Denman Island Garden Tour

 After 2 years with no garden events, the news that the Denman Island Conservancy was preparing to hold their house and garden tour in June was too tempting to miss out on: https://www.denman-conservancy.org/home-and-garden-tour/

As their website states, "Denman Island is located in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada. it is a small rural gulf island near the east coast of Vancouver Island."

We were lucky enough to have good friends on nearby Hornby Island and fortunately Lauren and Jim were not only willing to put up with us for the weekend, but were keen to join us on the tour. 

We took the little cable-stayed ferry between the islands to get to their delightful retreat.

Amazingly, after the very wet spring we've been enduring, the weather gods smiled on Denman and the weekend was sunny.

The tour included several open houses as well as their gardens, but although nearly all the houses were beautiful examples of west coast modern style with abundant use of natural wood, I'm only slightly embarrassed to say it was the plants that took all my attention. As Denman has a large resident deer population, most gardens are protected at least in part by fencing, but many also had successful deer-resistant plantings outside the fences.

Given the Island's rural ambience and its issues with water shortages, I thought that this meadow garden approach was both practical and in tune with the surrounding countryside.

Pools were popular elements, and I was intrigued by both the colour of the water and the (home-made?) floating island at one garden.

Several properties were on sloping sites that lent themselves to landscaping on several different levels. It is not surprising that Sandy and Des Kennedy's lovingly-tended garden has graced the pages of many gardening magazines.

I'm envious of the way a large garden can have a great swath of the same plant, in this case a dramatic ornamental onion, perhaps Allium giganteum.

The garden seemed to be having a purple moment and lavender spikes of Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) scattered throughout provided a satisfying unity to a richly varied tapestry.

Along with ornamental grasses, iris and poppies, it seemed a popular choice for for many islanders. At a different garden, another similar palette complemented another appealing home.

As I was admiring the charming cottage and its adjoining perennial bed, I had an unexpected chance to make friends with a resident cat.

At the end of the day, I was surprised when I looked through my photos that I hadn't taken more. Perhaps I was spoiled because Jim and Lauren had taken us to see the garden of a friend of theirs on Hornby Island the day before the Denman tour. It wasn't just that Eva has an enviable eye for composition and colour, but she also has been tending her garden for many years and that maturity shows as it did in the Kennedy's garden.

As we sat on the beach waiting for the ferry back towards Denman and beyond it to Vancouver Island, I thought that those beautiful gardens and the natural beauty of the BC coast were a combination that few places in the world could rival.