Vespasia

Just stunning, and that applies to yesterday's pictures too. I am so jealous, perhaps a move to Vancouver is in order!

Beautiful, a lovely tropical retreat, lucky you! Love the little pool or is it a hot tub. Your choice of colours in the whole garden is perfect.

Absolutely wonderful, I too love deer and we get them in the garden but as we live on a deep wooded ravine we do not get babies born in the garden, how exciting that must be. Your garden is beautiful, I love the difference between the casual and more formal areas you have put a lot of thought and love into your garden, not to mention the work! More pictures please!

Beautiful, I love the massing of colour and of course the hydrangeas are amazing, wonderful job!

Wonderful, what a lovely, eclectic mix of planting and artwork. I love the big rocks and the steps down to the door. It's obvious that your garden is a true labour of love!

Lovely, I particularly like the heron and the front looks so welcoming!

Thank you all for the lovely comments. We truly love our garden and it has seen many wonderful celebrations etc with friends and family. In the summer we eat all our meals under the gazebo whenever possible, it truly is our haven.

Beautiful, want to visit for sure!

Actually, I agree with you tractor1 I was advocating natural lawns not the lush over cared for lawns many people like. I was absolutely not advocating paving anything over or having wall to wall shrubs. My choices are perennials, grasses, rocks and interesting ground cover and some shrubs, of course. I have a lovely, natural garden that we think of as our little bit of heaven.

While I do have a large garden backing on to a ravine I fortunately do not have acres to mow and can do mine with an electric mower in a short time.

I too have been working for 20 years on my garden in Markham ON, which was just a steeply sloping lawn when we moved in in 1991. I also have a perennial garden, my only annuals being in pots or baskets. Mine is a kind of natural English garden and I have been working steadily to eliminate as much lawn as possible and will have none at all at the front when we finish landscaping it. Here in Markham we have been having a drought, so no lawn watering allowed.

Actually you should not be promoting lush lawns at all as they are environmentally unsound. We had the "Water for Tomorrow" people around to give us ideas and vet our garden. I highly recommend them and it was a free service with lot's of great advice. If you must have a lawn they recommend over seeding your lawn (usually Kentucky Blue Grass) with a mixture of Rye and Fescue which is pretty drought tolerant, even better is clover which is always green easy to mow as it doesn't grow high and the dandelions don't seem to grow through it a plus as here in Ontario pesticides are banned. We live on a ravine and have bunnies nibbling on the clover every morning. I am gradually over seeding with it. Garden centres carry the right kind of clover for lawns.

I will put together some pictures or my deck and garden and send them to you.

Just stunning, what an incredible garden, I'm jealous. Fall is such a beautiful, if sad time, I think. Your garden expresses it perfectly, congratulations on all your hard work and thank you for sharing and inspiring us all.

So funny, I've sent the pictures on to my grandsons (all four of them) they'll love them!

Lovely pictures again, so creative and artistic, you are so talented brenda (and hardworking of course) thank you for sharing your oasis with us.

So lovely, a really natural garden that makes the transition from summer into fall so well, gorgeous

How lovely, it certainly does not look like a small garden, what a great trio of dogs you have. We too have deer, a herd of about 26 down in the very wild ravine with a river running through it behind our property. They do nibble at the evergreens in the winter and some shrubs when they get hungry in the winter but they are so lovely especially the fawns as they come leaping through the garden so gracefully.

I feel blessed to live so close to these lovely creatures, even our cats have got used to them and they never touch my daylillies, don't know why.Our neighbours mostly feel the same way and we are fiercely protective of them. We also have raccoons, squirrels, hares, foxes, groundhogs, grouse and a wonderful blue heron that flies over. "Wild in the City" we call it as we do live in an urban environment

Just lovely, the colours perfectly complement the little boy statue. So inspiring that gardeners just keep gardening, my grandfather still worked in his garden in his nineties, my mother also until a stroke in her late eighties slowed her down, Im hoping to be able to keep up the family tradition having just turned seventy and still loving working in my large garden. What a wonderful way to keep fit and healthy.

I love the way your eye is draw down the path and the whimsical peacocks are a great idea.

With regard to Steepdrives comment about larger photos, try this click on the enlarge link, this opens up another window which you can then zoom into if you want to get detail. You can also save these images for reference if you want to, I have a Mac so I just drag them to my desktop and then import them into iPhoto, where I have a special album of garden reference shots.

I would also like to see some more regular home garden pictures but I do love the "photo of the day"idea it brightens up my morning!

Wonderful garden Rebecca, thank you for sharing it with us. I love all your "rooms" truly a garden to live in. I just wish we had the weather up here in Canada to garden year round maybe we should move to California!

Lovely solution, we are planning something similar for our front, so this has given me much food for thought.

There is nothing wrong with a "front stoop" although where I live many of these are lovely welcoming porches. These areas are what help to create a friendly and safe neighborhood, where people know and look out for each other. This is where we have chosen to live and we love it. We have a lively and active rate payers group that go out of their way to help and we have friends and neighbors of all ages and backgrounds from the new born to octogenarians, no negative attitudes here!

Lovely again, what an amazing variety of spaces and vistas in this garden, I hope to visit it with my husband. It's so nice that you haveshowcased a garden in Canada, we have many lovely ones to visit. How about further afield, Europe has a wealth of wonderful gardens, my favourite, I think is the famous Sissinghurst in Kent, England.

Thanks again for this lovely series, I definitely have to have the book, I'm putting it on my Christmas List.

Absolutely gorgeous, words fail me. Thank you for the information about the interview and book. This garden is truly a labour of love, thank you again for sharing it with us.

So lovely, I just love all the different steps and the way they have been allowed to age naturally. they all fir with the landscape so beautifully, I am a great fan of moss and transplant it to fill in between patio stones etc it gives a lovely soft look and is definitely easy care. Thanks for sharing all these photos of this lovely and creative garden.

I generally agree with adding some colour, perhaps purple cone flower as they bloom at the same time as the Daylillies and Black Eyed Susans. However in this case I think the wash of yellow gold is very powerful, I have areas like this now in my garden and they never fail to please.

I would agree with all the above comments. How are the tree roots going to impact on the pool long term assuming they weren't damaged during installation?

Also that there seems to be a rough edge of stone where the grass doesn't quite meet it, a recipe for disaster especially if you have children using the pool.

I agree with lovemyyard completely. I actually think nice bright coloured cushions would be much better also some flowers perhaps.

So lovely, restful and above all cool, we are expected to hit 38 degrees here (just north of Toronto)with it feeling like 48 or possibly higher with the humidex factored in. I will be keeping this cool image in my mind. My hoses are also out and about and handy.

This has really got everyone enthused and involved, just great. To continue withthe topiary theme perhaps the same shrub trimmed to a fairly large obelisk with a circular stone bench (still like the bench idea, more friendly) around it. Don't think it needs colour at all.

I actually quite like it, it is very restful. However if you are going for the perfect look, someone should weed, both the beds and the path I find they give it an uncared for look. I would also have added stone benches this would add interest and somewhere to sit and enjoy the peace and serenity.

What am amazing story, we used to have a beautiful Golden Retriever, his name was Governor, they are lovely dogs. I'm so happy that Hunter is doing so well, as is your equally wonderful garden!

That is so lovely, like a fairy tale or Alice in wonderland.

Does anyone know if Silver Moon an easy climber to grow and what it's zone hardiness is. I would love to give it a try up here near Toronto Canada.

At the moment we have more like a deluge up here so sogginess not water would be a problem, everything is waterlogged including us residents!

I too have never heard the term "hell strip" before although having seen these lovely pictures, i realize it's very apt. What a beautiful, creative solution to the problem. I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures as the seasons progress.

In Toronto, just south of where I live, residents have been given permission to plant on the so called "boulevard" which is much like a "hell strip" it being the grassy area between the sidewalk and the road. People have growing vegetables as well as shrubs and flowers, up until now illegally but now without risk of a fine. Great idea and forward thinking for a change!

Just lovely, I like the one with the potato vine the best they are so dramatic.

So lovely, I love woolly creeping Thyme myself, it softens edges and creates a near magical effect and as a bonus it does not mind being trodden on at all. There are quite a few of these sturdy creeping plants, my garden centre has them called either "Jeepers Creepers" or "Step Ons" they grow slowly but surely and work well in paths among the pavers.These are particularly beautiful, thanks for sharing

Gorgeous, Hostas are one of my absolute favourite plants, I have lost count of how many i have and some of them are huge now like the one in this picture. They are so hardy and both light and shade tolerant and the foliage is so decorative. Love them!

What a lovely combination, I definitely plan to add the Toad Lily to my garden this summer.I love the delicate flowers.

So beautiful and serene, a fitting tribute to the people of Japan who are coping with unbelievable tragedy with such grace and patience. A lesson to us all my heart goes out to them.

Beautiful, so lush and serene, can't wait for spring, still have snow here!

So tranquil, so simple, so beautiful.

So beautiful, like a fairy tale. I love the natural look, the way the path wanders down to a secluded area and woodland beyond. An invitation to wander, perhaps in a long flowing white dress?

What an inspiration, love your "when you quit you're done" approach to life. My grandfather was the same, he was still a life time gardener right up to when he died at 97!

Beautiful garden, can't wait till spring!

Just lovely, especially on this very cold Monday (-22 with the wind chill factor) here in Markham ON Canada. Having finished our front addition we are planning, if we ever get spring) to have our now small front garden with no lawn, rocks, ornamental grasses, perennials shrubs etc. There are some great ideas in this photo and what a joy to passers by, thank you for posting it.

Very beautiful, I have a similar one but it is a burgundy colour, very prolific bloom for a long time outside my kitchen window, I love it.

Lovely, they're really hardy, mine was still blooming beautifully until it got hit by a hard frost last night! Oh well I guess we'll just have to resign ourselves to the fact that winter is just around the corner.

It's a lovely effect, really softens the edges of the path etc and makes a beautifully welcoming entry. I don't have any in my garden but having seen these photos I plan to add some next spring, I have just the spot.

Can you bear one more comment, many of us including myself have recommended pruning. One very important caveat, do not prune this shrub until the spring as you will seriously damage its flowering ability. Since it flowering so beautifully it has obviously been prune at the correct time of year in the past.

Oh you must keep it, it is lovely and this type of Hydrangea takes many years to get to this size. It just needs some careful pruning where it hangs over the porch. I agree with many previous posts with regard to making larger beds with low growing perennials. I would also recommend a wider more formal front path (which would be much better in the winter) and then bring the side bed out to it. This would make for a welcoming front entry with great street appeal to compliment this lovely old house.

I don't think Hostas are expensive at all. I had one of the varigated leaf kind as in the picture and now, through division, necessary as they grow so well I have about eight and have given some away. I have also been given some, we do a lot of plant exchange in my neighbourhood. This applies to all my Hostas, one of my garden favourites.

Incidentally this has been a great year for Hostas both for bloom and for the fact that they have not eaten by slugs as usual, not sure why!

Lovely, I especially like the combination of the wall, the plantings and the beautiful fence.

I have to agree with the other posts. Love the effect, it's beautiful. I especially like that amazing pot but would add that apart from dogs this path would also be a challenge to the elderly and small children. Lots of luck shoveling in the winter too!

Lovely, I especially like the slate steps with pots on, one of my favorite looks. I have a friend with a fig tree and until recently (when they added a greenhouse to the back of their home) they used to bury the tree each fall, apparently a common practice in cold climates!

Just beautiful, blue is one of my favorite colors in the garden but difficult as the selection is limited. This is a lovely solution, one to keep in my for next year!

Just lovely, so natural, love Mick sneaking by!

Lovely setting for these interesting sculptures. Credit should be given to the origins of this art form. These are Inukshuks created by the Inuit and other people of the Arctic region of North America. They are especially common in British Columbia and I am sure many of you remember that an Inukshuk was the symbol of the 2010 Olympic Games held in Vancouver this year. they are beautiful and much admired and one can now see them all over the US and Canada. Ordinary people seem drawn to build them wherever stones are available, they are very powerful symbols it seems.If you are interested in learning more there is lots of information on line.