Garden Bloggers Fling - Day 1 (Morning)

The Garden Bloggers Fling was all about stimulating the senses – sight, smell, sound, touch and taste (those box lunches were so good!).  Originally I was going to write one post for each day, but since our schedule was jam packed with so many different destinations, I decided to break it up into morning & afternoon posts.

Most out-of-town flingers stayed at the Royal York, a historic & grand (which is really the best way to describe it) hotel in Toronto’s financial district.  Since I’m about 1 hour from the city, I opted to commute each day, either driving in or taking the GO train.

Royal York Hotel
as seen from the corner of Front & York
 

Each day started off at the west entrance of the hotel.  The morning of the first day, there were 3 tours scheduled.  So as not to overwhelm any one destination with a horde of over 70 bloggers all at once, our group was split up amongst 3 buses and then we alternated between the three locations, meeting up at midday for lunch.


Destination #1 – High Park Oak Savannah Restoration Project

First stop for my group was High Park, which is often referred to as the Central Park of Toronto.  High Park covers a 398 acre area just west of the downtown core.

One of the entrances to High Park
 

Before the European settlers arrived, Southern Ontario was primarily an oak savannah & prairie grass plain.  As we walked down the sandy paths, we were surprised to learn that the sand was indigenous to the area.  I don't normally associate soft, beachy sand with Toronto.

Sandy soils from the former Lake Iroquois,
which covered this area 13,000 years ago
 

Today, only 0.1% of those native landscapes remain.  When I see statistics like this, I always get that sinking in the pit of my stomach feeling.  It’s just so incredibly sad when you think of the enormity of what was lost.

I loved the architecture of this tree

 

High Park serves as an important stop for migratory birds and many bird species (over 50) call High Park home - this collection of birdfeeders hanging from the trees was simply wonderful:

Multiple bird feeders hang from the trees
 

One of the biggest battles faced by the restoration team is that of invasive species removal.  Some of the worst offenders are Norway maples, buckthorn (I'm battling this one myself) and Asian bittersweet.

A Grand Oak
This tree is in a reclaimed area but many others in the park are
threatened by the stranglehold of invasives such as Asian Bittersweet
 

Sheet mulching as well as controlled burns are used extensively in the Parks efforts to reintroduce & encourage the spread of native species in the area.

Wild lupine - The only native species of lupine
 

What can we as individuals do to help?  One of the easiest things is to avoid planting invasive species.  You may be surprised at what you will find on that list; I certainly was.  In southern Ontario, the list includes many common garden perennials that are widely available at local garden centers such as barberry, euonymus and periwinkle – all three of which grace(d) my ornamental borders.  I did get rid of the barberry before I even realized it was an invasive as it was in a bad spot and those thorns kept getting to me.  The periwinkle & euonymus are still in one of my beds & removing them is on my project list.

Our guide gave us a great little booklet entitled “Grow Me Instead”.  It’s a wonderful resource that gives practical alternatives for native or non-aggressive species to replace these invasive plants.

The "Grow Me Instead" Booklet
Wrinkled pages courtesy of the major soaking we had later that day in the Toronto Islands
 

The High Park Nature website has some great information on both the history of the area & the restoration efforts if you are interested in learning more.


Destination #2 – Swansea Private Gardens

Running along the western boundary of High Park is the Swansea District, one of the last villages to be amalgamated into the City of Toronto back in 1967.

Quite the backyard view
 

Bordering both High Park and Lake Ontario and only minutes from downtown Toronto, while still being a quiet neighbourhood dominated by mature trees & beautiful properties, it’s not surprising that this is also one of the more expensive neighbourhoods in the city with an average house price of $1.6 million.

Peonies
 

We toured three private gardens, all within walking distance of each other.  I loved the lush and often curvy perennial borders:

Lots of hostas - one of my favourite perennials
 

The hilly topography of the area also added another dimension of complexity and beauty to the gardens we saw.

Ornamental planter with a lower level gazebo in the background

If you have a slope,
you naturally need a waterfall
 

These were the first gardens we toured and, being the newbie photographer that I am, I only realized after the fact that I had taken nowhere near enough landscape shots (vs. specific plant shots).  Lesson learned:  Don't hold back on the photos.  Well, don't hold back unless your camera battery runs out because you didn't realize that your new camera doesn't charge when it's connected to the computer (like your phone does) and then your phone, which is your backup camera, also runs out of batteries.  Thank you to all of the wonderful ladies that helped me out with this unfortunate battery fiasco when we were having lunch at Parkwood :).

And now for a bit of eye candy.  As many of you are MORE than aware, I don't know that much about ornamentals - but that doesn't stop me from appreciating them!  And if I've goofed on the identification in any of the photos, please feel free to correct me.

Ornamental allium
The unofficial Fling Flower
 

Ligularia
 

Brunnera macrophylla



Rhododendron



Beautiful colour contrast between the deep purples & greens
 

Columbine
 

Hellebore
 

A scattering of dramatic petunias
 

Foxglove/Digitalis
 

Geranium
 

One of my favourite shots...I really need to get a birdbath

Destination #3 – My Luscious Backyard

Sarah Nixon is the owner of “My Luscious Backyard” (http://mylusciousbackyard.ca/), a business in which she grows annuals and perennials (organically, of course) which are then used in arrangements for individuals and local businesses.

Sarah Nixon explaining her business
 

When she first started her business, however, she had a problem.  Sarah’s backyard, like most residential backyards in Toronto, was tiny…much too small to support the quantity of plants she needed.  And that is where her ingenuity kicked in.

Sarah went around to her neighbors and asked if she could use their backyards (and/or front yards) to grow flowers.  She would do all the work (soil amendment, planting, weeding, etc.) and all they had to do was sit back and enjoy the flowers…and maybe do a touch of watering during a dry spell.  Not a bad deal, especially if you are the type that appreciates a yard full of greenery and colour, but are not inclined to do any of the work that would entail.

Sarah does, of course, also grow many plants and flowers for her arrangements in her own backyard, which was packed from end to end.  To get the most out of our short season, she makes very good use of some portable season extenders:

One of these days, I may be organized enough to need a season extender
 

Her arrangements are just lovely – she uses many native flowers and even weeds.  Makes me look at Queen Anne's Lace in a whole new light.  Global News posted a great little 2 minute clip about Sarah and her business HERE.  It's well worth watching and gives you a much better idea of her business than I could ever describe in words.

Question & Answer Period
 

Her use of space was inspiring as well.  You can just make out a white structure underneath the vine covered trellis on the above photo.  That's a potting shed that she squeezed in between her house and the neighbors.  That shed sees a lot of activity come spring when it's time to start all of her plants, which she grows from seed.

To end our tour, Sarah walked us over to one of her "borrowed" front yards.  Since it was early June, this yard had only recently been planted up but I have a feeling that it would be a riot of colour right about now.

"Borrowed" front yard that was recently planted up
 

Whew…can you believe that we are only half way done the first day?  After speaking with Sarah, we were whisked back to High Park & met up with the rest of the group for a leisurely box lunch.  And then it was off to the Toronto Islands.

Till next time…