Spending most of the summer on Lake Muskoka a few hours north of Toronto as I do, I am far away from the public gardens where I tend to get my regular photo fixes. Fortunately, I have a lovely friend in the nearby city of Bracebridge who generously invites me to pop by her spectacular garden whenever I feel the urge for a hit of colour and beautifully designed borders. Her name is Marnie Wright and over the years, we’ve found we have much in common – including our age!

I first met Marnie on a GWA (Garden Writers’ Association) tour in Portland, Oregon, and later on a local garden tour where I mentioned I was working on a long-term colour project. “My garden has quite a lot of nice colour happening now,” she said. “You’re welcome to come by anytime.”  That was my first visit, one warm July day when the blackflies and mosquitoes were still rather hungry. I was completely wowed by Marnie’s wonderful little house and by her abundant gardens filled with interesting structures and whimsical folk art, like these big-eyed dragonflies.

Marnie’s lived in her house for 34 years on a 91-acre property hewn originally out of an alder bog.  Thus the two acres on which she actively gardens has a high water table and can be very wet in spring, once the deep Muskoka snow melts. But summer-damp conditions are perfect for a host of perennials, especially the daylilies (Hemerocallis) Marnie loves to collect – she even grows some from seed.

So if you visit in July, you’ll see rainbow displays of daylilies in the borders.

Some — like beautiful ‘Jade Star’ — grow with blackeyed susans (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’) around the three linked ponds in the centre of the gardens….

…and some of the seed-grown ones mix casually with gloriosa daisies and echinacea around a rugged shard of lichen-encrusted Muskoka granite near the barn at the end of the driveway.

Despite the generally moist soil, xeric-loving verbascums tend to self-seed and thrive in a long border with beebalm (Monarda didyma).  The key to their success might be the long ditch Marnie created behind the bed to drain away the water and create a more mesic soil.

Yes, Marnie’s place looks gorgeous in July, with its roses and summer blossoms……

…but was just as beautiful this week, on a fine August morning when old-fashioned summer phlox (Phlox paniculata) was doing its ebullient pink thing and pairing oh-so-nicely with the goldenrod that also grows…..

… by the millions, along with flat-topped aster (Doellingera umbellata), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum leave) and obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana)  in the fields surrounding the house.

Summer phlox also makes a nice companion to these pale globe thistles (Echinops sphaerocephalus)…

…and enhances the vintage garden chairs that Marnie paints a rich purple. These ones are perfect for relaxing in while enjoying a campfire…..

….but the chairs have looked lovely through the years no matter where they’re situated.

Purple pops up a lot in Marnie’s designs – especially in her annual favourite, ageratum, seen here with dark purple heliotrope.

And in the Verbena bonariensis that looks so lovely in an unusual pairing with yellow blackberry lily (Iris domestica, formerly Belamcanda chinensis).

Speaking of roses, there was even the odd August-flowering rugosa rose attracting bumble bees to its abundant pollen.

Marnie is a great collector of interesting vintage objects that find their way into the garden.  Some find a functional use, such as this coffee table – formerly an old wash-tub table from the Beatty washing machine factory in Fergus, Ontario …..

….while others are more picturesque than pragmatic, like this old watering can paired with a Rex begonia on the potting table.

A recent acquisition was this bell wheel from a local church, now taking pride of place in a flowery border.

The odd reptile can be found climbing the back wall of the garden shed….

…which, in itself, is a delightful bit of rustic, old Canadiana.
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Glass objects find their way into the garden, too. On the left are decorative glass totems that Marnie made using thrift store vases and plumbing pipe. On the right is a glass ceiling fixture from one of the grand old Lake Muskoka lodges.  Somehow, I can see this with flickering candlelight (solar, maybe?)

I love all the beautiful vistas that Marnie has created.  These perfumed lilies frame a view to her little “dock”, with a miniature Muskoka chair overlooking a tiny, lake-like pond.

Look past the Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium) towards one of Marnie’s rustic arbours in the centre of the garden.  Squint a little, and you can see the little succulents….

….she’s growing in the old picture frame leaning against the bench.

There probably isn’t a perennial combination that Marnie hasn’t experimented with in her borders at some time or other.  I loved this July vignette, of queen-of-the-prairie (Filipendula rubra), sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica ‘The Pearl’), gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides), Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) and spiky Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum).

And this August combination features the bold pea foliage and yellow flowers of American senna (S. hebecarpa), paired with echinacea, summer phlox and scented lilies.

She works her design magic in pots and planters scattered throughout the garden, often with plants she’s grown from seed in one of her small greenhouses. This pot features a variegated phormium with red and yellow kangaroo paws (Anigozanthos), calibrachoa, golden globes (Lysimachia procumbens) and other annuals.

Outside the barn where she keeps her mowing tractor (45 minutes weekly manages the lawns), there’s always a fun combination.of annuals in whiskey barrels. This year’s colour scheme uses red, purple and white flowers.

Her window boxes are luscious! I particularly loved this one from a few summers back, with orange Thunbergia alata, yellow Bidens ferulifolia, blue Salvia patens, chartreuse Ipomoea batatas ‘Margarita’, purple Ageratum houstonianum and peach Calibrachoa.

In the shade next to her front door is another window box with tuberous begonias, salmon fuchsia and purple violas, among other annuals.

Behind the house are her two small greenhouses, which help her get a spring head start on annual seeding. In summer, one is filled with small figs and the other with a jungle of ‘Sungold’ cherry tomatoes, Marnie’s favourites — safely protected from hungry deer and growing tall in the warmth and humidity.

She passes me a handful and I swear they’re the sweetest little tomatoes I’ve ever eaten.

At the end of a long path beyond the greenhouses flanking the forest is Marnie’s swimming pond, which also features an assortment of water lilies and other aquatic plants and a windmill to aerate the water.

The cool water offers welcome relief on hot summer days – not just for Marnie, but for her old dog April.

Another spot where visitors can escape Muskoka’s summer heat is the shade garden near the road.  Here a path wends through giant hostas and other traditional shade plants that revel in the rich soil (all entirely organic).

Here Marnie tries out seldom-seen perennials like devil’s bit scabious (Succisa pratensis), which is happy in shade like this or in full sun, provided the soil remains moist.

It grows tall enough to look lovely beside deep-pink Astilbe tacquetii ‘Superba’.

There are lots of rusty foxgloves (Digitalis ferruginea ‘Gelber Herold’), left, that self-seed throughout the shade garden. And I love the jewel-like, blue fruit of the North American native umbrella leaf (Diphylleia cymosa), one of many big-leaved perennials that thrive here in the dappled light.

Whenever I visit Marnie’s garden, I come away with the impression that she has managed to do something that other skilled plant collectors and designers often forget to do. I think you might agree…..