A Sense of Place

My last post was, perhaps a bit negative, so I'm following it with these very beautiful images from a recent visit to the Jardin botanique de Montréal. There were some wonderful container plantings, but also flower beds planted out in seasonal (rather than perennial) combinations, one example that I show here is the pairing of a Dracena marginata possibly 'Colorama' and a pale pink Gaura .  There was a lot of use of Papyrus as a vertical element in many of the container plantings, and on closer observation we were thrilled to see it's new shots emerging from the base, reminding us of motifs in ancient egyptian art. At the time of posting this my header is an image of Persicaria 'Red Dragon' and an unidentified Coleus, another great JBM combo that I'm showing again in this collection of pictures. The final image is the base of a Penjing in the Chinese garden, the tree itself was lovely but I was most taken by the planting at its base, a combination of Sedum...

I've been a little hesitant to write this post being a newly adopted Montréalais, but I can't help but be surprised by the lack of care and maintenance in private gardens and balconies in my neighbourhood.  Meanwhile municipal plantings are spectacular, especially in tourist areas, and the Jardin Botanique de Montréal has eye-popping displays that should be inspiring to the any of the population with a garden or balcony. My street is particularly weedy, it is over-run by Manitoba Maple (Acer negrundo), in fact we have huge specimens that were planted as street trees and are now seeding themselves into every nook and cranny; no one seems to care if they are growing out of the side of the house or out of (and slowly killing) their favourite lilac or honeysuckle. This was once a very fine Peking Cotoneaster hedge, now it is over-run with Manitoba Maple  Conveniently at eye-level for a passing child,  this stinging nettle is thriving in the raised beds around a c...