P’raps that wasn’t one of those headlines. You know. The crawler-friendly ones that neatly index posts. Oh well. Blame the song on my continuous mindloop as I reminisce over pictures from this summer. Remember that? When it was w-w-w-warm. Is that the word? Feels like we’ll never say it again. Practice, as you look at this South Hill garden from June 2013’s Through the Garden Gate.

Through the gate, you’re met by a tall corten steel urn by Canadian sculptor John McEwen. McEwen has created a number of works around town, including the rusty pillars outside Air Canada Centre that I’ll bet you didn’t know (I didn’t) was called Searchlight, Starlight, Spotlight. You and I are now ready for trivia night at the pub.

A touch of rusticity amongst the dogwood (Cornus – perhaps C. florida, as it’s on the plant list) and oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia). I like them all.

The sweeping staircase and pillar of climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris) are among the updates by landscape architect Tom Sparling. Sparling’s firm was one of the design teams for the Toronto Botanical Garden makeover in 2006.

On a grander scale of quirkiness, this serpentine wall. May I, please?

The organic-looking bronze bench/sculpture is by the artist wonderfully named Reinhard Reitzenstein. Love the sinuous, rootiness of it, don’t you? Especially when paired with the classical garden bench behind it.

And that classical bench is clasped on either side by bottlebrush buckeye shrubs (Aesculus parviflora). Click through the link to Mobot to see it in bloom; Canadians, add one hardiness zone. Then sit with me here for a while and remember summer.