Bloom Day North in July

This month's entries for Bloom Day North have been delayed because of summer activities that took your blogger our of province. Meanwhile, Sandy Dumaresq has sent along a few photos taken in her own garden on July 15. The flowering dogwood below is one of many shrubs that Sandy has been cosseting for several years.


Jack-in-the-pulpit (a member of the Arisaema family) is a favourite for a woodland setting.

Sandy identified the plant in the photo below as a Telekia Speciosa, a perennial with large daisy-like yellow flowers and heart-shaped leaves at its base.

And now, a brief look at the gardens at Les Quatres Vents, near La Malbaie, in Charlevois County, Quebec. It was a visit to these spectacular gardens that took your blogger away for a short holiday and precluded the posting of photos of local blooms on the actual Bloom Day this month.

The extensive gardens were started in the 1930s and have been developed further over the years. Those located near the main house are arranged in a series of "rooms" that feature a wide variety of perennials and lovely allées formed by meticulously trimmed cedar hedges. Woodland garden paths, water features, and surprise architectural elements add to the charm of the property, which covers acres and acres of field and woodland.

The burgundy poppy above was one of many flowering plants growing in a "cutting garden" that shared space with a large vegetable garden. The photo below shows a path through one of the lush perennial gardens with its towering blue delphiniums.

Sheep and cattle graze in the surrounding fields, and the gardens near the house incorporate that landscape, as part of the overall plan, through vistas designed to bring the fields and distant mountains into view.