A Photo Essay of Toronto in July

marigolds growing by lush, green plantsEach month I share photos from one of the parks in Toronto to show my readers what our landscape looks like throughout the year. This is the sixth instalment of this series.

Click on February, MarchAprilMay, and June to read the earlier posts. It was a blissful 27 Celsius (81 Fahrenheit) and sunny on this morning visit.

July was an incredibly hot month, so I jumped on the chance to show up earlier in the day and snap some photos before the temperatures soared to 35 C (95 F) or more again.

Let me be honest with all of you. The photos for this month, August, and maybe even September are going to be pretty similar to June’s photos. Everything is green, lush, and growing furiously.

The true difference between June and the rest of the summer has to do with the temperature. June still has mild, pleasant days, but that becomes a rare treat between now until October most years.

A World War I memorial surrounded by green, lush trees in a park.

Welcome to the park in July. If you were actually walking here with me, I would have recommended you bring a water bottle and put on some sunscreen. The sun is quite powerful at this time of the year, and I wouldn’t want any of you to get burned or dehydrated.

A close-up photo of the World War I memories. It's green

Anyone who comes here later in the day might see the air shimmering in the heat. For now, it’s warm but still pretty comfortable in the shade. Some of the weeds are starting to take over the steps on this monument. I suspect this is due to city workers not having as many resources for park maintenance as usual.

A dusty running trail at a park. The trail is lined with large, healthy trees.

The running trail is firm and dustier than usual due to our dry summer so far.  It’s heavily used in the morning and evening, probably because running in 40 C (104 F) heat at midday is at best miserable and at worst a recipe for heat stroke.

I love seeing all of the walkers and joggers out and about early in the morning or after the sun begins to set and the weather is less hot. (Even if you choose to jog at 3 am, you probably won’t find overnight temperatures lower than 28 C (82 F) or so for the next couple of months).  Everyone seems to be incredibly polite and kind even when the trail is overflowing with users which makes me proud of my city.

Large, green branches of a tree against a bright blue sky

You all knew this shot was coming! I love the bright blue skies of this time of year. We won’t see much of that in the autumn and winter when I return.

A skyward shot of many overlapping tree branches filled with leaves. They're so lush you can only see a tiny sliver of the blue sky.

But now it’s less common to see blue sky between the branches of nearby trees. They’ve grown so much that they block out a refreshing amount of heat and light.

A sun-dappled park. The grass is heavily shaded by the leaves of the enormous trees growing there.

Here’s another example of what that looks like. Most people who visit the park now flock to these shady areas. Sitting in direct sunlight for longer periods of time is simply too hot, especially with the high humidity we tend to have now.

A tree that had half of its branches shorn off last winter. It is green and thriving now.

Our tree friend that lost half its branches last winter is thriving from what I can tell.

A tree that lost about a third of its branches in a storm last winter. It is green and thriving now.

And so is our bigger tree friend that lost about a third of its branches. I’m still amazed at how well they heal.

A sapling growing in a park.

The saplings that were planted last month seem to be doing really well, too. A heavily shaded stone path in a park

I am seeing a decrease in visitors to the park like I expected last month. Given the steamy weather and the increasing number of places in Ontario that are reopening as our numbers of Covid-19 cases continue to decrease, this is completely understandable.

And that’s all until August!

12 Comments

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12 Responses to A Photo Essay of Toronto in July

  1. I love this, i was at first going to say is this Toronto Ontario but after i finished reading it i seen you put Ontario!!

  2. So pretty! I’m glad there’s enough shade there to keep cool.

  3. I honestly didn’t realize the temperature could climb that far north! Thank you for the ongoing series…if I ever visited Canada I would probably be avoiding the cities, so it’s nice to have a look inside.

  4. I love this! I really want to visit Canada one day, but for now I’ll have to make do with looking at pretty pictures like these 😀

  5. Gorgeous photos! Love the green leaves against that beautifully blue sky. It is wonderful to see so much green on the trees. As you say, much needed shade. Good to see how well those trees are healing, thanks for including them in your photo essays 🙂

    I didn’t appreciate the temperatures climbed that high in parts of Canada, comparable to Malaysia! Don’t blame you for not wanting to be out during the day; hard work in that heat and humidity.

    After a cold start to the week, we’ve been having hot (by British standards ;)) days here with cloudless blue skies too.

  6. These photos are all stunning! I don’t live in an area where I can safely wander around outside. These photos are quite comforting to me, and help sate my desire for a safe park or trail in my neighborhood. I’m looking forward to seeing more from your blog in the future!

    • Aww, thanks! I’m so glad this series is a comfort for you. It must be hard to live somewhere that you can’t spent a lot of time outdoors at. I hope that changes someday for you.

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