Common witch hazel not common at all!

Hamamelis virginiana in a very urban Toronto setting

I think maybe 3 out of 100 people who walk by  a grouping of common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) in a downtown Toronto "parkette" (teeny tiny park/green space) would notice the flowers on display now. And even this number is optimistic. But as your intrepid shrub freak, I gladly took these pictures of this very late blooming shrub on display. It was kind of risky, standing on a subway air grate, with the pungent and distinctive smell of pot wafting from some locals enjoying the sunny and chilly afternoon (and eyeing me suspiciously as I admired the witch hazel). H. virginiana's flowers are not as fragrant, to me, as my "Arnold Promise" witch hazel in February and the scent of marijuana didn't help matters.

Ahh, downtown gardening at its finest!

Witch hazels really get you coming and going, blooming when very little else is (shrub-wise). If I had the space, I would fill it up with members of the Hamamelidaceae family.

H. virginiana is a native species to the Toronto area as well (and most of eastern North America) and, unfortunately, not common at all in most residential landscapes. It takes a more refined sense of horticultural taste to appreciate their understated beauty compared to a mass of "Knock Out" roses. 

Here's H. virginiana in bloom in Toronto, with November around the corner:

Hamamelis virginiana Witch hazel late fall blooms and seed capsules

Hamamelis virginiana Witch hazel late fall blooms

Hamamelis virginiana Witch hazel late fall blooms and foliage 

Hamamelis virginiana Witch hazel late fall flowers
and foliage against a brilliant blue sky 

If this makes me a plant snob, I'm cool with that!




By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog"

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Mellow yellows

More fall colour in Toronto

Autumn Gingko biloba leaves, pre-Sandy

As the remnants of Hurricane Sandy blew into our fair city earlier this week and stripped many leaves off of trees overnight, I was lucky to have taken these pictures before the big winds hit. When some of us think of autumn foliage, we might come up with colour descriptions like wine, russet, crimson, tangerine but let's not forget one of my favourite colours: yellow! There's a huge range of tints and shades of yellow we see in the fall and the following will give you a flavour of the spectrum. 

More reason to consider fall colour in plant selection and placement but to be honest, no one thinks about this in the garden centres in May!

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)

Common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blooms

Littleleaf linden (Tilia cordata)

Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)

Common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) leaf

"Elegans" hosta

Autumn common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog"Google Google Find us on Google+ Find us on Google+

Toronto Music Garden Revisited in the Fall

Autumn glory at the Toronto Music Garden

On an impossibly beautiful day in late fall, I made time to visit one of my favourite places in the city. I've posted about the Toronto Music Garden twice before under the titles 
"wind + ornamental grasses = kinesis" and "Toronto Music Garden with the kids" so as you can guess this garden still intrigues and inspires me. The design is thought-provoking and the plant list, well, elicits serious hort envy!

Under a brilliant blue sky with an ever-present prevailing wind off Lake Ontario, I spent an hour admiring the fall foliage and feeling at peace with the rustling sounds from the ornamental grasses. My only regret was running out of camera battery power but the memory is ingrained. Anyone in the Toronto area should visit the space, whether one is a lover of Bach or garden design or not.

Shimmering Miscanthus, Chasmanthium, and Panicum

Fall common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) foliage
and blooms

More common witch hazel blooms with
last year's opened seedpods

Another reason to love Hakone grass

Maiden grass seedheads ready to catch the wind

Going up the Courante section...

A grove of paper birches in its autumn glory

On July 1 compared to...

A more subdued feeling 4 months later

At the adjacent Spadina Quay Wetlands.
An excellent example of ecological planting
that is also highly ornamental.