Gardens, Cheese, Fields & Rain

There was rain in the forecast for this afternoon, so a morning visit to some gardens, a stop at a cheese factory and a tour through the countryside seemed like a good plan. Domaine Joly-De Lotbinière is one of my favourite gardens. Today, they outdid themselves with a photographic art show on site. What can be more beautiful than art in a garden?

The gardens are located about ¾ hour east of our campground where there is the perfect microclimate for gardening.

It is hard to believe that there are two permanent gardeners and two part-time ones here. I think they must be the hardest working gardeners in Quebec.

This was Ted's favourite flower today.

Fall colours are to be seen everywhere.

This is where I first saw my favourite annual, Verbena Bonariensis. Aren't they the coolest purple flowers ever?

Monarch butterflies and a variety of bees were attracted to a big stand of helianthus(?). We received a pamphlet at the entrance to the garden listing their 2396 different species of flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees. Some name tags were easier to find than others.

In this Mediterranean microclimate, plants grow here that won't grow not too far away. There were perennials that towered over our heads. They even had two different types of goldenrod in large clumps.

Ruth learned about the history of the "Maple House", the summer residence of the Joly-De Lotbinière family. Wouldn't it have been lovely to take your tea or wine on one of these balconies?

Walking down the steep decline to the river made us conclude that living up top would have been a great lookout for native folks when they lived here. You could see people coming by canoe for miles in both directions.

Even Great Blue Herons us this spot as a lookout.

After wandering the extensive gardens, our resident fixer found us a great lunch spot in the tiny village of St-Croix. Fortunately, the truck likes 27% declines and inclines.

And, because our driver-of-the-day insisted on exploring the access road to the end, we got to see a wonderful waterfall. Just think of the thousands of people who drive on the highway just up the hill and never know that they just passed by this beauty.

Ted cannot visit the gardens at Lotbinière without driving a half hour more to La Fromagerie Bergeron. Looks like Dave was happy with his cheesy purchases too. Hmmm.... smoked cheddar cheese. Oh, and those two items at the bottom of the picture - I may have just added a pound to my weight. Soft ice cream covered in maple syrup and then frozen. Your mouth is watering, right?

One of our resident navigators guided us back to the campground, doing a crop tour for Ted. We were driving into the weather system.

So crop tour: a hay field....

..... a corn field.....

....... and a windbreak between two fields. There have been a lot of improvements in agriculture in this region in recent years. Windbreaks is one of them.

Back along the St. Lawrence, the water was calm. Who knows how long that will stay. We are expecting thunder storms tonight. Could be fun.

To end, the post is brought to you by cheese. Yummy Bergeron Cheese.

And, so is the quote:

“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”

G.K. Chesterton