Are we there yet? Late winter in Toronto

Spring is around the corner, trust me! 

Daylily bed in its August glory


I would normally post pictures of crocus and snowdrops blooming right now in Toronto but haven't done garden walk-abouts lately (pre-occupied with mundane things like filing taxes, budgeting, website-tinkering, getting ready for another work year,) so I've posted the following photos from the long and hot days of last August to inspire and/or relieve you temporarily of a Toronto gardener's "spring fever." 

These were all taken at Rosetta McClain Gardens in east Toronto (Scarborough) which are basically on top of the escarpment overlooking Lake Ontario. Not only can you enjoy the various beds but can have a bird's-eye view of the lake for miles and miles


Mid-summer is daylily time so here's a picture showing the flowers leaning south towards the sun. Because there are thousands (?) of Hemerocallis cultivars, daylilies are a useful addition in a perennial bed. You choose them based on height, bloom time, flower colour, throat colour, ruffled vs. not, etc... You can see why they're collector's dream with so many hybrids available.



You know I love this colour combination!

The gardens are public and easy to get to by public transit but the area is wedding-photo heaven so you might be constantly shooed away from being in the wedding party's shot. Which happened to me when I snapped this complementary purple and yellow colour scheme. I love the contrast and drama between the colour and form of the purple tradescantia versus the yellow blooms of the rudbeckia and (I think heliopsis/helianthus/sunflower. Definitely worthy of duplicating or imitating in your summer container this year.

The cliche and conventional thinking of a successful garden bed

Give the public want they want and Rosetta doesn't fail. Many of us (well, many of my clients and myself) were brought up to believe that a "real" and "beautiful" garden needed an English perennial border like you see on the left. Fixed between a swath of lawn and a yew hedge, the bed contains a recipe of perennials, small shrubs and maybe/usually (?) annuals.  This was the conventional wisdom and you still see it throughout Toronto parks.
 

I don't know why this view is so dark but I hope you get a sense of scale of the bed's length (that's me way at the back.) The bed contains the hardier stuff like Echinacea, Sedum, Rudbeckia so it doesn't probably get the maintenance like the other annual beds and rose gardens. So maybe if you have a hundred plus feet patch of land in full sun, you might consider this approach. You'd be worthy of hiring your personal gardener (wink!)
 

In case you forgot, all you rose lovers out there!

I couldn't help but to end these thoughts with a graphic example of what's around the corner! With such a mild winter and almost no persistent snow cover in Toronto, overwintering pests should be emerging very nicely soon.

The Rosetta McClain Gardens have many roses because, again, many visitors believe that a public garden should have them (I know this view is slowly changing, for the better.) Well, with roses you get a legion of "challenges" and here's a picture of a gregarious bunch of adult Japanese beetles doing what comes naturally (chewing and mating, maybe even simultaneously.) 

Food for thought for summer 2012...

Don't Fence Me In! (or "Scared Straight", Horticulturally.)

Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation taking a hard line towards flower pickers?

Yes, I know...I've been neglecting you, gentle reader, as it's been a month since my last post. Weeding, transplanting, and pruning almost daily (when it hasn't been raining) for my clients makes the time fly by. Finally, we're experiencing sunny and warm weather in late May and early June. This is truly one of my favourite times of the year to be outside. We know that the humidex readings of over 35 will be arriving soon so let's savour days like today.

Speaking of today, I had no reason not to take pictures and write this post since the flowers are blooming so vividly around the corner.  Paul Kane House has what I believe is the only English perennial border (or a reasonable facsimile) downtown. 

 Here's what is blooming right now:



Love those fuzzy pom-poms!

"Purple Sensation" alliums give vertical interest.  I've seen them used with great effect planted in and among "Sum and Substance" hosta. The hostas' chartreuse leaf colour and broad shape contrasts very well with the alliums' vertical nature and fine mauve inflorescences. In this bed, they contrasted nicely with the hot yet fragile-looking poppy flowers.

Allium hollandicum "Purple Sensation"
and  "Sum and Substance" hosta 

Allegro Oriental poppy bloom 
at Paul Kane House gardens 

A closeup of an Oriental poppy flower and hairy buds (This may be the cultivar "Allegro.") Yes, I can hear the whining about perennial poppies going dormant after a two week show but really, how can you not love the red-orange crepe-like petals and that dark hypnotic eyeball of a centre? And those buds! Since we're all consenting adults, am I the only one who sees them as, ummm, testicular and labial simultaneously? Yeah, maybe it's just me.

Papaver orientale "Allegro"
Oriental poppy bloom detail 

Papaver orientale "Allegro"
Oriental poppy blooms

A perennial best appreciated in someone else's garden

I'm not a fan of bearded irises and prefer Siberian ones instead but I'll admit, these big blooms are eye-catching. The flower shape just doesn't do anything for me but I appreciate the purple and yellow contrast. A herbaceous peony bud is about to open to the left, sans ant/s.

Early summer blooms in a perennial bed

Here's a shot taken from the side looking up/down the bed. The lower left clump is summer phlox (Phlox paniculata), cultivar unknown. To the right, a mass planting of "Caramel" heuchera gives a nice mellow contrast to the poppy fireworks. The back of the bed is a yew hedge which is the classic backdrop for this high maintenance English border. Other perennials in the bloom sequence are false lupin, peony, catmint, hardy geranium, and hollyhock. You might think you're in Great Dixter until you see this...

Nobody knows the troubles I've seen...

We are in downtown Toronto and the perceived threat of plant injury, theft, and overall mayhem is so high that the city's bureaucrats/garden cops have expensed this lovely partition to keep out ne'er-do-wells. It's all good and well to lean over and look but forget about actually smelling or touching a flower or leaf. If you cross your eyes and think positive thoughts, you might even make the barrier go away! Well, maybe not.

 

Looking west on Wellesley St. E., 
with the parcel of land behind "condo ready!"

I'm not out to be overly critical because I realize that these plants are nicer than the typical euonymous and Emerald cedar combos inflicted upon us and deserve to be protected in the urban environment. But this reality still doesn't make the fencing any less unattractive or minimizes the city's message: don't feed the plants!