Great Fall Escapes - Western Canada

Visit these fantastic gardens on your next trip Here is a guide to the lovely gardens of a small sampling of inns, bed and breakfasts and restaurants that dot this country from coast-to-coast. We hope they'll inspire you to take an afternoon drive in September's mellow light, or arrange for a longer stay. So hit the road, and please let us know of any others in your neck of the woods that should be included on our next list. You can write to us or send an e-mail to mailbox@canadiangardening.com.Hastings House Country Estate(160 Upper Ganges Rd., Salt Spring Island, BC; V8K 2S2; 800/661-9255; http://www.hastingshouse.com/)Type of establishment: inn, restaurantThe garden: organic kitchen gardens, heritage fruit orchardsZone 8bGrowing conditions: warm and dry summers; wet winters, little snow; heavy clay soil and rockKey plants: herbs, edible flowers, mixed greens, daffodils, tulips, forget-me-nots, alliums, mums and kale; some beds edged with clipped boxwood. For lush display, about 80 five-gallon containers of annuals (five successive plantings) are placed in one bedGardening secrets: perennial beds are overplanted by about 30 per cent to suppress weeds. Soil is routinely analyzed in the heavily used kitchen garden. All beds are top-dressed annually with compost or manureBest time to visit: spring, when 4,000 bulbs are in bloom.Rouge Restaurant(1240 8th Ave. SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0M7; 403/531-2767; http://www.rougecalgary.com/)Type of establishment: restaurantThe garden: about one acre; four-metre-tall caragana hedge on one side. One-quarter of the land is used for food production; the rest has many flowering plantsZone 3Growing conditions: high-altitude prairie with near-drought conditions most years; late and early frost. Cool nights even in summer; daily temperature difference can be 30°CKey plants: apple, crabapple, pin cherry, conifer, maple, ornamental crabapple trees-some 100 years old-lilac bushes; gooseberries, raspberries and saskatoon berries are also grownGardening secrets: garden has had a century of care and some original plants survive; plants thrive on homemade compost, sunlight and waterBest time to visit: August More Western gardens you can visit Sooke Harbour House(1528 Whiffen Spit Rd., Sooke, BC V0S 1N0; 800/889-9668; http://www.sookeharbourhouse.com/)Type of establishment: hotel, restaurant, spaThe garden: herbs, edible flowers and vegetables are grown for the restaurantZone 8bGrowing conditions: cool, dry summers; wet winters (140 cm of rain per year). Breezy waterfront location with mostly sunny, southeastern exposure; heavy clay soilKey plants: dozens of salad ingredients, including more than 100 culinary herbs and 125 edible flowers, such as salvias, pot marigolds, nasturtiums, pinks, daylilies, roses, violas and tuberous begonias. An area for growing lemons and olives is in the worksGardening secrets: edible plants are grown organically; soil is amended with compost and seaweedBest time to visit: summer is the most colourful, but the garden is enjoyable year-roundThe Ranche Restaurant900–600 6th Ave. SW, Calgary, AB T2P 0S5; 403/225-3939; http://www.theranche.com/)Type of establishment: restaurantThe garden 2.5 acres with types of native plants and grasses from late 1800s; quiet pathways with pine benches, a period gazebo and historic gas lamppostsZone 3aGrowing conditions: very dry, long, cold winters; short, hot summers; warm chinook winds in winterKey plants: trembling aspen, white spruce, saskatoon and chokecherry bushes, native roses and shrubs, snowberries, junipers, wildflowers, bunch wheat, needle grassGardening secrets: regular irrigation; indigenous plant varieties are grown to discourage feasting by deer, rabbits and gophersBest time to visit: late June through early AugustIl Giardino Restaurant(1382 Hornby St., Vancouver, BC V6Z 1W5; 604/669-2422; http://www.umberto.com/)Type of establishment: restaurantThe garden: walled, Tuscan-style courtyardZone 8Growing conditions: large, enclosed courtyard with planters in full sun, hanging baskets under the roof and small, narrow beds; soil tends to be dryKey plants: ivy covers shady walls, Virginia creeper cloaks sunny walls. In summer, annuals such as begonias, coleus and impatiens are grown in terra-cotta pots, set off by a scattering of Italian statuaryGardening secrets: constant fertilizing for the ivy and diligent maintenance for the restBest time to visit: summer