Beautiful Gardens: Olivia Warrington, Winnipeg

Culver’s root in the front garden and an ornate fountain, backed by the Mediterranean yellow walls of the house.

Olivia and Pam.

Story and photos by Dorothy Dobbie

Charleswood, a beautiful suburb in Winnipeg, is home to some of the most adventurous gardeners in Canada. The yards are large, some as much as two acres, and they are often backed by wilderness, adding a touch of the English ideal to the gardeners’ efforts. The gardeners dream big and they dream beautiful.

Such is the case with Olivia Warrington, who has imagined a space of many moods and temperaments in and around and under the giant ash trees that are now threatened by the dreaded emerald ash borer. She has to contend with dogs and deer and all the wild critters that inhabit such spaces, animating them with life and beauty. To deal with each of these challenges, she has built fenced-off rooms and hired a gardener to keep up with the endless weeding and watering and the ongoing ideas for new spaces dreamed of in Olivia’s overwintering mind.

The mood here is one of discovery and wonder. Gardener Pam, who joined Olivia as her garden helper three years ago, has fallen heavily in love with the job. “I came for the interview thinking, ‘Who wants to water and weed? It’s boring.’ But now this is my second home and I can’t wait to come to work each day.”

Big metal bird.

Looking back at the house from the beginning of the garden.

Coleus bring heat to the shade.

For her part, Olivia has been a lifelong gardener, much of that time spent in more moderate climes, although she was born here. She learned to garden in sub-tropical Palm Beach County, where she was a library manager for 13 years. Following that, she spent a further 10 years in coastal Seattle. Returning to Winnipeg in 2002, she has worked as administrative assistant with her allergist husband’s medical corporation and as editorial assistant to him in his capacity as the editor-in-chief of a medical journal. In her meagre spare time, Olivia has spent the past 17 years carving out this lovely garden, revelling in what she calls “the intensity of northern gardening”. It was slow going, but bringing Pam on has accelerated the pace and growth of her plan.

When you arrive at the Warrington home, you don’t need to see the house number to know that this is the place. The house has been modified to appear Mediterranean, painted bright yellow with cast iron features set off by stone and clay. An ornamental fountain takes center stage in the front yard, adding to the illusion of a warmer place.

No bathing here, birdies! This bird bath is taken over by petunias.

Trees and shrubs with stone edging.

Olivia has spent the past 17 years carving out this lovely garden, revelling in what she calls “the intensity of northern gardening”.

A corner border basking in the sun.

A graceful crane preens among the flower beds.

Notice the interesting curvature of the wrought iron bench.

Yellow glads to gladden the heart.

Yellow lilies poke out from below the rodgersia.

Hello, heliopsis!

The character of the garden really begins to take shape once you enter the side garden, walk past an unused potting bench, and over the gravel pathway to reveal an avenue of potted tropicals and coleus.

A long, raised bed filled with exotics and shade lovers is edged by benched seating that invites visitors and conjures up ideas of fun evening garden parties under the spreading shade of an old ash tree. In the distance, the second gate beckons the visitor to leave the gravel path and emerge into the sunny green space beyond.

The garden is divided into three more distinct spaces.

This first area is a meadow, punctuated by flower beds. There are seated viewing spaces and little destinations. Another protected space contains young trees planted to replace their older and wilder cousins that are under threat, not only from bugs, but from water. Since the garden was started, neighbouring yards have been built up, meaning that the Warrington land is the recipient of all the drainage in springtime and flooding occurs frequently.

The third area is more shaded, home to hydrangea and other plants that prefer some protection from the direct glare of the sun.

The lacy cap of a hydrangea overlooks the grass path that separates two of the distinct gardens.

Chaise lounge and pots of zinnias.

Sun and shade play together everywhere in this garden of many moods. Some areas are very bright and cheerful, the scene of brilliant colours provided by both perennials and annuals. Other areas are more muted, many local varieties growing in the cooler spaces. As we wander through, we encounter a lovely little hummingbird moth flitting among the monarda.

Olivia has planned the garden so that it blooms throughout the season. There are beds that burst with springtime excitement provided by a variety of bulbs. There are blooming vines such as clematis, Englemann’s ivy and wild grape that are allowed to seek out fences for climbing.

She loves native plants, especially the big ones. Tall heliopsis crowd a corner offering their weeks of sunny yellow. Culver’s root, irresistible to bees and butterflies, flings its spikes of white six feet into the sunny air. Filipendula hovers over martagon lilies.

Old fashioned plants such as hollyhocks and delphinium stand tall. Golden gladiola blaze in the sun near speckle-throated Canterbury bells. Faithful phlox and dutiful daylily do their part in keeping the August garden warm with colour.

There are few plants that don’t grow here. An immature fleece flower pokes its head up beside the wooden fence it will soon tower over. There are ferns and sedum and moss and veronica—Olivia has never met a plant she can resist.