The Lost Garden

The first time I visited this garden, the rain was falling by the bucket load. One whole section of the yard was under several inches of water and walking on the lawn was like slogging across a sponge saturated with cold water.

Imagine struggling to focus a camera while juggling an umbrella. I thought that I dressed for the weather, but even with my umbrella, I was quickly soaked through. 

The formal pond and some beautifully trellised fencing.

An overview of the garden in late May 2017. The layout is quite formal and the plantings are largely green. The combination of these two design elements creates an overall feeling of elegance.

The garden was so pretty, I resolved to battle city traffic to make a second attempt at taking pictures.

On my second visit, the sun was blazing in a cloudless sky and the heat had been cranked up to high–a fresh set of challenges making it less than ideal for great photos, but hey, I did my best.

June 2017

Usually, I download my pictures as soon as I get home, but I was busy that day, so I put it off. Then I somehow managed to misplace the camera's memory card. I searched my camera bag, all my pockets and tore apart my desk looking for that darn memory card! Eventually, I gave up searching and resolved never to be so careless again.

Not too long ago, I was rifling through some plant tags when a memory card dropped onto the desk in front of me. I couldn't believe it! The missing card had been stuck to the back of one of my tags.

So finally, almost two years later, I will now show you the garden I photographed back in June 2017.

"The house was built in 1914," the homeowner tells me. "It's an Edwardian house and we've tried to mirror that in the garden. The period of the house is reflected in the wire planters, the Alice in Wonderland figures in the round garden behind the garage, the gazebo made from an early elevator cage and some old-fashioned plants; peonies, daisies, delphinium, columbines, roses, lavender, iris, violets and ivy topiaries."

"We have lived here for more than 30 years, and our two children grew up here. The playhouse had been moved and converted into a potting shed; the swings came down years ago; now even the basketball hoop is gone, so there is more room to garden."

The entrance to the Alice in Wonderland garden is flanked by two tall metal obelisks. 

Shade Planting: 1. Solomon Seal 2. Brunnera 'Jack Frost' 3. Hellebore 4. Heuchera 5. Lamb's Ear, Stachys byzantina ( a non-flowering form of Lamb's Ears) 6. Coral Bells, Heuchera

The flower-filled birdbath in the Alice in Wonderland shade garden.

The vintage elevator cage.

Looking for something you can plant under a tree with a high canopy (i.e. part-shade)? Here's what this homeowner has planted: 1. Yew 2. Hydrangea arborescens (Unknown cultivar) 3. Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum 4. Hosta 5. Boxwood 6. Hydrangea paniculata standard 

"We share the garden with lots of birds, squirrels, chipmunks and racoons. We feed and house the birds with pleasure; we tolerate and are amused by the antics of the squirrels and we are annoyed by the numerous racoons that live between the garages that abut the property, " the homeowner muses. 

Siberian Iris

"Most of the garden. is in partial shade, so you'll find various shade-loving plants. Many of them have come from a nursery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, including a selection of mini-hostas along the walkway to the potting shed", explains the homeowner.

Here the trellis adds an extra measure of privacy over and

 above the fence at the back of the property.

A Deutzia shrub in part-shade.

You'll have noticed that the color palette of this garden is quite restrained.

"We try to keep the colors to green, white and blue, but you'll also find the occasional pink and mauve, and we planted a Forsythia for color in the spring. Most of the plants are perennials, but the pots contain annuals, as does the bed alongside the garage," says the homeowner.

One of the new varieties of patio clematis in a decorative pot. I think this was added as a quick pop of color. Clematis generally require full sun. Eventually, this Clematis would need to be moved to a sunnier spot.

An exquisite metal plant stand filled to the brim with clay pots, herbs, strawberries 

and annual flowers.

I think you'll agree that this Edwardian garden is understated and quite elegant. Hopefully, it has been worth the two-year wait just to see it.

Through the Garden Gate: North Rosedale and Moore Park

I love writing this blog, but there aren't a lot of perks to the job. Perhaps that is why I look forward to the annual media preview for this garden tour.

Members of the local mixed media are chauffeured around Toronto in the plush comfort of a luxury, air conditioned bus for a preview of a few of the best gardens on this year's tour.

On the way, we enjoy fresh sandwiches and drinks. Then, in the middle of the afternoon, when it usually gets hot, there are cool icy treats with exotic flavours like kiwi & cucumber. At the end of the day, you feel exhausted, but pampered and inspired by all the amazing gardens you've seen.

This year is the thirtieth anniversary for Through the Garden Gate. To mark the occasion there will be thirty gardens on this year's tour (If you are doing the math that is fifteen gardens for each day of the two-day-long tour– which is a lot of ground to cover. Thank goodness the gardens are located fairly close together and there are shuttle buses to cover longer distances).

Every year, Through the Garden Gate explores a different Toronto neighbourhood. On the occasion of this significant milestone, the tour returns to one of the most popular locations: North Rosedale and Moore Park. There is always a great curiosity in seeing the gardens of some of the city's finest homes. And from what I have seen on this year's media preview, good taste and a team of professionals adds up to create some amazing gardens.

As I said, I look forward to this annual event. You can imagine my disappointment to find that, on the day of the preview it was not only raining, it was pouring! I thought that I dressed for the weather, but even with my umbrella, I was soaked through before we had made it through the first few gardens.

Imagine trying to focus a camera while juggling an umbrella. If my pictures are a bit blurry, you'll know why.

"It's an Edwardian house," says the homeowner," and we've tried to reflect that in the garden. You see it in the wire planters; the Alice in Wonderland figures in the round garden behind the garage, the gazebo made from an early elevator cage, which we found in architectural salvage; and some of the old-fashioned plants – peonies, daisies, delphiniums, columbines, roses, lavender, iris, violets, ivy topiaries. We hope the plantings evoke the period of the house."

"Most of the garden is in partial shade, so you'll find various shade-loving plants. Marjorie Harris (well-known Canadian gardening writer) thinks we have far too many hostas, and she's probably right, but they come in such variety and are so easy to grow, one has to love them...We try to keep the colours to green, white and blue, but you'll find the occasional pink and mauve, and we've planted forsythia for colour in spring."

That's the old elevator cage the homeowner spoke of in the middle foreground.

Too many hostas or not, I think this garden is stunning. 

There was only one problem with walking around to take photographs. With all the rain, the gorgeous green lawn was saturated in water. Stepping onto the grass was like walking on a wet sponge!

And of course I wore completely inappropriate footwear! I managed to venture as far as the gazebo when cold, wet feet prevented me from exploring further.

The lines of the garden are straight giving it a pleasing formality. 

 I do hope to return to see this charming part of the garden when it isn't under several inches of water.

The next property was a shade garden on a corner lot. 

The rain was pouring down and despite all the defensive maneuvers with my umbrella, my camera lens was foggy and wet. My overall shots of the garden were so blurry I am relying on a couple of images the Botanical Gardens provided.

Thanks to the Toronto Botanical Gardens for the two images above. 

The shade plantings in this garden were very creative. 

Often I see Japanese Painted Ferns on clearance at garden centres. I don't think people know what to do with them. Here they look very striking massed with Sweet Woodruff in the foreground.

1. Large Hosta 2. Mayapple, Podophyllum 3. Japanese Painted Fern, Athyrium 4. Japanese Ghost Painted Fern, Athyrium X 'Ghost' 5. Epimedium 6. Bugleweed, Ajuga 7. Coral Bells, Heuchera

Japanese Forest Grass, Hakonechloa macra in the foreground.

Because this was a house on a corner lot, the landscape designer had to deal with issues of privacy. Rather than building a fence, he opted to plant shrubs along the side of the house. In the backyard, a large screen was installed (below). 

The combination of the screen and hydrangea vine give the outdoor dining table, and the adjacent seating area, that much needed privacy.

To make the garage, which is located at the very back of the property, less obtrusive and more interesting, a green roof was installed.

The day's final destination had a formal front garden that suited the house perfectly.

 The garden is divided into four quadrants defined by clipped boxwood hedges. Inside each quadrant are ball-shaped yews and a single standard hydrangea. It's too bad the purple alliums weren't open in time for this picture. 

The backyard was a tiny jewel. Again, I am going to have to rely on some images that the Toronto Botanical Garden provided to give you an overall sense of the garden.

This is n outdoor made for entertaining with a large dining table and a garden house with lovely arched windows and a peaked roof.

Here we all are – members of the media cowering under our umbrellas.

Deep waters prevented me from getting closer, but under the Japanese Maple there is a small waterfall and pond.

A charming wall fountain.

 Bird feeder with a copper roof. 

That's the intrepid Ken Brown, garden writer and national director for the Garden Writers Association, braving the several inches of water to get a picture of the garden. Myself, I was not nearly so daring!

The kind homeowner had homemade sushi, cheese trays and glasses of bubbly Prosecco waiting for us in the shelter of the garden house.

This pink tree peony was just gorgeous (Read more about growing tree peonies here).

I arrived home cold and soaked through. Two days later and my shoes still haven't completely have dried out. 

Even though it wasn't quite the day I had hoped for, I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Through the Garden Gate: North Rosedale and Moore Park

Saturday and Sunday, June 10th and 11th, 2017

10 am to 4 pm

Order tickets and find out more information about the 30th Anniversary 

Through the Garden Gate Tour here.