Signs of Summer

Almost lost in a sea of signposts, lamp posts, traffic, trees and pedestrians, is The Great Navigator, Captain James Cook (he's just about in the center of the above photo). In addition to the lightly clad strollers and the leafy green trees this view of Government Street has one other distinctively Victorian sign of summer, those beautiful hanging baskets of flowers that transform our downtown into one large flower garden every year about this time. Another sign of summer is a kind of patriotism I can get behind, the Canada Cone, if you're feeling snackish.

But let us not forget the Three Basic Food Groups so colorfully depicted below.

Victoria's Hanging Baskets

About this time of year Victoria's downtown core blossoms with these beautiful hanging flower baskets, about a thousand of them. While not unique to Victoria, these baskets are a symbol of the city for many visitors, and have been a summertime tradition since 1937 when they were introduced to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the city's incorporation.

In the background to the baskets above is the roof of the Empress Hotel. This hotel as well as the adjacent Legislative Assembly Buildings and the nearby Crystal Gardens, the three most impressive buildings in the downtown core, were all designed by Francis Rattenbury. You can read a little about Rattenbury's tragic life by clicking here. In succeeding posts I hope to look a little more closely at these prominent buildings.