PUBLIC ARBORETUMS
Our part of Canada enjoys five fine public arboretums, havens for mankind as well as plants, birds and animals.
Hamilton's Royal Botanic Gardens (zone 6 banana belt) contains the best Carolinian collection - Magnolias, Sycamore, Sassafras, Tulip Tree and a splendid mall of Scarlet Oak.
Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto pleases both the living and the dead with hundreds of acres of exotic and native species, including a sheltered vale of Japanese Maples and the original Red Oaks.
The arboretum at Ottawa's Experimental Farm surprises us with Greek Fir, Armandi Pine (W. China) and a hefty Plane Tree from Trafalgar Square. Swell Larches too.
Assembled over the last century, the arboretum of the University of Guelph forms a thorough and important collection somewhat invalidated by that perpetual problem, a lack of indentification labels.
The Jardin Botanique in Montreal offers just about anything that grows on the northern edge of the temperate zone, plus wonderful greenhouses, rose ensembles and an Asian water garden.
Find peace and inspiration with a visit to any of these jewels... well, at least, you will find inspiration. The peace in these parks being so often destroyed now by the screaming back-up beepers on earth-moving equipment. Invariably, these over-sized machines are working in isolation on a job a man with a wheelbarrow could do better. Then factor in leaf-blowers & your chances of finding peace are pretty slim.