Delphinium Day at Plant Paradise
August 29th 2010
Lorraine Roberts welcoming guests to Delphinium Day.
Dining among the delphs as Christine Gill speaks.
Christine discusses delphs with nursery beds in the background.
An important event somehow was missed from our Autumn Events section. OK, it’s entirely my fault as editor, but I honestly don’t know how it slipped from my list.
The annual Delphinium Day on July 3 at Plant Paradise Country Gardens in Caledon was a lovely event on a beautiful summer’s day. Hosts Lorraine and Robb Roberts had everything organized for the garden luncheon and talk. Guests first strolled past the lavish nursery beds and display gardens and then gathered under a white tent at dining tables decked with vases of delphinium bouquets. A light, fresh lunch was provided by Léna Valliquette of Tea Boutique in Caledon East.
We were pleased to see some friends and acquaintances who had come to Delphinium Day after reading our feature interview with Lorraine in our summer issue. After lunch there was an informative presentation about growing delphiniums by Christine Gill of the Ontario Delphinium Club. After a flurry of questions from the audience, there were draws for gardening prizes. Mike was lucky enough to win a new compost holder, which he promptly gave to me as I’m more of a gardener than he is. He prefers to plant native species of trees and shrubs.
Delphinium Day ended with each guest choosing a potted Asiatic Lily to take home. This event is a must for gardeners who’re fond of delphiniums, but it’s a lovely way to spend a Saturday even if all you want is to enjoy a stunning flower garden at a peak season. One of their spectacular flower beds is in one of Mike’s photos that are in rotation at the top of this page.
For information on next year’s Delphinium Day, you can email the Roberts. For more about delphiniums grown at Plant Paradise Country Gardens, see “Delphinium: Queen of Perennials” in our summer issue. It will appear online at this website soon.
If you grow delphiniums, what’s your secret? What other memorable gardens have you seen?
Front Yard Gardens by Liz Primeau
August 22nd 2010 
Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass is a revised edition of a previous book. Author Liz Primeau has updated and expanded on her previous collection of gardens, and is finding a whole new audience. I’m one of them, having missed seeing the first edition.
I love this book! The photographs are plentiful, large and inspiring. The captions are extensive and informative, highlighting and explaining what is shown.
Keeping up with the quality of the photos and captions is the text of the book. Primeau was the founding editor of Canadian Gardening magazine and writes in a style that is both engaging and educational. She tells the stories behind the many real-life gardens that are featured, exploring how each front garden evolved to take its current form. Some of the gardens are in the Niagara Escarpment communities of Dundas and Oakville. [And Hamilton as well, I noticed later.]
I read this book front to back, then skimmed the garden stories in reverse order, and frequently dip in again to study the beautiful photos and captions. Oh, for time, money and energy enough to create a garden like these!
If you like houses and gardens, get this book.
Firefly Books, 2010, $24.95
How do you describe your front yard?
Gardening in Fall
November 18th 2009 The weather is gorgeous right now, sunny but cool, no bugs, no harsh wind…perfect for some of the harder chores that are too uncomfortable on hot, humid days. I’m enjoying turning my compost pile, collecting the finished brown, fluffy compost and raking it into my bare vegetable beds. I’ve done some weeding. There’s tons to do in my perennial flower bed, but my vegetable beds aren’t too bad at the moment.
I’ve transplanted some lavender to what I hope will be a warmer corner of the herb garden. I’m adding cedar rails where I need to build up the edges of my raised beds. I’ve raked up some of the apples under the trees on my front lawn. I’ve pulled out some of the periwinkle where it was escaping into a woodlot. The stuff is invasive and a threat to wildflowers, so I’ve turned off it.
I’ve been stacking firewood and breaking dead brush into bushel baskets as kindling. I’ve even raked some sawdust and bark and deposited it where I need fill to be able to ride the tractor mower.
These lovely days somewhat make up for the poor summer we had. Are you doing any fall gardening?
Erin’s Garden Tour and a Connection to Erin Radio
July 13th 2009Erin Horticultural Society held its garden tour on Saturday, and my sister Barbara, who’s a member of the Society, treated me to a ticket. It took most of the day to visit six gardens located in the village of Erin and the surrounding countryside. There was a good variety of gardens, from formally groomed small spaces to rambling properties with a pond or a river running through. Each owner was attentive and generously guided us around, patiently answering our questions, which must have been asked repeatedly by many.
Our favourite garden was one that looked like an English cottage garden. With hardly any lawn, it was crammed full of colourful blooming plants and had stone and brick walkways winding invitingly through it. It was a garden to explore and was utterly charming, but we both recognized how much work it would take.
Because I’m an animal lover, I was delighted to see a pet crow in one of the gardens. Erin Montgomery is a bird expert and is involved in rehabilitating wild birds, but Russel (Crowe – get it?) cannot fly and so cannot live in the wild. I was able to have him perch on my bare arm and stroke his back.
The real revelation was seeing Erin handle him. She brought him close to her chest and he laid his head against her, positively snuggling up for her petting. Who knew a bird could adore a human so?
I discovered that Erin broadcasts a daily program on Erin Radio, appropriately enough, and now I have an appointment to give her an interview about Escarpment Views! You never know where you’ll meet fascinating people who can contribute to your life.
Which garden tours do you follow, or what’s your favourite garden style?