Flower Friday

I'm a huge fan of Bougainvillea.  A large Bougainvillea in bloom is really a sight to behold, it's absolutely gorgeous.  They'll actually grow relatively well even as houseplants when given a tonne of sun.  The only downside for me is that they have thorns.  For some reason thorns and I don't mix.  I remember my first experience with a rose as a child.  After staring at a lovely flower for about 20 seconds I realized I had grabbed the stem and had a thorn buried deep in my thumb.  For some reason I don't remember what happened after that...

Thorns aside, this is one plant that I would love to have even though I know I'll be tempting fate.  Some varieties even have variegated leaves and you can see that they come in a variety of colours.  They grow readily from cuttings, so maybe I'll ask if I can start one.  Enjoy the lovely blooms!

Finished University!

Last day was my final exam now and now I'm done university.  It's not official yet because none of my marks have been released, but barring doing something completely wrong and not realizing it, I'm finally finished.  I have been attending school for 18 years!  Junior kindergarten (1 year), kindergarten (1 year), elementary school (8 years), high school (4 years), and finally university (4 years).  It's almost unbelievable how lucky I was to be born in a country where this extensive education is not only available but common.  That being said I'm glad to be done!

We've found a rental place for the summer in Vancouver.  Nothing is formalized yet, but it's available on May 1st.  The price is really good and includes laundry, internet, cable, and energy.  It's located about 5km from downtown.  We probably won't go for May first but if we can get everything sorted out we could leave within less than a week.  We'll drive our way across the country.  I think I'll post every day when we stop in major cities and hopefully have access to internet (coffee shops).  Yeah!!  I'll have to figure this out and give more details later.

No job yet but we have enough money saved up to live off of for several months.  I'll probably find some part-time job while a search for a full-time position.  I heard from many people that they couldn't get interviews and as soon as they had a local address they had interviews within a week.  It's understandable as saying that you will relocate does not necessarily mean it will happen.  It's risky to invest so much time and money for an interview if the candidate won't end up moving.

Below may be the last set of UWO Greenhouse photos ever.  I'll be back Monday to drop off some plants and take some others.  It's suppose to rain but I might take some pictures anyway!  The Hippeastrum look awesome.  If anyone wants pictures of some specific plant just let me know!

Don't worry, there will be lots of more pictures in the future.  Vancouver is a beautiful city with a tonne of gardens and several large greenhouses.  Yeah!!

Burgeoning Bougainvillea

I managed to get back to the greenhouses yesterday so I have a lot of pictures to upload over the next few days.  The Bougainvillea always look great so I couldn't help but take some more pictures.  They're just awesome for macro photography.  So delicate and papery with little veins in the bracts.

I definitely need to get a plant of my own.  They're always in bloom and look great flagging the entrance to the lower greenhouses.  We've got a bunch of colours including purple, pink and orange.  We also started a bunch of cuttings but them seem to be consistently over-watered and about 1/3 look like they aren't going to make it.  It really bugs me because it's such a nice plant.

I'm really excited for the next few days.  I have no classes tomorrow and they are all canceled for Friday.  Four day weekend and it's my birthday today!  Yeah!!

Bougainvillea Colours!

I think I have fallen in love with Bougainvillea. They are simply gorgeous! On either side of the entrance to the lower greenhouse there are about three Bougainvillea in several different colours. They really helps to brighten even the drabbest of days.

I thought that maybe with the summer coming to a close so would the flowering. However the opposite seems to have happened. They are covered with more blossoms than they have every had before. We've also started about 30 other cuttings from the pink variety which themselves are beginning to flower. Some of them are only twigs.

Below you can see some of the nicest plants. I hope they help to brighten your Wednesday!

Colourful Bougainvillea