A Growing PASSION

This lovingly nurtured English-style garden gives three seasons of blooming beauty to its deeply devoted owners.

When Lucie Pepin and Pierre Turenne hired a horticulturist to add small flower beds around their home in 2006, they never imagined they’d one day have – among thousands of other plants – more than 250 varieties of peonies. The now sprawling English-style garden at their 90-acre property near Acton Vale, Que., is testament to the couple’s passion for gardening. “We gradually added rhododendrons, magnolias, hellebores, primroses and perennial hibiscus in order to always have flowers to admire, from spring until the end of autumn,” says Lucie. Sinuous paths of stepping stones and lawn lead through the garden, but the swimming pond, added in 2009, is perhaps the star. A small grassy beach area offers access for swimmers; elsewhere, the pond is bordered by clumps of water-loving plants, including many native species, while vibrant pink blooms of water lilies float peacefully on the surface. The water is an animating element that reflects the changing sky, like an artist’s canvas that’s always in flux – much like the garden itself.

ABOVE, LEFT Mont Bruno boxwood thrives beside a Paniculata hydrangea ‘Quick Fire.’ oh-so-English garden touch to the porch.

BELOW, LEFT Clematis viticella climbs an arbour; below it, stepping stones beckon visitors to another area of the vast gardens.

BELOW, RIGHT The stunning swimming pond adds the essential pastoral aspect so key in English gardens.