Garden Photo of the Day

Where’s Cherry? The Gardens on Anderton

A public garden maintained entirely by volunteers

We’re out on the road again with friend of the GPOD Cherry Ong, who has sent in photos of another of the many beautiful gardens she’s had the chance to visit this year.

Today I’m sharing some photos of this charming garden we serendipitously found on our road trip on Vancouver Island this August. The Gardens on Anderton is a community garden in Comox, British Columbia, run purely by volunteers. As you can see, the dahlia garden is wonderful! Admission is by donation, so if you visit, please donate generously.

dahlia gardenWow! Look at those huge plantings of incredible dahlias (Dahlia variabilis, Zones 8–11 or as an annual). Dahlias bloom most of the summer but always peak as summer turns into fall.

tall Verbena bonariensisBut it isn’t just dahlias—beautiful layers of plants fill the garden here, with tall Verbena bonariensis (Zones 7–10 or as an annual) in the foreground.

lavender planter A simply elegant planting of a single lavender plant (Lavandula sp., Zones 5–9) in a container

lush planting of shrubs and perennialsThis beautiful little water garden is wrapped in a lush planting of shrubs and perennials.

A bench to sit and soak up the garden beautyIt’s hard to believe that this incredible space is run entirely by volunteers. What a labor of love!

flower boxes hanging from the windowI love the pops of blue color from the window boxes and window frames.

Dahlias come in a dazzlingly wide range of colorsBack to the dahlias. Dahlias come in a dazzlingly wide range of colors and forms and heights. I love how this planting starts in warm salmon tones at the left and then transforms into shades of pink to the right.

dahlia with just a single layer of white petalsA simple dahlia with just a single layer of white petals

warm salmon petalsThis dahlia has a totally different, but equally beautiful, look with its layers and layers of narrow salmon petals.

beautiful gardenOne last look at this beautiful garden. Thanks for taking us to visit, Cherry!

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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Comments

  1. garden1953 10/08/2021

    Beautiful garden. What a great find! Thanks for sharing.

    1. perenniallycrazy 10/08/2021

      You’re welcome. Hope you’ll get a chance to visit one day.

  2. User avater
    treasuresmom 10/08/2021

    Thank you, Cherry, for sharing this wonderful garden.

    1. perenniallycrazy 10/08/2021

      You're welcome!

  3. User avater
    simplesue 10/08/2021

    That gorgeous garden must take a ton of volunteer gardeners!
    How nice that this garden has brought together so many who love gardening in a collaborative effort- and very successfully!

    1. perenniallycrazy 10/08/2021

      I think their community is very lucky to have both the garden and all the volunteers especially during this time of COVID. Hope they always receive support including monetary from its visitors, donors and the community.

  4. Maggieat11 10/08/2021

    Thank you, Cherry, for calling attention to this beautiful volunteer run garden!

  5. sheila_schultz 10/08/2021

    What a great find, Cherry. Lots of work and fun with fellow community gardeners.

    1. perenniallycrazy 10/08/2021

      Interesting tidbit…There is a nursery right in the front and it is for sale along with the residence too.

      1. sheila_schultz 10/08/2021

        What an interesting opportunity!

  6. btucker9675 10/08/2021

    What a magnificent garden these wonderful volunteers have created! It's as nice as any "professional" public garden I've seen and they are to be greatly commended. Hope they get lots of visitors and donations!

    1. perenniallycrazy 10/30/2021

      Please spread the word. I chanced upon their garden serendipitously after driving off the ferry. So thankful I did.

  7. [email protected] 10/08/2021

    Thanks for sharing this great little garden. Maybe , after covid, when we can get back to Vancouver Island, we can search it out!

    1. perenniallycrazy 10/30/2021

      I hope you can!

  8. markrey214 10/13/2021

    handymanchico.com/

    I love your little garden ideas. Thank you for sharing.

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