Happy Friday, GPODers!
Yesterday, Laura Axel shared her mother’s gorgeous English garden that inspired her to take up gardening as an adult (Laura shares her mother’s mature English garden), and today we continue the inspirational garden theme with a post from Gail Scala in Ontario, Canada. Just as Laura was eager to share her mother’s vibrant landscapes, Gail was eager to show us Jacob Kelley’s unique plantings, which are legendary to those who have encountered his adventurous plantings in Danville. A far cry from the hardy plants typically found in Canadian gardens, Jacob’s landscape is full of cacti, succulents, and tropical plants.
Located on the north shore of Lake Erie in the charming town of Danville, Ontario, Zone 6b Gardens offers an astonishing variety of exotic plants for even the most discerning gardener. From cactus gardens and lush tropical plants to a magical sandy beach with walking trails, this stunning garden has it all.
Sixteen years in the making, owner Jacob Kelly searches far and wide for unique and exotic plants to add to his creative vision. At the height of the growing season, his garden is bursting with color, texture, and unexpected joy in every nook and cranny.
He is constantly testing the limits of the Zone 6b growing climate and has an impressive heated greenhouse to keep his softer, less hardy plants through the winter. He has three cacti and succulent gardens that are rebuilt each spring. In September, he begins the labor-intensive task of digging up and replanting his desert-loving plants, then moves them all into a greenhouse along with a wide variety of less hardy plants. A greenhouse provides a lush, tropical paradise retreat during the cold winter months.
You can also see more photos of Jacob’s Garden on the Garden Ontario Facebook page.
Incredibly, these curved beds in Jacob’s front yard may be some of his most traditional beds. Tropical cannas can be found scattered here and there, but coneflowers, hostas, and beautiful birches are among the classic garden plants enjoyed by northern gardeners.
But it doesn’t take long for things to get crazy. No, this is not a photo from Jacob’s trip to the Southwest United States. This is a long-lily cactus (Lobivia ancistrophora, zones 9-11) surrounded by a variety of cacti and succulents in his garden in Ontario.
Unlike other cold-climate gardeners who keep many or all of their tender plants in pots so they can be easily moved outside in the spring and brought back indoors before frost, Jacob chooses to transplant his tender plants in the ground each year. This is a bit more work for him, but the results in his garden speak for themselves.
Jacob’s decorations match the original feel of his desert gardens. Faux skulls look great on Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida, zones 10-11) and ‘Angelina’ sedum (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’, zones 5-9), and look even better as Halloween approaches.
This photo really highlights the amount of work that went into this garden. Some of these plants are hardy and stay in the ground year-round, but most of these do not tolerate zone 6b and will be moved to Jacob’s greenhouse.
Moving from the desert to the tropics, Jacob’s work doesn’t end with digging up cacti and succulents and potting them for the winter. He also has an impressive array of overwintering tropical plants, including these two wonderful elephant ears. ‘Redemption’ (Colocasia esculenta ‘Redemption’, zones 7-10) on the left and ‘Mojito’ (Colocasia esculenta ‘Mojito’, zones 7-10) on the right.
The advantage of tropical plants is that many grow in bulbs or corms and are a little easier to overwinter and store than Jacob’s collection of cacti and succulents. This also applies to the elephant ears above and this bright tiger flower (Tigridia pavonia, zones 8-10).
A final view of a tropical garden and an explosion of color, Jacob can achieve with just leaves. Although I could never manage the workload myself, I completely understood why he would invest his time in these wonderful plants.
Thank you so much, Gail, for sharing Jacob’s wonderful garden with us! We always appreciate people who take the trouble to share their gardens with us that they think deserve more attention. Jacob’s design is a great example of this.
If you know a gardener who is too shy to share their garden, but would like to send photos on your behalf, we’d love to see what they look like. Maybe your parents are too humble about their designs. Or maybe your neighbors are too busy to share photos. If you’re planning on visiting their garden this weekend, consider giving them a photo of your garden that day. If you have permission to take and share a photo, please follow the steps below to send your photo via email or DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
I want to see your garden!
Do you have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a collection of particular plants you love, or any amazing gardens you’ve had the chance to visit.
To submit, please send 5-10 photos to: (email protected) It also includes information about the plants in the photo and the location where the photo was taken. We’d love to hear about where you live, your gardening history, any successes you’re proud of, what you’ve learned from failures, your hopes for the future, your favorite plants, and any funny stories that happen in your garden.
Have a cell phone? Tag your photos with #FineGardening on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
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