Zephyr Garden Tour

Garden Tour: be inspired by beautiful unusual containers, a rose garden, a white garden, a shade garden, a Japanese garden, a veggie patch and more.

My Mom loves to garden, and has given me so many plants and all the good advice for my garden over the years.  Enjoy this amazing garden tour at her century home.

This weekend my mom, Marie, held an open garden for her Horticultural Society. I was born and raised at the house she lives in, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the garden look as beautiful.

It was overcast, but the rain held off as Mom escorted dozens of people through her little Eden. The house itself is quite majestic, with all it’s glittering fieldstone, white bargeboard details, and the cedar shake roof. It’s over a century old, and boasts a rustic country charm that just can’t compare to new houses. And the garden adds to it’s glory.

The White Garden

One of my favourite recent additions is the white garden, at the front of the house. Three years ago, my Mom and I both added one the same year, perhaps I’ll try and show you mine soon too.

It really is amazing how many white plants there are, once you start looking for them. This is one of my favourites, foxgloves.

More of the white garden, including delphiniums, fever few, and white creeping phlox.

The Rose Garden

Continuing on with the garden tour, at the front of the house there is also a small rose garden.

It’s amazing how restraining yourself to one colour or one type of flower has so much impact.

Unusual Planters

My mom has also gone to great effort to create the most beautiful and uncommon planters. None from the garden centre here!

This beautiful wrought iron pot sits at the front door.

On the corner this beautiful combination of purples and blues.

This urn is a feature of the front garden, created by the mason who built the house. It’s gorgeous, overflowing with lots of colour!

At the top of the driveway are several pots with amazing combinations of annuals, and perennials that get over-wintered in the veggie patch.

And for all who think that shade plants are boring, look at this stunning perennial group of plants! I also love the cream ceramic pot they’re in.

Sometimes, it doesn’t need to be complicated to be stunning. I love this topiary with double white impatiens around the bottom, in this amazing cherub stone pot, that sits at the entrance to the kitchen, off of the driveway. All these various pots are in the front, scattered in different locations creating focal points and adding interest.

Along the front side of the house there are beautiful clematis and hollyhocks stretching up towards the sun room windows and ready to bust into bloom.

The Sun Room

The sun room sits here at the very front of the house. I remember playing in here as a little girl, and now it’s my Mom’s favourite breakfast location.

Fairies play in the window now!

Shade Garden

Between the driveway and the neighbours fence is another sweet shady garden.

There are lots of plants here, some are ferns, hostas, solomon’s seal, perennial geraniums, violets and a few trilliums and jack-in-pulpit in the spring! Amidst this woodland feeling garden, there is something a little unexpected, “Mango Tango” calla lilies. These are a tropical flower that will have to be dug up and over wintered inside, but they sure are an unusual pop of colour here.

The Mango Tangos look great with this orange garden ornament too.

Into The Backyard

As the garden tour continues, we go through the arbour, and into a sheltered spot between the house and the barn.

The barn is on the left, and makes for a great place to store pots, shovels, hoses, and everything else needed to tend the garden.

Looking back at the house, is a little veranda; a great location for a cup of tea!

We served some lemonade, bottled water and sweets to the members of the Horticultural Society. I had fun doing a little baking, and making some of mom’s favourites for her special day. I made chocolate chip shortbread, shortbread fingers, and mini lemon meringue tarts. They seemed to be much appreciated. 😉

There are lots of pots on the veranda, all in terracotta here.

Fairy Gardens

You remember my fairy gardens, see how I made them here, well I made one for my mom too. No fairies around today, I don’t thing they like so much company.

And here is the view from the veranda, looking out to the rest of the backyard.

On the corner of the house, on the right, beside the back door, is a lovely purple clematis, and at it’s foot another gorgeous pot of simple coleus and fuchsia.

The Japanese Garden

Just behind here, under the maple tree is my mom’s Japanese garden.

There are hostas, grasses, a new little cut-leaf Japanese maple, columbine, a boxwood, hydrangea, a red corkscrew hazel, peonies, and a snowball tree. I remember when my mom first planted it, with a little research done at the library. It’s such a peaceful spot, and a great lesson on how what is mostly plants without flowers, can still create such a beautiful display with differences in texture, shape, and leaf colour.

Around the edge of the barn is a climbing rose, with a sweet little trough garden at it’s feet, and the wheel barrow ready for service.

The Vegetable and Cutting Garden

And, behind the barn is the vegetable and cutting garden. My sister is a florist, and during the summer my mom sometimes supplies flowers to her from home. The flowers are still coming up, the veggies are doing amazing. My mom’s friend, Russ, is the veggie gardener. He lives in an apartment and is happy to have a little space at a friends to grow his fresh veggies. And so are all of we…the happy recipients of extra tomatoes, zucchini, onions, etc.

The garden is divided into quarters, with a sweet little sundial at its centre.

Perennial Boarder

Along the back of the property is another big perennial boarder.

The giant pacific delphiniums look almost as good as mom does. 😉

The Austen Rose Garden

And heading back to the house, one of my mom’s favourite gardens, the Austen Rose garden.

The Austen roses are uniquely fragrant and full. This beautiful pink one is “Abraham Darby”, and won mom the best of show Rose basket at her club last year!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this garden tour of my mom’s gardens.  

With a beautiful garden to enjoy, life really is a party!

You might also like our Black and White Garden here.

Also check out our Small Vegetable Garden here.

You might also enjoy How To Dry Garden Herbs here.