Sample of Tomorrow's Garden Tour

We have never been on a garden tour. That is all going to change tomorrow. This morning, we found a place that still had tickets for tomorrow's Campbellford & District Horticultural Society's 18th Annual Garden Tour. The closest tickets (passports) we could find were at the TrueNorth Garden Centre, southeast of Warkworth.

Along with a dear fellow-gardener, we got to preview some of what will be on tomorrow's tour. And, it was wonderful.

The True North Garden Centre is the only retail garden on tomorrow's tour. The rest are private gardens and from reading their bios on the passport, they will be wonderful. The True North folks have been gardening in the hills of Northumberland for close to 3 decades. It shows. Everything is both beautiful and organized.

Some of the gardens surrounding their house remind me of Piet Oudolf's natural style.

Their astilbes were taller than me.

And, today we learned not only about gardens but about each other. Both Ted and Barb have the same favourite colour: pink.

These whatever-they-ares were much taller than me.

The field below seems to be the one where day lilies with desired traits are chosen from.

Some stood out from the crowd.

And, they were moved to another field....

.... where they were further evaluated.....

... and into a greenhouse where they were followed more closely.

There were some really nice ruffled flowers in the greenhouse.

Some had intensely saturated colours.....

.... and others were a delight to behold.

Back in the formal gardens, day lilies danced among the grasses.

At the end of our self-guided tour, I commented to Barb that this was my favourite lily of the day. Hmmmm.... it's a lily. Not a day lily.

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow's tour. I hope to be there at opening, so it will still feel fresh and morning-like.

“We went down into the silent garden.

Dawn is the time when nothing breathes,

the hour of silence.

Everything is transfixed,

only the light moves.”

Leonora Carrington