Gardens + Design

Scenic Sunday: Toronto Botanical Garden in November

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Entrance to the Toronto Botanical Garden at twilight.
 
The Entry Garden Walk, showing its strong Piet Oudolf design influence – lots of native materials left to do their thing in all seasons. I love the repetition of reds in this fall garden.
 
The smaller Floral Hall Courtyard, looking through to the front entrance and the Westview Terrace.
 
 Great use of horsetails (Equistetum hyemale) all along the glass wall on three sides of the courtyard. When I saw this in spring, bulbs had been interplanted. I wonder how they stand up to the competition.
 
Beautiful Japanese maple (Acer japonicum) with a long hedge of Rosa ‘The Bride’ [silly me: I meant R. ‘The Fairy’] In spring, these same beds were a blaze of red tulips.
 
From the Spiral Mound, you get a hilltop view of the themed gardens. It’s surprising just how much colour remains in the gardens here, even at the beginning of November.
 
The Garden Hall Courtyard, with its curving “river”. I think that might be Fothergilla in the foreground. When we saw this area in spring, we were blown away by the tulip display that picked up the strawlike colours in the overwintered grasses.
 
Back in the Entry Garden Walk, this time in the other direction. That blast of yellow is an Amsonia or bluestar; judging by the fall colour, it’s possibly A. hubrectii.
 
The hot grass of the moment, Hakonechloa was a rippling brook of texture. The rich buttery fall hues, catching the raindrops in its dried seedheads, just added to the picture.
 
Another Amsonia, nicely twinned with a tuft of grass. Really, I should be taking notes. Most of the display gardens are conveniently labelled. Too happy with the shutter, girl!
 

Last, but certainly not least, this unlabelled crabapple stopped me in my tracks. It was completely laden with small, bright red fruits. Could this be Malus ‘Sugar Tyme’? How about it, those in the know?

Helen

Helen Battersby is a gardener, a writer, a power-walker and a garden coach, not always in that order!

12 comments

  3. Horsetail in the botanical garden? Excellent. I have a stand of them that curves along one edge of the driveway. I knew I could never get rid of them and they look kind of cool, so I left them. But now that I know they're in the BOTANICAL GARDEN, I can hold them in higher regard than just "the cool weeds" when I go down to get the mail.

  5. Not sure the cultivar of the crabapple but it is gorgeous. I wish mine would fruit like this. There was one down here in a garden that had fruit similar to this each year. Then I noticed they had cut it down. The gardens in fall there are wonderful with all those yellows, oranges and reds. I do like the textures and combinations so much I am taking notes:)

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