Travel with Angela Lansbury: See Topiary trees and plants like people: perfect pictures from Montreal Botanical Gardens

Flower covered Beetle in Montreal Botanical Garden Greenhouse, Canada, 2005. Wikipedia. User GarrettRock.

Video of Butterflies Go Free from Wikipedia, Montreal Botanical Garden, Canada. Video shows butterflies coloured: white; red; black; blue; and black lace effect on white. My favourite moment is the butterflies landing on a slice of orange and sucking up the juice.

Montreal Botanical Garden - Tree It All (Pun intended!)
It looks fabulous. However, the comments on Facebook show that other families suffer the same problems that I encounter and the same complaints. Tickets and lines, and waits, and grannies who can't walk. That is the joy of armchair travelling on Facebook. Enjoy all the best of it, in glorious colour, perfect weather. All the highlights.

Highlights
The Plant covered car.
The girl composed of growing plants. (See picture in Facebook.)
If you can't afford the time or money, see Montreal's public art:

Problems
Why did I never visit it?
Where is it?

Answers
I've been to Montreal two or three times. I think in Montreal and several other cities I have been asked, "Do you want to see the Botanical Gardens?" I would have replied no. Why?

Because I generally want to see people, not plants. You spend hours trudging across the grass from one area or pavilion to the next. Besides, there are lots of wonderful free fountains and gardens.

I can't persuade my husband to do garden tours.

Story
We walked past a garden in Prague and I wanted to visit it. However, he said, "I want to stick to our itinerary, not get distracted."
"I'd rather see what we happen to pass, which is open and free, rather than take a one hour bus or taxi ride to a place which could be closed by the time we get there."
"But I don't want to see it."
"Because you have other priorities?"
"Yes. We're here for two days and I want to see the main sights. It would be different if we were here for a week, or a year."

I could get him to a concert at Kenwood, a band in a city park. But outdoor events where you buy a ticket in advance and have to stay in your seat, come rain or shine - these happenings always depend for success so much on the weather and being dressed and prepared with food and drink, sometimes banned because they want you to buy overpriced food and drink. I have given up on outdoor fireworks. I'd rather watch New Year's Eve on television.

It's bad enough losing friends and family coming out of a toilet in a restaurant and trying to find the family, who might be one level one paying, on level two shopping, on level three eating, or level four getting coats, or in the gents on another level, or out in the car park.

I can lose my family in a theatre or a department store. It's worse when they could be hiding somewhere between the rabbits, snakes, lions, butterflies, cacti, waterfalls, fountains, two car parks, three gates, several queues of people, and maze.

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