Take Me Out // A Walk in the Tropics

Hello lovelies! Welcome to ‘Take Me Out’, a new blog series collaboration between Random Acts of Pastel and Bicyclette, where I take my favourite Bicyclette pieces on adventures, and bring you along!

The weather here in Toronto is finally starting to look up. Things are getting a little bit greener, huge chunks of ice are melting to reveal actual sidewalks and trails, and the sun can be seen shining through windows once again. The whole thing is very exciting, but it’s making me impatient for all the wonderful benefits of Spring and Summer. I want fresh strawberries and beautiful flowers and tropical heat right now, I don’t want to wait two more months! Luckily, there’s a place in Toronto’s East end that offers a touch of tropical magic all year round: The Allan Gardens Conservatory.

 A massive historical building tucked between Jarvis and Parliament, Allan Gardens is a botanical garden with seemingly endless pathways and sections. Walking through the front doors is like stepping off a plane in Hawaii into sticky humid heat. Once inside, you’ll find yourself in the main entryway, a room filled with massive palms and banana plants, all reaching up toward to high glass ceilings. Rumour has it a particularly ambitious agave plant broke right through one of the glass greenhouse tops a few months ago

From the huge main room, you can go two direction. Turn to the left, and you’ll find yourself in a room bursting with flowers of all shapes and sizes, surrounded by the sweet scent of nectar. Turn to the right, and you’ll disappear into a tropical paradise of mythical proportions, which later feeds into a desert like landscape.

 

 Decked out in head-to-toe Maison Scotch botanical print dress and jacket laden with banana leaves and bright flowers, all topped off with chunky summer sandals and a statement necklace, I spent the day wandering through the warm, green rooms and snapping photos on my grandmother’s old film camera.

Surrounded by incredible bundles of hanging turquoise flowers, prickly cacti, and seaweed-like succulents, I truly felt like I had left the thawing city for someplace exotic and warm... if only for an afternoon!

[photos: Brianne Burnell]