San Francisco Chronicle: Growing ideas all the way from Montreal

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Growing ideas all the way from Montreal

 

 

Yvonne Michie Horn, Special to The Chronicle

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

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Long, cold winters and short summers made Montreal an unlikely mecca for gardeners. Then Flora came to town.

 

In its second year, Flora winds along the banks of a derelict quay in the center-city Old Port district, revealing, in 10 acres of twists and turns, 49 innovative residential gardens matched with 24 "showcase" gardens spotlighting what's new in products, plant materials and design. Towering abandoned grain elevators serve as a backdrop; in the foreground are the shining skyscrapers of downtown.

 

The location in the middle of the city sets the stage for what Flora is all about. The array of gardens on display is designed to inspire urban dwellers with postage-stamp backyards to take a second look at their small outdoor spaces (decks or even rooftops) with the idea of turning them into life-enhancing "green room" extensions of their houses.

 

"These are real gardens, not roped-off gardens to be strolled by," said Raquel Peñalosa, Flora's artistic director. "You can walk into them, linger in them, sit down and visit, pretend they are your own, while giving thought to how the ideas presented might be adapted to your spaces at home."

Once Flora 2007 ends, Peñalosa and Flora's artistic committee will be looking at proposals from landscape architects who want to be included next year.

 

"We look for sustainability with an aesthetic edge, usefulness and originality," Peñalosa said, adding that from the start, Flora received proposals from as far away as Europe and Australia.

 

Unlike most garden shows - installed for "here today, gone tomorrow" impact - Flora is on display for Montreal's entire growing season, from mid-June into September, offering repeat visitors the opportunity to see gardens mature and change, just as they would at home.

 

Color rules the day, from a lineup of gigantic orange flowerpots and orange benches at the entrance to the color coding of the garden's seven themed sections: city, nature, slope, nurturing, rooftop, avant-garde and street-side.

 

A long, bright red table flanked with matching stools turns the space at No. 13, "Feast," into a dining room set in the midst of planting beds that pay more attention to edibles than flowers.

 

Garden No. 17, "Emerald Enchantment," has a deck painted a startling lime green, scattered with orange beanbag chairs and topped with an orange canopy.

 

Multicolor Plexiglas disks atop tall rods at No. 35, "Earth and Sky," turn the light-colored gravel underneath into colorful polka dots when the sun shines through.

 

I made a mental note to consider adding bold color when contemplating a backyard face-lift. Other thought-provoking themes emerged as I walked Flora's paths:

 

-- Forget the separate vegetable patch; plant edibles with the flowers. It is the rare Flora garden that has not done so. One example harnesses a seemingly haphazard assortment of tomatoes, herbs, peppers, parsley and more with a border of euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' and orange marigolds. The idea appears to have quickly jumped out of Flora into Montreal's heart - the median strip dividing the busy four lanes of Boulevard Rene-Lévesque in front of Montreal's venerable Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel intersperses its shrubs and flowers with rainbow Swiss chard.

 

-- Furniture is the key to enjoying outdoor space. Every Flora display garden includes seating of some sort, not just placed for a visitor's contemplative convenience but also incorporated into the design. One unforgettable setting duplicates a living room - traditional sofa, coffee table, deep armchairs - but all carved from stone. They're surprisingly comfortable and undeniably weatherproof.

 

-- Make use of indigenous perennials. Easy to grow and modest consumers of water and fertilizer, they introduce authentic, creative and sustainable solutions to the landscape.

 

-- Think of annuals as accents. Allow shrubs and perennials to become the backbone of the garden. Add annuals sparingly for quick seasonal color.

 

-- Repetition adds unity. Instead of sticking in a couple of these and those here and there, achieve impact with the massing of material - three-deep rows of a single variety of grass, an entire bed filled with Russian sage.

 

-- Add art. Such additions as a single large piece of sculpture, a scattering of colored-glass baubles or a mounted "window" of stained glass add individuality and impact.

 

-- Create private spaces with screens. Flora's gardens offer screening ideas using both permanent dividers, such as walls of stone, and those that are movable, making use of such materials as woven slats of lightweight wood or strung-together canes of bamboo. An easy low-cost suggestion is a stretched cloth banner.

 

-- Think about planting up. Space-saving lattices are not only for roses and morning glories but are also ideal for climbing edibles such as tomatoes, cucumbers, gourds, melons and beans.

 

It is not too late to visit Flora this year, and it's not too early to mark calendars for next summer - and, for a complete Canadian garden experience, to consider getting there by train. ViaRail Canada has put together a cross-country garden route that begins in Victoria, British Columbia, and ends up 16 spectacular gardens later in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Montreal and Flora, of course, are a must-stop along the way.

 

 

Flora's flora

 

French-speaking people in Montreal call them "Les Exceptionnels," plants voted as exceptional by Flora's designers and visiting public:

Zinnia 'Profusion,' deep apricot, blooms repeatedly, easily grown from seed.

 

Cleome 'Señorita Rosalita,' vivid pink blooms against dark, green foliage.

Rudbeckia 'Irish Spring,' rich, golden blossoms with green central cones.

Pansy 'Karma Denim,' large deep-blue flowers blotched with yellow.

Scaveola 'Diamond,' graceful and compact with fanlike clusters of lilac and white.

 

Celosia 'Fresh Look,' flower stems up to 10 inches, never needs deadheading.

 

Begonia 'Solenia Cherry,' semi-trailing.

Penstemon 'Phoenix Red,' orderly and brilliant.

Anigozanthos 'Kanga Red,' also known as kangaroo paws, are attractive to bees and butterflies.

Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost,' mannerly border plant with a white froth of blossom.

 

For information

 

www.floramontreal.ca/en/index.asp . For ViaRail's garden itinerary, (888) 842-7245; for general information and booking, www.viarail.ca . Yvonne Michie Horn is a travel and garden writer. E-mail her at home@sfchronicle.com.

[imtl]

Les citoyens du Québec semblent toujours avoir eu de la facilité à s'entendre avec les californiens et tout spécialement, les gens de San Francisco.

 

Les deux villes carburent à la créativité, dans de nombreux domaines.