Today was another busy one with a combination of educational sessions and then a great trip which is represented in all of these photos.  I gave my presentation this morning and it went well.  This was a panel presentation with five speakers including Tim (Chicago Botanic Garden), Mildred (Atlanta Botanical Garden), Jim (Longwood Gardens), Dan (Chanticleer) and me.  Andrew from Chicago Botanic Garden was the facilitator and despite some untimely AV problems we gave a great collective program to a good sized audience.  It was nice to share what we do at RBG to a group of public garden professionals.  I did ask the crowd how many had visited the garden and over 20 had which was awesome!  The discussion revolved around how we all approach our seasonal displays.  I then attended some additional sessions.  After lunch, all conference attendees headed over by bus to the Niagara Parks Botanical Garden & School of Horticulture which is on the Canadian side of the falls.  The gardens were spectacular and the school has a very prominent reputation.  I wished we had more time there though.  We then went to the falls and had some fun before returning to the hotel. I depart tomorrow morning with an overnight in Michigan (and more garden stops) then back home after a long week.

Hot Cocoa™ rose (Rosa ‘WEPaltlez’) – woody shrub

Graham Thomas® rose (Rosa ‘Ausmas’) – climbing rose

Brothers Grimm® rose (Rosa ‘KORassenet’) – woody shrub

Livin’ Easy™ rose (Rosa ‘HARwelcome’) – woody shrub

‘Highlight’ rose (Rosa) – woody shrub

Poseidon™ rose (Rosa ‘KORfriedhar’) – woody shrub

Julia Child™ rose (Rosa ‘WEKvossutono’) – woody shrub

Wisteria espalier

Wisteria espalier

big patch of ‘All Gold’ Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) – perennial

yes…I went out on this!

Niagara Falls from the Canadian side

The weather was absolutely perfect today in Hamilton, Ontario with partly cloudy skies, plenty of sunshine and a temperature around 70 degrees F.  We had a full day of breakout sessions at the American Public Garden Association (APGA) conference and it’s tough to choose between them at times!  My presentation is tomorrow morning on our use of seasonal plants at RBG.  I was able to spend some time later today at the University of Guelph Arboretum (20 minutes away) and have included some images of the primary Royal Botanical Garden campus and one of their satellite gardens (The Laking Garden).  The image above is the visitor’s center for the Arboretum at the University of Guelph.  I also briefly visited the Arboretum of the Royal Botanical Garden but it was so enormous that I didn’t get to see much of it.  More seminars tomorrow and an afternoon tour. The image at the top of the blog post is a Gryphon which is the mascot of the University of Guelph.

the tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) were still in bloom (above) – woody tree

weeping European beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’) – woody tree

there were lots of cool lego sculptures out in the gardens too (Nature Connects)

interesting to say the least

cool canoe planter above!

‘Glitter’ coral bells (Heuchera) – perennial

Today was another busy one at the American Public Garden Association (APGA) Conference in Hamilton, Ontario.  There were plenty of sessions, meetings, networking opportunities and a trade show to enjoy.  There seem to be a lot of folks here and I’ve met some neat people and seen some old friends.  I was able to head over to the Royal Botanic Garden (another RBG!) which has four sites in nearby Burlington, Ontario (literally 10 minutes away).  I visited the main site, Laking Garden and the Rock Garden.  I’ll try to visit the Arboretum later in the week if I have time.  I was frustrated in that I lost about 1,200 photos this morning from my first two stops when my memory card for my digital camera went bad.  Frustrating but at least all my photos from previous days were backed up!  I did include a bunch of photos from their recently renovated (reopened in 2016) David Braley & Nancy Gordon Rock Garden.  I chatted with three of their staff and explored for over two hours.  It was one of the most photogenic and enjoyable gardens I’ve ever visited and very well maintained.  Back in town now and headed out tonight for a gathering of Chanticleer Scholars for dinner.  More excitement tomorrow.  I wont bog any blog readers down with too many plant photos but I sure took a lot today!

old photo of the Rock Garden (above)

Long day today!  After arriving at the Hamilton Convention Centre for the American Public Garden Association conference, my first task was going through registration.  At this point in time I ran in to many folks I knew and the networking began in earnest.  I then departed on a bus tour with 50 others to see “The Gardens of Buffalo”.  We headed back over the border (passports in hand) and had a great day of seeing gardens, plants, architecture and much more in Buffalo, NY which was a beautiful city of 260,000 residents (over 1 million in the metro area).  We started at the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens which included an historic conservatory and lots of plants and color.  We also enjoyed the surrounding gardens and park and had lunch there as well.  We then headed out to see about 10 or so private gardens in Buffalo and stopped by the annual trials at the Erie Basin Marina Gardens.  We then ate dinner on the deck of a decommissioned U.S. Naval destroyer and took a tour of this ship which is a museum as well.  Lots of fun but a long day.

Black Lace™ elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Eva’) looking sharp – woody shrub

the architecture around town was exceptional including in residential areas

this photo and many below feature just a small few of the plants and personal elements in each garden space

We then headed to the lake front where we enjoyed the view of Lake Erie as well as the neat trial garden (mentioned above) was filling in nicely.  Further below are some images of the staff getting ready for more visitors.  We then ate dinner on an old U.S. Naval destroyer which was very cool.