Autumn at the Toronto Botanical Garden: An Early Look

Fall Flowers at the TBG

A lull before my many (I hope) fall cleanup jobs gave me a chance to visit one of my favourite places in Toronto during my favourite time of the year: the Toronto Botanical Garden in autumn. While it wasn't a classic crisp and sunny fall day when I recently dropped by the TBG (more overcast and humid), I nevertheless happily spent an hour or so taking many pictures of fall blooming perennials hardy to zone 5 Toronto (and a few to-be-discarded annuals). It's still a little early for many of the shrubs and trees to show off their vibrant fall foliage colours so I focused on the autumn bloomers. 

Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’
(Grape Leaf Anemone) at the
Toronto Botanical Garden's
Entry Garden Walk 

Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’
(Grape Leaf Anemone) fall flowers
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Garden Hall Courtyard 

Autumn Crocus (Colchicum autumnale)
fall flowers at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Entry Garden Walk

Autumn Fountain Grass and
New England Asters
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Perennial Borders 

Autumn Goldenrods at the
Toronto Botanical Garden's
Perennial Borders 

Autumn New England Asters and
Fountain Grass at Toronto Botanical
Garden's Perennial Border 

Autumn New England Asters and
Goldenrod at the Toronto Botanical
Garden's Woodland Walk 

Autumn New England Asters and
Purple Coneflowers at the Toronto
Botanical Garden's Perennial Borders 

Autumn Purple Coneflowers and
New England Asters at the
Toronto Botanical Garden's
Perennial Borders 

Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum)
at the Toronto Botanical Garden Nature

Colchicum autumnale (Autumn Crocus)
fall flowers at the Toronto Botanical
Garden's Entry Garden Walk 

Dahlia 'Knockout' or 'Mystic Illusion'
flower detail at the
Toronto Botanical Garden 

Grape Leaf Anemone
(Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’)
fall flowers at the
Toronto Botanical Garden's
Garden Hall Courtyard 

Phlomis tuberosa 'Amazone' (Jerusalem Sage)
autumn flowers at the Toronto Botanical
Garden's Entry Garden Walk 

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
seedheads at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Entry Garden Walk 

Reblooming Bearded Iris 'Immortality'
fall flowers at the Toronto Botanical
Garden's Entry Garden Walk 

Rosa 'AuSome' (Rose-Marie Modern Shrub Rose)
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Floral Hall Courtyard 

Rosa 'AuSome' (Rose-Marie Modern Shrub Rose)
bloom at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Floral Hall Courtyard 

Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers'
(Sweet Coneflower) and Tall Verbena
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Westview Terrace 

Salvia 'Mystic Spires Blue' and
Lantana camara 'Luscious Bananarama'
flowers at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Toronto Botanical Garden
Nature's Walk Fall Colours 

Toronto Botanical Garden
Perennial Border Fall Colours 

Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)
at the Toronto Botanical Garden's
Entry Garden Walk 

It's Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and I'm very thankful for being able to visit the Toronto Botanical Garden. And judging by the crowd milling around during this recent visit, I'm not the only one to feel the same!

Giving Thanks over Thanksgiving at the Toronto Botanical Garden

Autumn foliage and flowers at the TBG

I was stuck in town over the Thanksgiving (Canadian) weekend so I ambled over to the Toronto Botanical Garden to see the latest displays of fall flowers and foliage. It's a great time to visit as I'm not fighting with spring crowds or enduring summer's heat and humidity. Sure, you won't see the masses of tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs or the gaudy summer over-the-top peony blooms in October (which are all beautiful nevertheless). The feeling now is more subdued, as if the gardens here and all over town are telling us that "hey, we're feeling a little tired now but we'll put on one last great display of colour before we sleep over winter." 

I'm very thankful that the TBG exists for all of Toronto and elsewhere to enjoy. There's no admission cost, it's accessible by public transit (although a trek from downtown where I live), has ample parking, and offers many programs and lectures.

I occasionally pop by for an hour or so, take several dozen pictures, have a coffee, read a bit and leave with my "flower and foliage fix" satisfied.

Here are some highlights from my visit two weeks ago for you enjoy. Autumn in Toronto is quite lovely, if you can ignore the incessant whine of leaf blowers inflicted by those mow-blow- and go landscapers all over the city right now!

Entry Garden Walk at the Toronto Botanical 
Garden showing Amsonia hubrichtii's 
fall colour in the background

Entry Garden Walk at the Toronto Botanical Garden 
autumn herbaceous peony and Hakone grass foliage

Entry Garden Walk at the Toronto Botanical Garden 
autumn Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum)

Entry Garden Walk at the Toronto Botanical Garden 
autumn ‘Strictum’ switch grass (Panicum virgatum)

Entry Garden Walk at the Toronto Botanical 
Garden Verbena bonariensis and Joe Pye Weed

Entry Garden Walk at the Toronto Botanical 
Garden Verbena bonariensis blooms

Entry Garden Walk at the Toronto Botanical 
Garden ‘Firedance’ mountain fleece and 
Hosta sieboldiana ‘Blue Angel’ 

Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail' Mountain Fleece 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Tricyrtis formosana 'Samurai' Toad Lily 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Hellebore, epimedium and 'Coonara Pygmy' 
Japanese maple at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Fothergilla gardenii (Dwarf Witch Alder) 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden

Indigofera kirilowii Indigo 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden

 Golden Full Moon Maple 
(Acer shirasawanum "Aureum") 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden

Acer palmatum 'Coonara Pygmy' 
Japanese maple at the Toronto Botanical Garden

Amur Cork Tree (Phellodendron amurense) bark 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Acer palmatum 'Waterfall' Japanese maple 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Aconitum ‘Ivorine’ Monkshood 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden

Autumn cutleaf Japanese maple and 
Hakone Japanese Forest Grass 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst') 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst' (Beautyberry) 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

"Green Hornet" Cutleaf Japanese Maple 
(Acer palmatum 'Green Hornet') 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Hamamelis mollis Chinese witch hazel 
fall foliage at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Japanese Barberry and Sawara False Cypress 
detail at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Montauk daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum) 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Hamamelis virginiana (common witch hazel) 
autumn foliage at the Toronto Botanical Garden

Hamamelis virginiana (common witch hazel) bloom and seed capsule at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Hamamelis virginiana (common witch hazel) 
blooms at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Acanthus hungaricus (Bear's Breeches) 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Amsonia hubrichtii (Bluestar) 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Amsonia hubrichtii (Bluestar) fall foliage 
at the Toronto Botanical Garden 

Autumn border at the Toronto Botanical Garden