A Passion for Gardens -- June 2007

The Passion for Gardens tour took place on June 15, 2007 - the first such event sponsored by the Ottawa Botanical Garden Society. Forty-four garden lovers boarded a yellow school bus at 9:00am and spent the next seven hours visiting seven wonderful Ottawa gardens, with time-out in the middle of the day to enjoy an al fresco lunch. Jane Panet, Chair of the OBGS, oversaw all of the arrangements for this tour, including finding the gardens, booking the bus and arranging for parking. OBGS Board member Gay Cook took charge of the lunch, actually preparing some of the food in addition to hosting it. The gardens were beautiful and varied and the weather was great (if a little hot!). At the end of the tour, the participants were in general agreement that it had been an interesting and good day. The OBGS is pleased to have provided this opportunity to tour these private gardens. Kelly Noel

The first garden featured belongs to: Guy and Mary Pratte Mary is the past president of the Canadian Peony Society and as you would expect her garden features many different peony cultivars including several tree peonies. A 100-foot perennial border carefully designed to provide a continuously changing colour palette stretches up the left side of the garden. In the shady backyard, a stone patio surrounds a pool. A pergola provides an attractive seating area. Jane Panet, Chair

This second garden visited belongs to: John and Carol Henderson Your visit to this large, English-style country garden with expansive lawns will probably occur during the garden’s purple/blue phase. Or maybe if the weather is unseasonably warm you may catch it in its pink phase. Whatever phase, however, enchantment is guaranteed. Of particular interest, is the fact that two gardeners with distinctively different approaches have left their mark on the garden. In one case, flower beds are exuberantly abundant; in the other, carefully ordered. Jane Panet, Chair

The third home visited was that of Mike and Gillian Edelson. Gillian is what’s known as an “Edge Gardener.” Always pushing the envelope, she has planted trees and shrubs which under the hand of a less skillful gardener would not survive Ottawa’s harsh winters. Her backyard, planted in a naturalist style, includes a Purple Weeping Beech and nearby a River Birch with peachy-pink coloured peeling bark. A purple Katsura tree adds spring and fall interest with its coppery-pink leaves and butterscotch-scented perfume. Oak Leaf Hydrangeas and rhododenrons, also marginal in Ottawa, Pagoda Dogwoods, Service Berries, Juddi Vibernums and a Fringe Tree all thrive under Gillian’s deft touch. A recently-added swimming pool, water feature and stone benches complete the scene and provide perfect respite at the end of a long day of gardening. Jane Panet, Chair

The homeowner of the fourth property visited, respectfully declined to have images of her property posted on the web. We respect this decision. So, although we visited seven properties in total, we will only feature six.

The fifth garden visited was that of Gay Cook; Ottawa Citizen food columnist. A visit to the organic garden surrounding Ottawa’s oldest house is sure to include a talk on the culinary attributes of garlic chives, sorrel, creeping purslaine, and a whole lot more. That’s because one of its occupants, Gay Cook, is a popular food columnist with the Ottawa Citizen. Gay and her sister Grete Hale have returned to live in the home they grew up in and which their parents purchased in 1928. The house was built a hundred years earlier in 1828 by Scottish stone masons when building of the Rideau Canal stopped because of an outbreak of malaria. The garden boasts peonies that are over 100 years old, a 52 year old horse chestnut, a sunken garden, and an attractively designed compost bin – in the front yard. Jane Panet, Chair

Garden #6 on the tour belongs to Dr. Jamie and Joyce Chalmers. Artistic Landscape Design of Ottawa pulled out all the stops to design a setting that invites rest and relaxation. The water feature in the front yard, surrounded by grasses, thyme, sedum, fescue and blood-red geraniums, G. sanguineum, as well as gold upright cedar and blue spruce, invites one to come in and linger. The backyard is a sophisticated oasis with two entertainment-sized decks, each of which provides a different viewpoint of the gardens and area beyond. The second water feature, larger and more dramatic than the first, provides the calming sounds of water as it cascades over river rock. Hostas, a Japanese weeping maple, false cypress, iris, more grasses and a weeping larch surround this area. The garden has been designed to welcome both birds and butterflies and joins with the common trail that borders the property. Of special note are the perennial white, pink and rose-coloured hibiscus that bloom in July. Angela Snowdon

Garden #7, the last garden visited, was that of Les Mobbs and David Norris. As of this summer, they now reside in British Columbia. Ottawa Magazine, Interiors Edition, 2007, called Les Mobbs and Dave Norris's pocket garden in Hintonburg a "fine-tuned three-season planting." The garden features three beautiful seating areas surrounded by grasses for winter height, and plenty of spring bulbs to ring in the new gardening year. Participants on the Passion for Garden Tour saw much that could be applied to their own gardens, including a flower pot in the shape of a head planted with Carex caryophylla, aka "The Beatles" and pots containing varieties of hens and chicks and other small plants that would be lost in the flower beds. Jane Panet, chair

Last, but not least: We were fortunate to have Carole and Phil Reilly of Reilly’s Country Gardens along with us. They provided knowledgeable answers to horticultural questions. Sarah Brown, editor of Ottawa magazine was a surprise attendee. She gave every participant a copy of the “Interiors” edition, Feb./Mar. 2007 issue, wherein the garden of Les Mobbs and David Norris was featured. Thanks to all for making our first excursion a successful one, with special thanks to Kelly Noel a.k.a. “Mother Hen”, who counted heads, corralled us and managed to keep us on time. Kelly was also responsible for introducing me to the homeowners who gave me permission to photograph their gardens for this site. We hope you have enjoyed this pictorial tour through the gardens. Angela Snowdon

All images are copyright of Angela Snowdon