Toronto Music Garden revisited in the fall

On an impossibly beautiful day in late fall, I made time to visit one of my favourite places in the city. I've posted about the Toronto Music Garden twice before under the titles 
"wind + ornamental grasses = kinesis" and "Toronto Music Garden with the kids" so as you can guess this garden still intrigues and inspires me. The design is thought-provoking and the plant list, well, elicits serious hort envy!

Under a brilliant blue sky with an ever-present prevailing wind off Lake Ontario, I spent an hour admiring the fall foliage and feeling at peace with the rustling sounds from the ornamental grasses. My only regret was running out of camera battery power but the memory is ingrained. Anyone in the Toronto area should visit the space, whether one is a lover of Bach or garden design or not.

Shimmering Miscanthus, Chasmanthium, and Panicum

Fall common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) foliage
and blooms

More common witch hazel blooms with
last year's opened seedpods

Another reason to love Hakone grass

Maiden grass seedheads ready to catch the wind

Going up the Courante section...

A grove of paper birches in its autumn glory

On July 1 compared to...

A more subdued feeling 4 months later

At the adjacent Spadina Quay Wetlands.
An excellent example of ecological planting
that is also highly ornamental.

It's all about the foliage, baby!

Reasons why autumn is my favourite season as a Toronto gardener:

• I was born in September
• My wife was born in October
• We were married in September
• It's the best time to work outside
• no bugs, no humidity, deals at the garden centres

and....

• fall foliage!

"Arnold Promise" witchhazel on fire, figuratively

Detail of Hamamelis x intermedia "Arnold Promise" witchhazel leaf in autumn

This witchhazel at my clients, A & M's, has a different colouring than mine at home which has no red margin. Unusual and beautiful nevertheless. Another reason why you need a witchhazel in your garden and not another purple leaf sandcherry from a big box store!

Fall leaf colour and pome (fruit) of  Cotoneaster lucidis (Hedge cotoneaster)

Oranges and russets of Cotoneaster lucidis  (Hedge cotoneaster) in autumn

You're likely more aware of "Coral Beauty" cotoneaster or Cranberry cotoneaster (C. dammeri and horizontalis cultivars)  with their vivid red berries but I came across a hedge type which I think has superior fall colouring. I don't see C. lucidis that often in nurseries. Maybe a good alternative to privet if you're considering putting in a hedge next year.

Acer ginnala (Amur maple) fall colour

Acer ginnala (Amur maple) fall colour with a halo effect

Here are some shots of the Amur maple doing its autumn thing in my backyard. The leaves will only be on for about a week so I had to take some photos before they all drop. Acer ginnala is one tough and hardy maple. It's often sold multi-stemmed and shrubby. I prune mine as a tree form. My plant i.d. prof at Humber College called it a "poor man's Japanese maple" which I think is a bit unkind!

Happy birthday to my wife today. As I tell her, gardening in the fall is all about the foliage, baby!

Down by the Muskoka lakeside

Another beautiful Canadian Thanksgiving at the Lake Muskoka cottage

A crisp fall morning walk is rewarded by this view

Autumn has descended all too quickly for us in southern Ontario and while our summer annuals (those that haven't been chucked out for mums and kale) on on their last legs, the fall colours of our native deciduous trees and shrubs are peaking. Here are some reminders why I love our four seasons taken over our Thanksgiving weekend visit to my sister and my brother-in-law's cottage near Gravenhurst, ON:

Windy and cool but no water skiers to disrupt the peace

Vibrant orange autumn maple and sumac leaves

Isn't it amazing how the chlorophyll is drawn out randomly?

A final reminder of a wonderful season