Location, Location, Location

In the coming months I have a few public gardens to show you, each of which has something unique makes them special. 

Templin Garden in Fergus, Ontario has one really great thing going for it: location, location location. It's hard to beat the spectacular view of a deep river gorge that the garden offers.

And if you get tired of simply admiring the flowers and the view, there is a stone staircase that takes you right down to the bottom of the gorge.

Melting snow and spring rains mean that the Grand River can sometimes be a loud, raging torrent. 

When we visited last August however, the waters had subsided and the vista from the footbridge that crosses the river was quiet and picturesque.

Templin Garden was a depression era work project under the direction of J. C. Templin, the then editor of the Fergus Evening Express.

Today the gardens are largely under the care of the "Digging in the Dirt Gang" who plant and maintain approximately 30 gardens in small town of Fergus. These twenty-odd members of the local Horticultural Society meet every Tuesday in Templin and go about doing the work needed in the garden. 

Let's take a look at some of their handy work, shall we?

White spires of Laitris spicata

An array of jewel coloured Zinnias.

Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia 

I contacted the Horticultural Society to find out the identity of this really gorgeous Phlox. Speaking for the Society, Roberta tells me that she believes it to be Phlox paniculata 'Bright Eyes'.

This is the stone staircase that descends down to the Grand River:

Japanese Bloodgrass, Imperata cylindrica 

Balloon Flower, Platycodon grandiflorus

Looking across to the far side of the Grand River.

It's quite the romantic spot don't you think?