Private Open to the Public

I made a special trip to Toronto yesterday to see the well-known garden of Marion Jarvie.  She describes herself as a 'Plantswoman'.  When you walk through the garden of thousands of plants you experience a connoisseur of plants.  She travels to England and Europe regularly for visits to hybridizers and growers and to make plant selections. Marion has Open Days throughout the garden season, and this past weekend was her first opening. Her garden a private garden open to the public by permission.  This is one of those surprise gardens for those who aren't avid gardeners.  I will be including this garden in 'Great Public Gardens in Your Own Backyard.' It is a presentation that covers public and private gardens open to the public within 150 km of the GTA. This garden is a special one though - it is richly planted with only the most interesting and often rare plants.  It is a botanical garden experience of distinction. Her website is marionjarvie.ca  and she offers workshops and presentations.  Plants are for sale during the open garden days, and I was able to purchase a few bulbs of the red flower you see below - a corydalis.  The little purple flowering plant below the corydalis is hepatica, and the final border plants are early crocus.

Living Sculptures

This may look like an empty, barren field in the early spring.  It is bare now.  More than 10,000 willows have been harvested.  They will be shipped all over in the form of  willow whips and rods, and will be used in basket weaving.  I visited Lakeshore Willows yesterday, and saw the crop just before it goes out. There are many varieties and colours of willows, and you can get a sense below of the variations and the sheer number of single stems ready to go out. The goal of the afternoon was to weave these stems in a pot to make the shape of a trunk.  There's a mature one, about 4 years old, in the garden at Lakeshore Willow.  Beside it is a woven willow sphere.  As Spring arrives, the top will sprout leaves that are trimmed into a sphere to form a topiary. You can find out more about it at www.lakeshorewillows.com.  Workshops in willow weaving of fences, baskets, and events that Lene is involved in.