Royal Flora Again

This will be the last post for the Royal Flora. There was so much to see that we couldn't do it all. There were so many beautiful pavilions from other countries that we tried to breeze through them all. My favourites were Japan, Indonesia, Malasia and Bhutan. We were running out of batteries by the time we got to the first one, Bhutan, so we had to save some space for the end which was the 'imagination light garden'when the sun went down.
The Bhutan pictures are the ones of the stone wall with the carved wooden panels and the white stone building. The wicker type fence was from the Japanese garden and the picture of me in the flowers was in the Dutch pavilion. Canada seriously disapointed us both. There was a large photo of Niagra Falls with real water running over it on the outside of the exhibit and inside almost like p[oster boards that a school class might have made. There was one shocking one of the tar sands including a big photo of the devastation like it was something to be proud of. No surprise that the corporate sponsors were oil companies. Around the pavilion there were some totem poles and an inukshuk. I guess if I was the queen of themes I would have told about the people of Canada and the amazing things they do as well as highlighting gardens around the country. I certainly wouldn't have emphasized industry and major tourist attractions. Canada was one of the countries that took it as an opportunity to sell itself in an unflatering way, which only a small number of international exhibits did.
One of the hothouses high on my list of special places was the 'shaded paradise'. It was a huge building filled with lush jungle type vegetation threaded by rustic pathways and filled with garden art and places to sit. When you entered you immediately felt peaceful and contemplative. It was so lovely I could have wandered through it all day.
The large ferris wheel you see in the picture was conceived as a way to view the gardens from above. The large temple type buiding, the Royal Pavilion, was the focal point of the whole property and at a higher elevation. It housed commemorations of the Royal family.The upper level was like a temple and the murals around the entire perimeter illustrated the King's life. The murals were done in tones of greys with faces and highlights in gold. I've never seen anything like it. The King has been responsible for havng many of the temple and palace murals restored over his lifetime.
There are a few odd pictures of gardens and a picture of me standing with the figures that were placed about the property. The light garden was really hard to photograph because it was flashing on and off in places but I think you can get the idea. It was about the size of a quarter of the public gardens in Halifax.