2025 SVDP.jpg
It was a very busy garden season at 263 Roncesvalles, the fifth since we began in 2021!
The biggest change to our garden this year was the removal of the massive blue spruce – much thanks to help from Peter Fisico. Next to the spruce was a large helianthus which we also moved, to the back fence beside the house. After a couple seasons of experimenting with the chelsea chop, it was decided the plant had to go.
This left a large hole in the garden with lots of questions about design. In the end, we purchased and planted a Pinky Promise Snowberry after much deliberation over various evergreen options. Will be fun to see that shrub erupt into pink gumballs! Several existing plants in the garden were relocated to the empty space as well. The blue flag iris was too tall where it was in front of the euonymus. The downside was that it broke up the nice pairing next to the blue geranium (see pic), but – you win some, you lose some. Lady’s mantle and a hosta were moved here too, making room for a new Tempo Yellow Geum under the white rosebush shrub. We also took advantage of the presence of many Verbena bonariensis and Euphorbia marginata seedlings which were strategically relocated to fill both this hole, and another hole in the south end where we also planted cleome.
Speaking of the south end of the garden, it seemed rather barren in the spring, so we purchased and planted a Golden Alexander Zizia behind the miscanthus. This should liven up that corner with a burst of yellow early in the year. The Virginia Bower Clematis that occupied that spot was relocated to the wire fence at the south of the property where it is hoped that it will grow in a more favourable direction.
Other new plants this year: a mixed colour sweet pea perennial on the back fence with the clematis, a Kismet Raspberry Echinacea which should look lovely in the fall next to the blue aster and yellow yarrow, a Spellbook Lumos Shasta Daisy in the north end which promises blooms from June to September (here’s hoping), gomphrena that looked fantastic between the amsonia and artemisia (see pic), a little bluestem, and finally, Carnegie White Hyacinth and Antoinette Tulips were planted in the fall.
The garden is not without its challenges. The large space under the yews was cleared of weeds and creeping bellflower, and we will persist with this until the CB is under control before planting in the area. The area in front of the creche has a crumbling wall and another CB hotspot. The wall will be replaced in 2026, hopefully with little disruption to the garden bed. Sadly, we lost the three caryopteris there, so they were removed and the space was planted with pink gaura and white cosmos. We will focus on removal of CB in the area, which unfortunately is thick among our muscari and daffodils. So we will continue to enjoy an array of annuals until the area is ready for perennial design. And we continue to be a bit mystified at the stunted growth of the Neon Sedums – is it the soil, the lack of drainage?
This year we saw some of our plants really thriving: the prairie smoke, the white rose of sharon, the yellow baptisia, and the aster which bloomed for soooo long. Sometimes a plant does a little too well. The Double Bubble pink dianthus in front of the grass looked great in June (see pic), but by later summer it was completely obscured by the huge grass. The spirea got so large that we could not see the grass behind it – will need to remember to chop it down after the first flush of blooms. The beautiful tall fuchsia monarda will need to be moved further away from the massive baptisia so that it too can have its place in the sun. And the potentilla, thanks to a zealous volunteer who pruned it, has unfortunately grown to overly large proportions.
Overall, it was a wonderful year for our garden. The Fathers of the Oratory and the parishioners of St. Vincent de Paul Church remain ever grateful to the Hort for supporting us and to Anne K for her most generous volunteering of talent and time – without either of which this labour of beauty and love would not be.
