Enjoy a fall and winter photography tour of the Toronto Botanical Garden. All images Copyright Janet Davis 2008-2012.
![](https://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/150c-Sept.10-Molinia.jpg "One of the finest "see-through" plants around, 'Moorhexe' tall purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea spp. arundinacea) sends up tall (2 metre), airy flower panicles that wave in the wind and arch invitingly over paths. It’s a must-have for ornamental grass enthusiasts. ('Skyracer' and 'Transparent' are both excellent see-through molinias too.) At front is ‘Senor Rosalita’ spider flower (Cleome), a shrubby annual.")
![](https://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/159c-Sept.21-Honeybee-Physos.jpg "With the TBG's beehives in residence outside the libary windows, nectar- and pollen-rich plants are vital to sustain the tens of thousands of honey bees inside them. Though the tubular flowers of September-blooming obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) would not appear to be favoured by honey bees, which have relatively short tongues compared to bumble bees, honey bees are smart enough to know that they can access the nectar directly by placing their tongue down the side of the short calyx and poking a hole into the base of the magenta-pink corolla where the nectaries are located. "Nectar robbery" is something many bee species do, but is not a good evolutionary relationship because the bee secures nectar without climbing into the pollen-rich floral tube, cheating the flower out of the pollination that would normally occur when a bee carries pollen from one flower to another.")
![](https://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/188c-Jan.21-Red-Cornus.jpg "Colourful stems can also be effective design elements in the winter garden, one that the TBG exploits in many areas of the garden. Sometimes, they don't even need to be "planted" conventionally to add a charming note. Here in the Entry Courtyard, the red stems of 'Cardinal' red-twig dogwood (Cornus servicea) have merely been pushed into the soil to create a dramatic contrast with the snow and the stone of the water screen wall. To be sure of bright-red colour on dogwoods such as this one, which are grown for their bark colour, it's necessary to prune the shrub back in early spring since it's just the new growth that colours so vividly.")
![](https://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/189c-Jan.26-Winter-Design.jpg "Winter garden design can include temporary (and movable) eye candy like these two stunning containers filled with conifer boughs, southern magnolia leaves, winterberry, pine cones, coloured dogwood branches and other lovely elements. Though winter planters will often develop sun-scorch by late winter as the boughs eventually dessicate, it's always lovely to have something "green" to gaze on in the long cold season")
![](https://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/192c-Jan.26-Knot-Garden.jpg "The Beryl Ivey Knot Garden is a perfect example of skillful use of coniferous and broadleaf evergreens to create year-round structure with plants. The carefully-clipped boxwood parterres "paint" sinuous green lines and flowing shapes which enclose plantings of white-flowered plants through spring, summer and fall. But in winter, the shapes themselves are the story, standing out vividly against the snow.")
![](https://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/197c-Mar.21-Acer-palmatum-gras.jpg "When Wolfgang Oehme and James Van Sweden first championed the use of masses of certain ornamental grasses and perennials in the "new American landscape" of the late 80s, not everyone understood why that would become a brilliant trend. But when you see ornamental grasses like this switch grass (Panicum virgatum) and maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) still standing tall in March as winter comes to an end, you appreciate how important enduring herbaceous plants are in the aesthetics of four-season garden design.")
Fall and Winter in the Garden
A Garden for All
A Garden for All
Enjoy a fall and winter photography tour of the Toronto Botanical Garden. All images Copyright Janet Davis 2008-2012.
