A Verdant Toronto Garden
Now seems like a good time to revisit the wonderful Toronto Garden Bloggers Fling, held in early June.
One of the things I really like about all the Flings is that we get to visit private gardens of passionate gardeners, not just the famous public ones. For example, there was this garden in an affluent area north of downtown called Forest Hill.
Remember, this is early June. Everything in this garden seemed so healthy and intensely green, it felt like there was chlorophyll in the very air.
Wouldn’t this be a great place for coffee on a summer morning? I like how the hedge makes it semi-secluded, and how the circular patio is slightly raised. The shrub rose looks very happy, it is covered in blooms.
Nice Clematis, too – I wonder if this is ‘Nelly Moser’.
A closer look at the Clematis.
This variegated Iris grabbed my attention. Nice, isn’t it? And I don’t usually like variegated plants.
I’m not sure if everyone was as jealous of the greenhouse as I was, but there were rumors of plans to disassemble it and carry it off with us. Nothing came of it, partly because there could be no agreement on who would get to take it home.
Inside the greenhouse, vegetables, herbs, and tender plants are grown from seed.
Tomatoes had just been set out in a sunny spot.
This Peony is a fine partner for the Wild Indigo (Baptisia australis).
Love these Lupines. I don’t grow them because I believe my soil is far too alkaline.
There was a very fine Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) still in flower. At least, I think that’s what this was.
Eventually we had to tear ourselves away and walk to another Forest Hill garden. I’ll hold that one for another post, however.
gardeninacity 
That variegated Iris is nice. Beautiful home and garden.
Agreed.
Beautiful garden. I’ve grown beautiful Nelly Moser and the petals are very similar in shape but I suspect the clematis is not a Nelly Moser because it typically has deeper pink petals with purple “veining” unless it is in full sun all day, then it may have faded.
Ah, thanks for helping with the ID. I thought Nelly had pink veining.
Lovely garden, everything looks so green and cool. The greenhouse is great, I’d love that one! I’ve just been looking at some country gardens here, and they look quite chaotic in comparison, but that is the joy of looking at gardens and having a garden
My garden probably looks chaotic in comparison. Wish I had the room for a greenhouse.
What a lovely garden to visit, as you say, so very green, you had a wonderful time of year for your garden tour.
The previous one I attended were in July – much hotter!
What a nice raised patio, chairs and trellis with clematis, Jason! Never thought tomatoes could grow in such spot, I always plant them in greenhouse.
Happy weekend!
Toronto is a little warmer than St. Petersburg.
What a well-tended garden and incredibly tidy, organised greenhouse. I imagine there was a lot of hard work preceding your visit. I love the first shot of the gorgeous-looking house (interesting roof) with outside seating space and lush planting nestled around it. Lovely.
I think it’s always a frenzy of tidying when you open your garden to the public. Worth it, though.
Lovely garden, and I do like that greenhouse too. The tomato bed looked promising. You are so lucky to be able to visit private gardens. A similar “open day” (yes, just one day!) has recently started in Germany, but sadly there is very little interest and few gardens worth visiting… and none near us anyway! So thanks for sharing. Always nice to see other ideas.
Perhaps your open day will catch on and many people will start to participate.
Great that you left this post for this time of the year – it’s so refreshing to see all those summer blooms. We used to live in Toronto and visit a few times each year. I’ll have to seek out Forest Hill and take a meander. Funny thing? I love variegated plants, and yes those irises are most unusual.
It was my first trip to Toronto. Great city!
That was definitely a lovely greenhouse. Envy green is definitely my color too. 🙂
I was looking pretty green myself.
It’s soothing to see a garden in June just now. Even though I enjoy fall, there is something so peaceful feeling about that spring green. I wonder if people who live in climates where the seasons aren’t so distinct feel that way? I also love that raised patio –I like the idea of being surrounded by flowers, but raised up a bit out of the bugs 🙂
I have a patch of that variegated iris, I believe. Iris is easy to share, if you ever find you need some.
Thanks for the offer, that sounds great. I need to think about where I can put it.
I considered going on that trip, but too many other things going on this past summer. It is nice to see some photos from it – thank you!
You’re welcome. The next one is in Minneapolis, in case you’re interested.
I like the variegated iris too.
That greenhouse looks just the right size for a backyard garden. I wonder what one costs.
I doubt that it’s cheap, but I don’t have room anyway.
The peony looks great with the baptisia. A look I could do in my own garden! Thanks for the inspiration. I would love that greenhouse, too!
Peony and Baptisia are a really nice combination I wouldn’t have thought of.
Now that most everything is brown here this post is a feast for the eyes. It gives me ideas for next gardening season. Fun. I am with you regarding the greenhouse. It is a lovely thing.
Maybe I could build a greenhouse that would also be a tree house. I think that’s the only way I would have room.
Beautiful photos…and heartening to dip into earlier days as the darkness swoops in.
Very true.
That looks like a lovely place, really green and fresh. I think the coffee tree is one of the most beautiful I have seen, thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome. Incidentally, the Kentucky Coffee Tree doesn’t actually bear coffee beans, I’m not sure where its common name comes from.
What a great garden. Lots of lovely plants, I love that yellow peony. And the greenhouse, I would love a really smart one instead of my 2 tatty ones. My wooden one is so rotten, it is held together by a few rusty nails and sheer willpower.
Sounds like you have little choice but to splurge and get yourself a proper new greenhouse. Could be a matter of public safety.
What a lovely garden and a greenhouse to covet!
I thought so, too.
Oh I have greenhouse envy. I love how they planted the tomatoes. I wish i could plant my veggies within the garden but critters here would decimate it…. variegated Iris is a plant I do love but it has not loved my garden.
I’m with you on the greenhouse envy!
I’m with you, I could happily sit there enjoying a coffee on a sunny morning!
A lovely greenhouse, I can imagine you wanting to carry it off, I wouldn’t be without mine….they are also lovely and warm to sit in on a cold bleak day..
I love the lupins, mine are always covered in greenfly…but the blooms are unaffected.
Oh…a coffee tree, well that’s a first for me!xxx
Turns out it’s not a Kentucky Coffee Tree. I identified it incorrectly. It’s actually an American Yellowwood (Cladastris kentuckia).
Hi, Jason. I’m glad you enjoyed this garden. If spring had been a tad warmer, you might have had more flowery stuff to see. By the way, coincidentally there is a Kentucky coffee tree on that site (I believe the ground, roasted beans were thought to make a vague approximation of coffee for the very desperate), but the tree you show is the similarly “epitheted” American yellowwood (Cladrastis kentuckea). A beautiful tree.
Oh, dear! Thank you for the ID correction. I certainly didn’t feel deprived of flowery stuff in this garden.
Hello Jason, I just love the Clematis, it’s not fair that in all the (few) years that I’ve been gardening, I’ve never had a clematis that looked that good. I really like the first picture of the house and the border at the front. Somehow, they go really well together and make a really picturesque scene.