Sue Healey, Tillsonburg Horticultural Society

“The Lasting Impact of Garden Gifts”

At the end of the year, when the shadows and snowdrifts gather to cover the garden, I spend the long evenings sorting through the photographs I’ve taken over the year. Most are of the gardens that surround my home. This sifting of images fills the time that would be spent outside given better weather and light. As I flick through them, I see that many of the trees and plants that catch my eye and camera, the ones I admire most, have been gifts to me. They have come as tokens of celebration, markers of days gone by or as rescues from gardens lost or in transit. And sometimes, they have come simply as a way to share a bit beauty. Each plant is cherished and sparks a memory of the giver, a gentle nudge to remember. Their presence enriches both the soil and the spirit, creating a garden that is not only visually appealing but deeply meaningful. This blend of individual contributions ensures the garden remains a place of beauty, remembrance, and ongoing growth.

This year, my lens has been caught by a poppy that has roamed my garden for as long as I’ve tilled its soil. Collected as seed long ago in my parents’ meadow garden, it reminds me of them both, my mother’s flamboyant energy, my father’s quiet grace. Papaver rhoeas, commonly referred to as the field poppy due to its liking of disturbed ground, is an easy to grow annual with many variations. Mine is fully double, although highly variable from year to year in petal count and colour and always a showstopper. Swan necked stems over silvery green, jagged leaves appear in early spring, each topped with shapely buds that split in spectacular fashion: a multitude of frilled, silken petals, in shades from deep crimson to pale pink unfurl over the season. Blossoms last only day or two, but even that loss is dramatic; like a feather boa, shrugged off the shoulders of an 80s era soap-opera star. Blooming continues through most of summer and provides striking contrast to green, silver, or white backgrounds.Plump seed heads dry to papery husks that spill their miniscule contents at the slightest touch and set next year’s crop. They persist through the winter days, providing a perch for frost or snow, or tiny bird.

In the far corner of the garden, grows another gift that I treasure. This one, a Geum, is a low growing member of the rose family. It came to me decades ago and has been an all-season favourite from the beginning. Early blooming, and in my favourite colour, Geum is a perennial to bridge the gap between spring bulbs and the bounty of June. The rich orange blossoms open over a series of days, and as they age, fade to pale apricot. New and old blooms are present together, resulting in a two-tone effect that softens the brazen orange. Seed heads are hairy and round, darkening to black as they dry before shattering in the wind. The pleated leaves are semi-evergreen and provide an unusual texture to the front of the early winter border. Geum comes in various warm shades of red, orange, cream and yellow and prefers full sun with well drained but moist soil. 

Almost as early as the Geums and as varied in tone as the poppies, are the perennial geraniums that reside in the garden. Of the dozens of varieties available, I grow only a few and most of those from a last-minute rescue for my mother-in-law. They are as cool and steadfast as the woman herself. Each surviving plant is a luminescent shade of violet, some sky blue, others with a touch of pink. Unfazed by drought or pest, this unassuming perennial is a hardworking addition to most gardens. Blooming from early summer to frost, with leaves that often display rich autumn colour, they are also easy to care for. A place in full to partial sun, a spring sheering and topping of compost will ensure this perennial thrives. Mound forming, with lobed leaves that can also vary in size and cut perennial geraniums are excellent at the front of the border. Five petaled flowers range in colours from blue to white and pink with blue flowered varieties showing the most range. Each one is a worthy addition to the garden.

There are other gifts too, the yellow garden is filled with largessof friends and family. Primrose and false fuchsia, yarrow, and calendula line the border along the fence. Roses fill the garden with perfume and the memory of family scattered across the nation. The faded petals of a daylily under the lime green leaves of sumac bring memories of winter days bent over velvet and corduroy. Every gifted plant holds a special significance, weaving together memories of the giver and moments in time. 

As the seasons change, these treasures offer colour, texture, and life to the landscape, enriching both the visual appeal and emotional depth of the garden and making each day spent among them more meaningful and rewarding.

Garden gifts come in many forms, and The Tillsonburg Horticultural Society has several to offer. Member’s enjoyed the annual Christmas Potluck in early December and look forward to a year filled with the latest information, exciting trips and tours and the joy of society. Regular meetings will resume on January 7, 2026, with Mike Prong and his presentation “Perennial Power ~ 20 plants that keep you coming back.” January 6, 2026, 7:30pm, Tillsonburg Senior’s Centre

Membership: $25/year $5/meeting. 

The Society wishes you safe and healthy holiday season and a peaceful new year.

📷 Sue

By Sue Healey, Tillsonburg Horticultural Society 

As we enter the tail end of the year, saying goodbye to the gold and blue days of October, November can seem bare and bleak, drained of colour and life. But November has its own austere beauty and can be refreshingly sparse. Stripped of the froth of the growing season, the landscape is pared down to its essence, simple but powerful. What remains becomes more important. And what remain are trees. Even as we move into winter here in the northern hemisphere, trees continue to add their beauty to our surroundings. They provide highlights and backdrops, texture, and colour. All while providing refuge and food to native wildlife. While deciduous trees may lose their leaves and the evergreens clasp theirs ever closer, trees play a vital role in the winter landscape.

My own small, suburban garden is home to a variety of trees, some inherited and others introduced. A mix of evergreens and deciduous varieties including yews, boxwood and spruce, dogwood and maple provide year-round colour and interest to the garden while also creating a habitat for local birdlife. Each year, a twenty-year-old Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) heralds the arrival of November. This small, multi stemmed tree is native to North America and one of the few to bloom in autumn. From Halloween to the first snow, bright yellow blossoms, petals like crimped party streamers, perfume the air with their slightly astringent scent. Beaked seed capsules persist for a year or more and provide an important food source for smaller birds such as chickadees and sparrows. In the quiet garden, our dogwood (Cornus florida) has already left behind flower, fruit and flaming leaf. That would be enough for one small tree, but she has a final gift to see us through the winter. Silver haired, tightly wrapped buds – next years blooms, adorn branch tips all winter until they swell and finally break in the spring to begin the cycle again. The grey checkered bark makes a striking contrast against smooth white snowbanks. The Redbud (Cercis canadensis) too, her dark arching branches held up to the sky, her leaves strewn at her feet like age old valentines paints a dramatic portrait. While over the fence, Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) stands proudly bare since early October. Its multi-branched limbs, covered in brown velvet and red cone-shaped fruit clusters are the highlight of the winter garden. Colony forming to many metres wide, Sumac can be grown in smaller gardens if suckers are removed consistently. Beautiful structure, striking fall foliage and winter interest make the effort well worthwhile. Another fine example of good tree structure anchors our front shrub bed. Here the Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) spreads its considerable girth to stunning effect. With branches layered in flat, distinct levels, this small, multi stemmed tree makes a striking addition to the winter landscape. Spring flowers, blue-black summer fruit, and vivid red fall colour, along with great winter form makes this a four-season tree.

Of course, the deciduous trees wouldn’t pop without the supporting role of the evergreens. Yews, clothed in ancient green, are peppered with juicy red berries from early autumn to spring. The fruit feeds the local wildlife throughout the winter, and the densely packed branches provide ideal shelter for birds of all sizes. Spruce in ghostly blue or prickly green are a backdrop all year but become even more important in winter once leaves have fallen. Golden thread-leaf cedar (Thuja) – defying the cold November rain and the snow beyond, makes the yellow garden glow. Regardless of type, cedar, juniper, and pine all add colour, texture, and form in the bare months of the year. Smaller sizes or slower growing varieties make them easy additions to our small spaces.

And when I want more variety than what’s to be found in my yard, I don’t have to search far. My local trail, park, or conservation area teams with life and beauty. There I find elephant-skinned Beeches and Oaks with limbs that stretch to meters. Kinked Kentucky coffee trees line our rural roads, sweeping pines and ancient, twisted cedars fill our local forests. There is bark and branch to discover in these lean days of November – a closer look is all that is needed.

Trees provide homes for more than wildlife; they can host other plants as well. Orchids, being epiphytes, make their homes in trees in their native habitat. Learn more orchid facts at the Tillsonburg Horticulture Society’s November meeting. Join us for featured speaker Catherine McInerney of the London Orchid Society, “What’s so special about Orchids?”

Tuesday, November 4, 2025, 7:30pm

Tillsonburg Senior’s Centre

2026 Membership: $25/year $5/meeting. Come as a guest, stay as a member.

📷Sue