June 1 - 2021 - The Favourite Month - But Where?

 

And so our favourite months begin at this point where we move from Spring to Summer.  June is distinguished as the month of roses, one of the most beloved flowers throughout all history.  It brings consistent warmer temperatures here in Canada.  That isn't the case all over the world.  There are many different experiences of the favourite month(s). Considering the northernmost countries like Norway, the favourite months would be July and August.  Wouldn't that make sense - the daylight is 16 - 19 hours in Oslo and the average temperature is 10 to 20 degrees Celsius.  In Britain, they don't seem to have rated their favourite months by formal surveys.  But they do list their top events - June is by far the most festivals. There is everything from Royal Ascot, to Wimbledon Tennis, the Cotswold Olympicks - which includes shin kicking, and the Meltdown Festival.  I would think the Northern Hemisphere has a similar pattern of favourite and least favourite months. In India where there are 3 seasons - March to May is summer, June to September is Monsoon, and winter is October to March.  The dry months from October to April are considered the best in India.  Who would think the seasons could be so different?  Australia? September and October are their spring months with sunny days and cool nights, and Jacarandas in bloom. They have summer from December to February, Autumn from March to May, Winter from June to August, and Spring from September to November. Then they consider the wet season from November to April and the dry season from May to October in the north of the continent. South America, has summer from November to February and winter from June to August.  Peru has a rainy season from January to March. So the driest months are considered the best - May to October. July and August are considered tourist season. But then Peru is a narrow, long country and there is coastal weather vs inland weather.   Chile is even longer than Peru - it has seven major climatic subtypes.  It would be difficult to ask Chileans their favourite month.  When did we start to wonder about our favourite season and take polls and surveys?  My guess is that we started asking social preference questions is the 20th century with the rise of consumerism.  What do you think? This is one of my favourite garden pictures  - taken many years ago. It is the trellis decoration on the wall at Frank Kershaw's - providing a beautiful background for his woodland garden.

Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Spindletree Gardens - Frank Kershaw Tour with Toronto Botanical Gardens

Hi everyone,

I want to make sure you are aware of a special opportunity to get to see this private garden open to the public with a great tour leader.  Frank Kershaw is leading a tour to Spindletree Gardens on July 10th.  Tom Brown and Sue Meisner are the garden creators and owners and will give a tour of the gardens.  The gardens are located north of Kingston in Tamworth.  This makes it worth hopping onto a bus tour and having someone else drive.  The bus leaves TBG at 8:00am in the morning and arrives back around 6:30pm.  

This is a one-of-a-kind garden.  It is very large with 20 acres of gardens.  There are many beautiful structures - stone built walls and pretty bridges.  There are historic buildings and structures that have been moved to the site and are now garden focal points.  

This garden is open to the public for tours and there is a tea room for lunch, so it has the amenities of a public garden while being a personal creation.  

I have registered for the tour, as the last time I was there was a few years ago, and many additions have occurred since then.  I am looking forward to seeing the beautiful structures and gardens.

Here's the link at TBG:

http://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/event/day-trip-spindletree-gardens/

Please consider joining us on this tour and having some fun with us.

Bracebridge Gardens

Frank Kershaw, well-known horticulturalist and garden expert, organizes and hosts day tours to gardens in Toronto and to areas a comfortable bus-ride away from Toronto.  He has extensive knowledge of gardeners and gardens all over Ontario, and the trip yesterday demonstrated this expertise.  The day tour went to the Bracebridge area where we saw 4 gardens.  Two of these - Rocksborough Flower Farm and Artful Garden are both open to the public.  We were lucky, though, as Frank also took us to 2 private gardens that were amazing for their design and their choice of plants.  All of the gardens were at their peak (perhaps they always are) - beautiful perennials, lots of water features, interesting garden sheds, and arbours, benches and chairs both whimsical and practical.   I was particularly impressed with the architecture of the homes and buildings.  Each was beautifully integrated with the landscape.  

Be sure to look up Rocksborough and Artful Garden and even get in a visit this year.  The Artful Garden is the main feature article in this summer's Harrowsmith magazine - it is an open air display of art in their gardens and grounds featuring over 40 artists.  Rocksborough is close-by and sells interesting and unusual plants which are grown on the property.  Both of them are enchanting and delightful.

If it's sounding like you might  want to go on one of Frank Kershaw's tours, they at published on the Mary Morton Tours website.

TBG Garden Tour June 25th

I can report that the June 25th TBG fundraiser garden tour was outstanding. It was hosted by Frank Kershaw and sponsored by the Toronto Botanical Gardens.  My friend, Sue and I got on the big bus and were happily transported from garden to garden.  Frank had hand-chosen the gardens for variety and breadth of landscape design, plantings, plantsmanship and general style.  There were private gardens that have not been accessible to the public or part of other garden events.  There was so much to take in that day.  One of the highlights was the one-of-a-kind collection at the end.  A marvel of knowledge and skill!  

We started in the west end of Toronto in my neighbourhood and made our way through towards the Old Mill, where we had lunch.  The afternoon was spent in the central/east part of the city, with a return top TBG at the end of the day.  TBG's gardens are a delight to see right now as well.

Wisteria Alert

Frank Kershaw alerted me to a very large wisteria at Islington and Rathburn, on the east side street.   The wisteria is growing on the power/light poll and runs the full length with blossoms to match.  He says it is Wisteria Sinensis, the Chinese Wisteria.  It has extra-long blossoms, the sign of Chinensis.