We travel thousands of miles to visit places, yet we sometimes forget to check out our local treasures. I am now convinced that Aurora has many, especially after last weekend. On Saturday, June 11th, we had an opportunity to visit a beautiful Merlin’s Hollow garden in Aurora established by David Tomlinson and his wife Dierdre.
We briefly met Dierdre at the entrance and at the exit, and what a nice, sweet lady with a good sense of humour she is. In addition to reading about them in the newspapers a lot, I also had an opportunity to attend David’s presentation back in 2004 here in Aurora Library organized by the University of Toronto (University Lecture Series). I checked my notes and it looks like I never made notes on his presentation, but his presentation is the only one I can remember after that many years. Maybe nature interest was my thing always, I just did not know it then.
I have to say that when we arrived at the garden, “The Secret Garden” a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, came to my mind. I read the book and watched the movie when I was very young, and that day I finally got to live in it, only not so secret. Merlin’s Hollow is open to the public on scheduled dates throughout the summer, featuring different aspects. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity here in Aurora.
I always like to bring my Matthew with us to such places. He enjoys flowers, while I enjoy watching him reach out for them. There was a lot of reaching out that day – but just reaching out. This time, no dry flowers in his pockets or mine.
Our visit this time was a short one as we had a busy schedule that day. We were also caught by the rain; however, I was still able to snap photos of blooming flowers. I love rain and it does not bother me at all. My camera, on the other hand, does not. An umbrella was a great invention which I forgot to bring with me that day. Too little time, but I know that we will be back in July for summer flowering perennials, pond, and water garden.
The best fertilizer is the gardener’s shadow.
Author Unknown
The Tomlinsons’ Merlin’s Hollow is accented with many beautiful flowers, only a few are presented here. It was our first visit ever. The highlight of this visit was the fragrant garden, thyme lawn, iris, and peonies. I cannot stress enough how beautiful and healthy-looking the iris and peonies were. The garden also has an art component incorporated, which I am going to share with you in the next post.
Sometimes something beautiful is really hard to describe. Technology allows us to take photos and share them; however, if David and Deirdre did not share their garden with us, I probably would not have had the opportunity to capture some of the beautiful flowers I am sharing with everyone here today.
Merlin’s Hollow is a perfect example of everything growing in unison, especially the Fragrant Garden providing a palette of scents. We all know that fragrant plant species attract all kinds of insects, bees, and butterflies – and attract us as well, but for different reasons, of course. Sometimes, some things cannot be photographed or recorded with the latest technology, and that is the scent, but we are fortunate for memories.
Don’t wear perfume in the garden – unless you want to be pollinated by bees.
Anne Raver
I named some of the flowers here. Peonies were always my favourite. I remember, many moons ago, in our old house back in Europe, we had this one location for the peonies. Every year they bloomed, and I enjoyed hanging around them, and sometimes counting small ants on the flower heads. They always gave out such a pleasant perfume-like scent.
My favourite wild flower, I don’t know its name, but it is the flower in the first photo above. This one may be a different sub-species because the one I always enjoyed in the fields has dark purple flower petals and is much smaller.
I cannot emphasize enough how beautiful Merlin’s Hollow garden is. Pictures are always nice, but seeing, experiencing, and enjoying the scents by visiting is much more worthwhile.
I hope everyone enjoyed some of the beautiful accents of Merlin’s Hollow garden. Thank you all for reading my “accented” thoughts.
COMMENTS
Butterfly said: June 16, 2011 at 00:06
“It’s the first I’ve heard of Merlin’s Hollow. Where is it located?”
admin said: June 16, 2011 at 11:30
“Hey Butterfly, Merlin’s Hollow the English flower garden is located at 181 Centre Crescent, west of Industrial Parkway, off Centre Street. You park on the Centre Street, and the Centre Crescent is almost like a driveway, they don’t allow to park. You will see it. I think next date is July 2nd, however, you can verify the dates in THE AURORAN, second page under Coming Events. Hope this helps.”
kaslkaos said: June 17, 2011 at 13:21
“Oh gosh, that is Gorgeous! All of them. I have a tiny garden. I’ll have to see if I can get there for July 2nd, don’t know if I can. And thanks SOOOOO much for asking me how I’m doing on my blog. That is VERY much appreciated. Recent events in my life have made me feel small indeed.”
James said: June 18, 2011 at 20:09
“These are wonderful, Anna! Great compositions and colour. That day had some really gentle overcast light. Perfect for flowers.”
Anna Lozyk Romeo said: June 18, 2011 at 22:06
“kaslkaos thank you for your kind comments and visit. Hope everything works out for you on the end. The garden may also be open the following weekend on Sunday.”
Anna Lozyk Romeo said: June 18, 2011 at 22:11
“Thank you James. You are right, the light that day was perfect, and yes prefect for flowers. Its amazing how much light contributes to the overall photography. I almost returned my first film SLR when I shot pictures in the bad light, but then I was a real beginner, LOL. Well, I am big fan of your photography, I think I will run out of words one day to comment.”
