Hello GPODers!

A couple weeks back, friend-of-the-blog Cherry Ong brought us along on a recent trip to Montreal Botanical Garden, particularly to their serene Chinese Garden (if you missed it, be sure to check out those posts here: Part 1 and Part 2). However, when Cherry travels there is never just one garden on the itinerary and no sidewalk planting ever gets passed by without her attention. So it was no surprise when, shortly after her botanical garden submission, Cherry sent along even more photos from her travels in the beautiful French-Canadian city. Today, we get to enjoy some colorful combinations that she encountered while touring the historic neighborhood of Old Montreal.

This historic site along my personal walking tour of Old Montreal boasts of beautiful plant combinations which I thought everyone would enjoy. I so love dark foliage and this summer corridor is gorgeous!

I have to say Old and Downtown Montreal had so many gorgeous plantings to enjoy. This is like a cherry on top for all the rich culture, celebrated architecture and delicious food.

Thank you and have a great week!

Cherry Ong

A big indicator for whether I think a city is worth revisiting is the space allocated for plant arrangements and greenery. Whether it’s easy access to lots of lush public parks or hanging baskets perched from light-posts in the main stretch of downtown, the ability to get my daily dose of plants is a must anywhere I travel to often. Cities that have lots of large, colorful planters, like this one Cherry captured, tend to be high on my list of places to revisit.

Many such arrangements, however, tend to be either a crazy assortment of bright-colored flowers or a simple massing of a couple plants. These arrangements are a not-as-common combination of delicate flowers and dark foliage. In the foreground, Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Jet Black™ sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas ‘NCORNSP-021SHJB’, Zones 9–11 or as an annual) is a perfect, purple-toned compliment to Rockin’® Fuchsia salvia (Salvia hybrid ‘BBSAL00301’, Zones 9–11 or as an annual). Both contrast so nicely with the cool-toned ‘Silver Falls’ dichondra (Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’, annual) and Blushing Princess® sweet alyssum (Lobularia hybrid ‘Blushing Princess’, Zones 9–11 or as an annual) in the background.

Purple and red are a color combination that can go wrong very quickly, but can also be anything from cool and moody to fun and vibrant when done correctly. Here, the deep purple sweet potato vine looks divine next to the burgundy-red ‘Dark Chocolate’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘Dark Chocolate’, annual).

I also appreciate that the color palette in this arrangement is pretty but subdued. Don’t get me wrong, I equally adore a rainbow of annual flowers, but there is something so sophisticated in the intentional selection of specific colors. To bring some more flowers to this combination without competing with the standout salvia, ‘So White’ gaura (Gaura lindheimeri ‘So White’, Zones 5–9) was a fabulous choice.

One last view of that sensational sweet potato vine!

We’re not done with Cherry’s Montreal adventures just yet. Tomorrow we’re visiting a garden Cherry chanced upon in 2019, and made a point to explore in its entirety this year.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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