The past week has been a full one! Mom came home for the week, Connor attended a day camp in Stratford, Ontario for four out of five days, Mom and I painted the front porch, and the three of us planted more grass seed.
Connor’s day camp was actually only two hours each morning. It’s a 40 minute drive to Stratford, so while Connor was enjoying his time at ‘camp’, Mom and I would stick around for some adventures of our own. Keep reading for the details of our adventures and to see photos of a few of Stratford’s amazing gardens.
Most well-known for its Shakespearean Festival and other live theatre venues, Stratford is also a city of beautiful architecture and stunning gardens. Although official tours are offered, Mom and I chose to take small impromptu and unofficial tours, both on and off the beaten paths.
Garden Tour Pictures
We began at the Festival Gardens:
Paths lead visitors through the gardens. Benches offer spots to sit, relax and take it all in.
See something you like, but don’t know what it is? No worries, the plants are labeled.
I love how the garden is not completely confined and manages to spill out over the curb.
The Festival Gardens and the many public gardens throughout Stratford are absolutely wonderful, but we couldn’t help being drawn to the gardens created by homeowners. These gardens are as individual and unique as the houses themselves.
This clapboard cottage overlooks the river. The lilies were in full bloom!
A few streets back from the river, we found this elegant older home covered in ivy with gorgeous Boston ferns hanging between the pillars of the front porch.
A little farther down on the same street - a more formal home with a little more color in the front garden.
A classic two-story red brick house with a not-so-classic front garden. Stone is my favorite natural element in a garden. Ornamental grass is an unusual and unexpected choice for such a traditional home, but I loved it too.
The garden at this home seemed to go on forever. It’s a large corner lot with lots of frontage. The garden starts at the front and its curved edges continue all the way around the corner to the other side.
We stumbled onto these more secret gardens by turning down a lane that runs between a row of houses and the river.
Back on a more well-traveled street and we came across this lovely home and garden. A closed gate just makes me curious to know what’s growing behind it!
Between dropping off and picking up Connor, and viewing and taking pictures of various homes and gardens, Mom and I also found time to venture down to the river and relax on a bench. There was plenty of activity all around - people walking or jogging, kids biking, ducks and swans sleeping, swimming, preening or eating. On one trip to the riverside park we came across these fuzzy new members of a swan family.
This duck was a little too busy to acknowledge our presence.
Mom and I thoroughly enjoyed our informal tours and I’m happy to report that my little nature lover had fun on a ’safari’ walking tour with his fellow day campers and a great camp week overall.
If you are ever in the Stratford, Ontario area I encourage you to participate in local tours and activities. Or set out on your own unofficial tours like my mom and I did. There is much beauty to be experienced!
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