Serene Landscapes - Magic and Mystery in the Great Public Gardens of North America

Next Sunday I'll be speaking at the Ontario Rock and Hardy Plant Society at 1:30pm. The meeting is at the Toronto Botanical Gardens in the main hall. The topic is "Magic and Mystery in the Great Public Gardens of North America".  We visit public gardens where this theme is alive in the garden design, structures and plantings.  We range from the magician's tricks to the mysteries of the universe.  Today's garden - the Aga Khan Museum and Park falls into the latter range.  It is a spiritual and mystical garden.  For those of you living in Toronto it is an easy trip to visit and a special experience awaits you.  Here's more... The Aga Khan Museum and Park has been planted for an autumn show of colour.  I went to see what the display looked like.  There is a depth and height of the building on the landscape that is remarkable and is created with the reflecting infinity pools. I was looking for these reflecting pools to create magic with the orange and red leaves of the trees, and for the white building to contrast with the colours and magnify the intensity of colour. You can see the effects of the reflecting pool in the second picture. I didn't find the brilliance of colour that might have been - with the high winds of the last few weeks, there aren't many leaves on the trees.  With the multi-stemed trees, there will be many branches on the trees.  As they mature over time, the show will be something to see.