Miscellany from the Toronto Fling

Well here we are - three and a half months after our visit to Toronto I'm finally finishing up writing about it. Today a few left-overs that were too good not to share...

The official Fling festivities kicked off on Thursday evening, that morning Andrew and I were out and about seeing the city when we discovered this shop quite near the hotel.

A vibrant artwork on the wall provides a great backdrop to the bouquets.

A study in white, mostly.

Normally I'm not a fan of those grafted colorful cacti oddities. Here though, I liked it. A lot. No, it's not sold to me...I'd have had no way to get it home.

I'm picturing cut wrapping paper rolls secured to the wall and stuffed with botanical collections. I wonder how my husband would feel about that?

This home/garden was one of the stops on the Fling. I didn't find a lot to photograph in the garden but was intrigued by the roof. Please don't make me ever have to live somewhere that needs snow/ice cleats on the roof!

Love this.

And this! Walking from garden to garden I spied this arrangement on a front porch. I want to replicate the bamboo poles but grow a (well tempered) vine in the container that will twist up and around them.

When we were searching for fence ideas I was warned against a metal fence. Too bright and reflective. This seems like a great compromise.

Another of our stops, the Aga Khan Museum.

I love a contemporary planting - geometric, bold - but sadly here most of the plants looked tortured.

I chose to focus on the hardscape.

And the architecture.

See what I mean? This is not a happy tree.

The outdoor dining space looked welcoming.

Another stop...

The Peonies were a big hit with bloggers who can't grow them in their own part of the world. Much photographing commenced.

When in Rome...(what the heck, I joined in the appreciation)...

This was my favorite.

Laurin, of Ravenscourt Gardens, was the first to point out the DANGER name all over town.

Thanks Toronto, you made me feel at home! Next up for any Garden Blogger who wants to experience the fun of a Fling...Minneapolis/St. Paul in July of 2016!

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Not the Toronto Botanical Garden

Yesterday we toured the Toronto Botanical Garden. I mentioned a couple of times how small the garden is, but when you're there you might not realize it. Why? Because the garden sits adjacent to Edwards Gardens, a former estate garden now part of the parks system. You can't really tell where one ends and the other begins. On the left of the lady with the blue vest (that's Julie Hill I believe) is Edwards Gardens. On the right, where the man in the blue plaid shirt is, TBG.

So that means the green house is not part of the botanical garden...

Nor is this lovely planting.

Looking at the leaves I would have called this a Sansevieria, but in my limited experience the bloom doesn't look right. Anybody?

I loved that all my Garden Blogging friends checked in with me to make sure I'd spotted this bit of Agave goodness. They seemed to know I was suffering from Agave-withdrawal, on this - our 4th day in Toronto.

I'd forgotten all about this stunning combination of blue Agave and purple Tradescantia until I started editing my photos earlier this week. Perhaps it had a stronger influence on me than I realized though, since I repeated the combination in my garden this summer.

There was much discussion in our group about whether or not these plants were freshly planted out or had spent time in place. The pups around the base of this Agave americana 'Variegata' seem to say "I've been here awhile" - but there is no way it would have survived the Toronto winter without a heat source. Me thinks the greenhouse we saw earlier came into play.

Oh wait, this isn't a garden...it's an art installation!

That's why the agave looks like it's dancing.

There were a lot of weeds. Made me wish I had a pair of long tweezers handy.

This little patch of spikyness made my day!

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

The Toronto Botanical Garden

The final event of the 2015 Garden Bloggers Fling in Toronto, Canada, was held at the Toronto Botanical Garden. Word is that this tiny gem (it's almost 4 acres) might be North America's smallest Botanical Garden, but it was just the perfect location for our group to spend one last evening together.

Our buses unloaded near this wall...

Parts seemed empty, but others were overflowing with happy Sempervium, bricks, rocks and bottles.

The wall divides the garden proper from the parking lot and forms one side of the Terrace Garden.

This is the back-side.

Curving back around to the front, parking lot side...

A glimpse of the garden beyond.

It is tiny, but the garden packs lot into it's space.

Larix kaempferi, known as Japanese larch.

The cones are just gorgeous.

Along the other side of the parking lot is the Entry Garden Walk.

From the TBG website: "designed by Dutch garden designer and plantsman, Piet Oudolf.  His first Canadian project, this garden is inspired by his New Wave Planting style using bold drifts of perennials and grasses, punctuated with shrubs and trees.  These plants are carefully selected for their architectural form and texture, as well as autumn colour and winter silhouette, thus taking precedence over flower colour.

Planted in naturalistic waves, plants were not dead-headed for three years to allow for self-seeding and the formation of the “sophisticated meadow”.  Plants are dead-headed selectively, otherwise are left standing through winter."

Amorpha canescens, or Lead Plant.

Penstemon 'Dark Towers'

Allium, "the" plant of the 2015 Fling...

This pathway led along the parking lot beyond the Oudolf garden.

Their pot ghetto...

I would think not!

This elevated succulent planting is along the main pathway as you enter the garden.

Lots to look at!

There is an excellent diagram with plant names here (while the link lasts).

The Knot Garden...

And the Herb Garden.

Janet Davis, the lady in yellow on the left, climbs the Spiral Mound while my camera is focused down on Westview Terrace.

Looking from the mound out across the Knot Garden.

And back down on the ground, next to the water channel in the Westview Terrace.

While I began this post out in the garden our actual visit to the TBG started off sitting under these lights...

Listening to a container planting presentation by Paul Zammit, the Director of Horticulture. Yes the photo is blurry but if you've ever met this man you know why. He doesn't stop moving, ever. I am thrilled to have captured this good of a photo!

This is his work on display out in the courtyard, where we enjoyed drinks and tasty hors d'oeuvres (yes even Poutine - which I hated when Andrew and I tried it in Montreal but this version was actually good. Or maybe I was just so hungry I didn't care?).

Paul's specialty seems to be cramming at least 12 more plants into a container than you would have thought possible. He definitely has a great eye for design!

Notice the brown sticks over on the left hand side of this planting, it's actually a plant - and it's alive! Euphorbia platyclada, which Paul claims as a favorite.

I lifted the photo below (which is credited to Paul Zammit) from the TBG website. Paul writes this about the Euphorbia: "Yes, brown is a colour, a beautiful colour both inside the home and out in the garden. This plant may not be for everyone (although it has long been a favourite of mine). It’s a unique, unusual, slow-growing tropical. Although it is not new and has long been in cultivation, it’s available only occasionally, and I am thrilled to have a few specimens as part of this year’s plant sale. Euphorbia platyclada is endemic to Madagascar where so many distinct plants and animals have evolved in isolation over time. (Sadly the wild native populations are threatened as a result of habitat loss.) I invite you to at least have a look at this unique plant. From personal experience, I can say that it will grow on you!" It's certainly growing on me, I need to track one down. Tomorrow we'll return to the TBG - kinda, sorta but not really...
All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.