MUN Botanical Garden, and The Rooms

In the morning (10 July) I went to the Botanical Garden of Memorial University of Newfoundland, partly to get an idea of what to look for in the way of wildflowers. (Why not Botanic Garden?) The climate here is more like parts of Britain, with lots of rain and temperate climate, so flowers last longer unlike the Outaouais/Ottawa area where it is often too hot for me and delicate plants...

These are Dactylorhiza majalis ssp praetermissa var junialis, or spotted or Leopard marsh orchids. They're not native, having been transplanted from south Devon or Dorset at some point. 1000 plants were found along the route of the new ring road and transplanted here. They grow in sphagnum, kept moist by small springs. Other known locations are Timmins, Ontario and Tilt Cove, NL.

Flower of the pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, NL's provincial flower.

The modified leaves of the pitcher plant collect water in which insects fall. Enzymes digest the insect, providing nutrients in poor growing conditions.The modified leaves of the pitcher plant collect water in which insects fall. Enzymes digest the insect, providing nutrients in poor growing conditions.

Mount Olympus St. John's wort, Hypericum olympicum

After seafood chowder for lunch, I met the group "by the piano" in the hotel lobby. This was the beginning of the trip. We went to The Rooms - a gallery, museum and archives. Rooms is the name given to the storage sheds used by fishermen, and the shape of the building recalls these.

There was a wonderful exhibition in the gallery, Black Ice, David Blackwood Prints of Newfoundland, which you should look out for at a gallery near you in the future, perhaps at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto) as they organized the exhibition. We learned about his techniques as well as the hardships endured by the fishermen and sealers who were trying to survive.

Home from Bragg's island, 2009.

To end the day we went to the Yellow Belly Brewery for supper - cod with scrunchions (fried pork fat) - and spent over three hours getting to know some of our companions for the next 12 days.

We're all impressed by the friendliness of people, and how drivers stop for people crossing the street, even jaywalkers like me.