus utilis). In the background you can see the very large leaves of a banana tree (Musa spp.). In the greenhouse south of the entrance hall, seasonal bedding provides a carpet of colour beneath the larger permanent residents. Currently the bedding plants include azaleas (Rhododendron spp.), Cyclamen, daffodils (Narcissus spp.), and snowdrops (Galanthus spp.), with tulips (Tulipa spp.) and Crocus in bud. Also in the south greenhouse, a pond features a statue of Leda and the swan. The white frond like things in the background are actually ornamental cabbage or kale (Brassica oleracea) which has bolted. In person they looked like little white Christmas trees. In a greenhouse to the north of the entrance is a collection of cacti and other succulents.

I've got close-ups of some individual plants in the Allan Gardens greenhouses. I'll be posting them with short profiles as time permits.

Learn more about Allan Gardens:

• Allan Gardens site by Toronto Parks and Recreation
• Allan Gardens site by Toronto Botanical Garden, with information on adult ESL tours offered January through March
• Allan Gardens site by toronto.com