Stop and Smell the Flowers

Today, the family and I all went out for our Wednesday Walk. This week, we took a walk around our neighborhood before making a detour to a butterfly garden 🦋

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In this post, you will notice a wide variety of flowers. I have been trying to be more mindful while outside, and remembering to take pictures of things that pique my interest. Flowers make my heart stir, so I have been collecting the ones that I adore.

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The first stop along the way is this lovely church sitting at the corner peacefully. This is the Church of St. Charles Garnier. St. Charles was a brave missionary who worked with indigenous tribes here in Canada. Unfortunately, St. Charles was killed by the Iroquois tribe.

There were some beautiful flowers growing out front of the church -- very vibrant and colorful!

(This is Coronation Gold Yarrow flower)

(A tiny pink Hydrangea plant)

Here is a sticker that I saw while walking down the street. I cannot be sure if the original poster was being sarcastic or not, but uhhhhh, I'm pretty sure cities were MADE for cars! 😅

The next stop was a nearby park. Our little girls love the parks, and the splash pads that are installed at them offer a fun way to stay cool 😎

We finally made it to the butterfly garden! 🙏 This spot in the city is beautiful; it has a huge assortment of flowers and plants, and a wonderful view overlooking downtown. Unfortunately, despite its intended purpose, not many butterflies visit this sanctuary...

(A lovely garden of Alliums and Daylilies)

(Each one of these flowers is a different version of the Daylily. Lilies are my absolute favorite, next to Orchids, for their assortment of colors and styles. In fact, our oldest daughter's middle name is Lily, for my love of the flower 🥰)

(This plant is called Allium. There are many different varieties of this plant, including onion, garlic, and leeks. This one, however, is purely ornamental)

(This is a Wooly Hedge-Nettle. By my standards, they are completely useless plants, for they have no purpose or use. However, the bees love pollinating them!)

(One of the views of downtown)

(Another one of my favourites: the Smoke Bush. Yes, it feels as soft and fluffy as it looks; like a cloud... Seeing this plant always reminds me of some creation from the mind of Dr. Suess!)

(This is Staghorn Sumac. It is actually a popular spice used in Middle Eastern cuisine. I have never tried it by itself, but they say it offers a lemon taste, without the acidity of lemon juice)

And we WERE fortunate enough to come across ONE butterfly while we were there! 🥹 My husband has been generous enough to let me use this photo that he captured. He has a Canon camera, so he was able to catch a much nicer shot than I ever could!

(This is a Black Swallowtail butterfly, and they are gorgeous... Here in Ontario, Canada, we are fortunate to find many butterfly species here, such as the Monarch, and Yellow Swallowtail butterfly)