I needed a few stocking stuffers today, so I headed to the gift shop at the Toronto Botanical Garden, my favourite spot for last minute treasures of all kinds. But I treated myself to a little garden therapy as well — and this year, the TBG has outdone itself with a special project indoors. Come along with me, but bundle up, it’s snowing out there! Let’s start at the west end of the Piet Oudolf-designed Entry border. I always love looking at those paperbark maples (Acer griseum)…..

…. with their peeling, coppery bark.

On the other side of the walkway is a little garden featuring Astilbe chinensis var. tacquetii ‘Purpurlanz’ – now handsome mahogany seedheads. Four season interest, of course, is what Piet Oudolf intended when he designed this garden – his aim for all his gardens around the world.

Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata) shows off its fuzzy cylindrical seedheads along the path.

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Cassian’ is a handsome grass with lovely winter presence.

The button-like seedheads of beebalm (Monarda fistulosa) hold up well in winter. Beyond is Korean feathergrass (Calamagrostis brachytricha).

The tawny foliage of willowleaf bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana var. salicifolia) is a third act, after the ice-blue June flowers and the brilliant yellow-gold fall colour.

Foxglove penstemon (P. digitalis) seized a little territory this year, as it does (in my meadows, too). The bees don’t mind – and those dark-brown seedheads are so beautiful.

Even on a snowy December day, the tall, airy stems of ‘Transparent’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea) screen the border in an artful way.

I love the fluffy seedheads of autumn asters, topped with a dusting of snow.

Probably the tallest, most statuesque perennial in the Entry Border, ‘Gateway’ Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum Atropurpureum Group) is popular with bees and butterflies in summer.

The bristly, spherical seedheads of rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) stand out at the east end of the Entry Border.

I take a walk along Lawrence Avenue. This is the face that Toronto Botanical Garden presents to drivers passing by.

Grasses and hydrangeas provide interest for a long time in winter.

Around the corner heading back into the gardens, I enjoy the snow-white trunks of the Himalayan birches.

I could have spent a while watching the wind whip the seedheads of the maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) – but the snow was blowing at me too!

I remember way back in 2008 when the beech frames still showed their inner metal infrastructure.

Now it’s all beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Cuprea’).

Winter snow shows off the swirling patterns of the clipped Korean boxwood hedges in the Beryl Ivey Knot Garden.

This one is kept clipped as a spiral.

How gorgeous is this? Dwarf papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) and dusty Miller strutting their winter stuff in the raised windowbox planters near the Spiral Garden.

Walking west, I come upon some of the colourful conifers that add a little pizazz to winter – like this ‘Vintage Gold’ false cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera).

And winter is when visitors notice the bright stems of ‘Midwinter Fire’ dogwood (Cornus sanguinea).

The perennial garden, intended as a Sunken Garden when originally designed, is a quiet expanse of lawn.

As I circle towards the Terrace Garden, I can’t resist peeking through the pendulous boughs of weeping larch (Larix decidua), still holding onto their autumn-gold needled leaves.

With its irises, roses, coreopsis and lavender, the sunny Terrace Garden is full of colour in summer. Now it shows off its curving metal retaining walls. In the background is the George & Kathy Dembroski Centre for Horticulture.

I circle around to the northern entrance to what was once the Edibles Garden, now a garden used to showcase new varieties of annuals.

The evergreen leaves of Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) turn red in winter.

The copper beech hedge at the base of the Spiral Garden shows off a dainty skirt of Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’). Grasses and persistent leaves (botanically, they’re known as “marcescent” leaves) are important elements in a winter garden.

A birch arbour! What a wonderful way to celebrate winter stems! Now all we need is a winter bride & groom! (My daughter and son-in-law were married at the TBG in 2012 and I love looking at their photos made in this part of the garden.)

And it wouldn’t be winter without some attractive pots filled with colourful branches, conifers and berries.

THE FLOATING GARDEN!

But all the magic isn’t outdoors at the TBG this winter. Beginning at the door to the TBG’s wonderful library and extending all the way down the hall to the Floral Hall is an installation designed and made by the horticultural team and volunteers called The Floating Garden. Using hanging, dried flowers, it celebrates summer’s harvest from the gardens.

How much fun is this?

Roses, hydrangeas, gomphrena – little bouquets that banish the cold winds of winter and recall warm days of July and August.

I’ve made bouquets from my golden yarrow – but this takes “dried flowers” to a new level!

It’s wonderful to contemplate the delicate bracts of a hydrangea….

… or the shiny, seedpod of honey locust (with a fresh coat of blue paint?).

Gomphrena globosa ‘Fireworks’ with hydrangea.

The distinctive fuzzy inflorence of amaranthus.

A little bit of indoor garden fantasy for our long Toronto winter.

I asked dad if I could photograph him walking through the floral gauntlet.

Then it was time to take my stocking stuffers home. One last look along the Entry Border – here showing a big drift of the Perennial Plant Association’s (PPA) 2024 ‘Plant of the Year’, clustered mountain mint, Pycnanthemum muticum.

Here’s what it looked like on August 22nd.

But now it’s making its presence known in the snow. And, as Piet Oudolf has always said, “brown is a colour too.”

I have spent a few decades chronicling the plants, bees and brilliant designs of the Toronto Botanical Garden. What a joy it has been.

My best wishes for a brilliant holiday season – however you celebrate it!

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Are you curious about how the Entry Border was designed? Read my 2-part blog titled ‘Piet Oudolf – Meadow Maker’.