Canoe Cove Garden Tour

So I may have told you folks that I was NOT attending the garden tour this year.  And really, I wasn't supposed to.  I was supposed to be camping in Nova Scotia.  But that was not meant to be as somebody's back protested such a trip.

So garden tour it was and I'm really glad I didn't miss it.  Holy crap there's some nice gardens around here.  I was simultaneously really really excited and then totally ashamed of my own garden.  I know our gardeners have been working their butts off to prepare for this but not a weed was to be seen!!  Perfect edging, waterfalls, beautiful containers - they had it all.  I came home excited to do some work and utterly embarassed by my state of affairs.  I got weeds and then some.

Overwhelmingly what strikes me about people's gardens is the personality.  I love love LOVED the details that made these places unique.  The first garden I took in was a country property complete with barn and horses.

Flowers were literally everywhere with window boxes decorating this barn

Flower beds were nestled under a canopy of trees and quirky fun details like this miniature wicker set caught my attention.

An artistic soul lives here I think.  Old carriage wheels, water pumps, and bird houses all caught my eye as I toured around.

My one wish is that I could have spent more time here.  With six gardens to tour I felt like I rushed a bit trying to see everything.

There was even a tree swing!

Every corner of the property was adorned with details and I could have used a whole afternoon to take it all in.

Even the shed was beautiful for pete's sake.

The next garden is also a rural property that features a barn but this property is waterside.

Now THAT'S a barn!

Silly me, seems I was too busy photographing the barn and didn't get a shot of the water.  oops.

Again, the details caught my eye.  Two little children rowing silently through a bed of thyme.

Bird houses aplenty with more birds than I could name visiting them.  These little houses are made by the owners and decorated in exquisite detail.

Some details made me stop and take note.  Orange rudbeckia paired with the blue grey tones of echinops.  This was a WOW colour combination that I intend to find a place for in my own garden.

Also interesting was seeing plants I already own.  In the photo below there is a large plant situated between the hosta and the hydrangea.  It's cushion spurge.  I purchased a couple of these plants a year ago and right now they are quite small in my garden.  I had assumed, incorrectly, that they would stay small.  Seeing this plant grow a couple feet high in someone else's garden made me realize I need to rethink arrangements in my own garden.

And that concludes this portion of the garden tour for today.  There are many more photos to sort through and four more gardens to go so hang in there while I get myself organized and I'll be back with more.