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Ontario Chapter
Contact: Barbara Furlong
26 Alcaine Ct.
Thornhill (Markham), Ontario
Canada L3T 2G7
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Ontario Chapter holds
Annual Meeting
in the Country!
By Carolyn Ford
Between the Vines • Newsletter of The American Ivy Society, Inc. • Fall 2011 Vol. 23 No 2
Please contact AIS for content and image usage. NOT FOR REPRINT IN ANY MEDIA WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION
May is always a beautiful time of the year to explore and discover Ontario. Thus, the Ontario chapter planned their Annual Meeting in Bowmanville and environs (an hour’s drive from Toronto) to meet and to enjoy several unique gardens that were opened privately for our group. Diana Kennedy, our member who lives in the area, arranged the day with Corinne van de Grootevheen owner of Brookside Bed and Breakfast.
After a brief viewing of Corinne's spectacular garden, we drove in convoy to Jim and Sylvia Slyfield’s country estate. The dry stone walls laid by Jim led us to a formal English garden in front of their brick style Tudor home. We wandered around beautifully manicured pathways enjoying many perennials - bugleweed, globe flower, ivies, leopard’s bane, hops, euphorbia and multi varieties of clematis. In the background, spectacular topiaries set off a magnificent cedar forest where the trees topped 100’ with bare trunks midway - a mystical scene that could have appeared in the Lord of the Rings!
Next we visited a country style garden with a magnificent pond and waterfall that surrounded a white pine log home. Elaine Hutton, the owner, showed us around the ligularia, lupines, most unique paper bark maple, and other unique plant and tree specimens. Most intriguing was the calf- hut used as a mini greenhouse to grow champion pumpkins - some exceeding 700 lbs!
The last garden – Sophie and John Bigham's 10 acre country garden - featured a dry stone river bed, colour wheel garden, pond surrounded by Cyprus, 'Agincourt' Lilac, 'Marmalade' Heuchera, Willow, 'Quick Fire' Hydrangea and ‘Pink Beauty’ Viburnum to name but a few of the many perennials.
Following a delicious luncheon served by the ladies of the local Community Centre in the one room school house built in 1837, Barbara Furlong, President, chaired the Annual Meeting and presented 'Ivalace' - Ivy of the Year – to each member, a the gift from the AIS. Vodie McQuat and Dorothea Thompson (co-chairs for the Autumn Show) led a discussion on the September show and organized convenors for the various classes. Two ivy workshops are planned for the summer – Topiary and Terrarium. Many unique miniature ivy and Hedera helix 'Ivalace' plants were available for sale.
Barbara presented each host with a lovely plant of Hedera helix ‘Ivalace’ – Ivy of the Year. It was a most interesting day to enjoy the Annual Meeting in the countryside.
Photos: Jeannine Essasy
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