No Exit for Marilyn on Marilyn Street

Dezi and I walk around the neighbourhood each morning for her exercise chasing bunnies.  There are many so she is well exercised.   Marilyn Street is one of the streets we walk on and it is a No Exit street.  In other municipalities I've seen No Outlet.  I wonder what the difference is.  Isn't outlet a bit complicated for something as simple as "not a through street", or "no way out"? Here's outlet: A vent or similar passage to allow the escape of something.  Something which allows for the release of one's desires.  A river that runs out of a lake.  A shop that sells the products of a particular manufacturer or supplier.  A wall-mounted device such as a socket or receptacle connected to an electrical system at which current is taken to supply utilization equipment or appliances. Here's exit: A way out.  He was looking for the exit and got lost .  A passage or gate from inside someplace to the outside, outgang.  She stood at the exit of the house looking back and waving at those inside .  The action of leaving.  He made his exit at the opportune time.  Death.  The untimely exit of a consummate politician. Synonyms for exit are:  (a way out) egress, outgang, outway * (the action of leaving) egress, outgoing, departure Outlet seems a bit extreme - to imply that a car or person at the end of the street needs escape. Seems a bit existential to me.  If we take the last definition of Exit, though, we're at the extreme aspect of living.  It too has an existential quality.  Perhaps I shouldn't think of this in the context of Marilyn Street. Our pictures look at the Lily Show today.  The bottom one has David Maltby and Brian Bergman overseeing the show stems in the wonderful RBG atrium.

Lilies and Lilies...and Roses

It is the Ontario Regional Lily Society show this weekend at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington.  I got a chance to visit the newly renovated and redesigned Rose Garden, and the pictures today show the views through the garden. The garden opened at the end of June after a two plus year renovation.  The roses are now combined with companion plants, so create a healthier eco-system garden which will be more interesting throughout the summer.  Rose gardens in the past have required a lot of management for watering, diseases and pests - think of the rose garden as a monoculture.  This is not a very healthy system.  RBG is leading the way with a holistic approach for us to learn from.   I'll be back there today to check out the other gardens such as the renovated Rock Garden.  And of course, take more pictures of lilies.

Show Lilies

Yesterday was Brian's second favourite day of the year - it was the Ontario Regional Lily Society Flower Show and Competition. It is held at the Royal Botanical Gardens.  He had picked a few stems in my garden, especially a gigantic pink Amarossi which was taller than 7 feet with many flower buds.  It opened perfectly for the show so became one of the Award winners.  A flaw on a petal made it lose the Best in Show award. You can see one of Brian's hybrids in the garden in Grimsby and how tall it is - I claim the Grimsby soil is extraordinary, and these lilies are good proof. Another surprise at the Show was the handbook on growing lilies - Let's Grow Lilies!   I'd forgotten the cover has my photograph on it - taken in Brian's Lilycrest Garden hybridizing field. And finally, the show has beautiful floral design competitions.  Here's a favourite - the handbag/purse competition.  Everything is made of  floral and leaf material.

Join me April 10, 2:00pm!

Join Me! Next Sunday I will be the speaker at the annual meeting of the Lily Society.  This is a free event open to the public.  And this is one of my favourite topics and activities - finding 'public' gardens within easy reach.  I would be so pleased if you can be there. April 10, 2016 2:00pm - Ontario Regional Lily Society (at the Royal Botanical Gardens, 680 Plains Road West. Burlington, Rooms 1 & 2)  Great Public Gardens in Your Own Backyard If you live within the Golden Horseshoe and surrounding Toronto area, you can visit more than 30 public gardens within easy driving distance. Some will be new to you and others will be familiar.  You'll see them all at their best.   Get your schedules out because you'll want to get to these glorious gardens so close to home and easy to visit.

Lilycrest Gardens - Full Bloom Week

My brother is a lily grower and hybridizer.  He has a field on 5th Street in St. Catharines, and it is in its prime right now with lilies in bloom.  You can see him loading the van with lilies to go to the National Show.  The past two days was the Ontario Regional Lily Show in Burlington at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Lilycrest Gardens brings to mind the "lilies of the field" in the Sermon on the Mount: 'Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin...' Brian's field grows Lilium lilies - and the Madonna Lily is a special flower of Christian symbolism.  However, it is unlikely to be the lily referred to. It doesn't grow in Israel. Tulips, poppies, daisies and other wildflowers have been suggested as candidates for “lilies of the field". And the likely candidate is the flower Anemone coronaria, the Crown Anemone.  It grows in every part of Israel. There are many possibilities to choose from as there are hundreds of flowers with Lily in the common name and dozens that grew in Israel.  The reference remains interesting and mysterious, with no definitive answer.