Summer garden dreams for your Valentine
AS
AN AVID garden photographer, February is editing season for me.
Today, I’m sorting slides from the 2018 Niagara Falls Garden Walk. Notebook in hand, I’ve been jotting down my first impressions. Colour. Smiles. Ingenuity.
There’s every colour in the rainbow: hot pink roses, creamy yellow daylilies, cherry red echinacea (wow!), salmon poppies, golden coreopsis, violet clematis, turquoise accents, soft ivory hydrangeas and deep green foliage.
How quickly we forget how rich the greens of summer can be. The images on the screen warm my office on a winter’s day — suddenly my icecovered windows are but a memory and I’m enjoying summer gardens.
What can you learn from a garden walk? You will learn that gardeners are a generous bunch who love to share their gardens, and often their expertise, with visitors. You can learn about design, creativity and great plant combinations. You will be amazed by their resourcefulness and ingenuity.
The front garden of the Crickmore home, on Stamford Green Drive, hints at the treasures to come, with large trees, layers of colour and rustic decor, all set against a slate grey house with crisp white trim.
The back garden opens from a whimsical arbour with repurposed windows and glass door, antique wheel barrow, planter table and planters; a lush vine, dotted with fairy lights, blankets the arbour. Beyond the gateway, a wooden boardwalk directs visitors over a watercourse, past the furnished deck and through the back garden.
No need to drive up north to the cottage — the deck is furnished with a stone fire pit surrounded by comfortable chairs, a dining table, hutch and chandelier and, lastly, a hot tub, all overlooking a woodland setting.
Once you leave the deck, follow the boardwalk to a garden swing tucked beneath a canopy of flowering trumpet vine. It’s the ideal spot to stop and enjoy the extensive back garden.
Vibrant red, blue and orange wine bottles, filled with colourful daisies and suspended by rope from arbours and tree limbs, or just arranged on a tree stump, act as threads of colour woven through this primarily green retreat.
Nancy and Randall Crickmore’s garden was my last stop on the garden walk last summer. I was touring the gardens with my 12-year-old granddaughter Ruby, who found this garden particularly engaging — the fun was that the garden did not reveal itself in one look, you had to explore and look for the hidden treasures — a treat for both the young and the young at heart.
Another interesting stop was the Project Share community garden on Thorold Stone Road. The orderly garden is a series of raised beds, each neatly trimmed with wood and arranged in a grid pattern, pathways of chipped wood mulch keep the weeds (and mud) to a minimum. But, this is where the similarities end.
Each garden is as unique as its owner (I liked the whimsical stone markers labelling different tomatoes in one garden); some are tidy and meticulously groomed, others are exuberant. A quick inventory reveals eggplant, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, cucumbers, marigolds, kale and dill — the variety and health of produce is impressive.
This space is a great resource for our community.
When it comes to gardeners with a big heart and a generous spirit, it’s hard to beat Barbara Aubin. Let me set the stage. Barbara has tended her chemical-free, heat- and droughttolerant English garden, with its pretty white picket fence, for more than 20 years. A welcoming covered verandah, with gingerbread trim, overlooks the garden. As luck would have it, the city undertook major infrastructure work on Hamilton Street last summer, and much of Barbara’s tiny garden (including her fence) was gnawed away for the project.
It would be fair to assume that Barbara might decline being on the tour, given the state of her street. But like a trouper, she rose to the occasion. Serenaded by the sounds of a classical guitar, she met me with a big smile and a poster in hand illustrating how her beautiful garden looked last year.
That’s what I mean about gardeners having generous hearts.
In her small but neatly trimmed backyard, Barbara grows a cheerful mix of flowers: daylilies, echinacea, hosta, lavender, bee-balm, browneyed Susans, poppies, roses and zinnias, to name but a few. Whimsical collections of birdhouses, pressed glass and garden art really made this space sing.
I’ve sorted and organized the images for this year’s presentation — it’s been a treat to revisit the colourful July gardens while an ice storm rages outside. Eight were featured on the 2018 garden walk, each a unique expression of their owner’s passion for gardening.
If you are looking for ideas for your home garden, or just enjoy colourful gardens, join us Thursday when I will be sharing the images from last year’s garden walk with members of Niagara Falls Horticultural Society. We will meet in the LaMarsh Room of Niagara Falls Library (Victoria Avenue branch) on Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. — bring along your Valentine.
Visitors are always welcome; the first meeting is free.
If you are interested in learning more about growing edibles, flowers or trees, enjoy flower arranging, or just sharing your passion for gardens and plants, consider joining the horticultural society. Annual membership is just $15 for adults, $2 for children.