The front of the Van Buskirks’s house.
Beautiful Gardens
Colin and Leona Van Buskirk Edmonton
Story by Dorothy Dobbie, photos by Dorothy and Shauna Dobbie
T
he first thing we notice upon driving up to the home of Colin and Leona Van Buskirk was a sense of déjà vu. Had we been here before? The second thing is a wave of beautiful sun-tolerant lobelia spilling over the edges of three attractive planters. This display sets the stage for what is to come: a journey 26 • 2022
through meticulous planning and planting outside this Edmonton home. The yard is a vision of well-balanced grooming: shrubs are neatly pruned and shaped, the curved beds are carefully planned, with low plants at the front, harmonious colour schemes, and careful attention to texture and form. These virtues are all lacking in my own tumultuous garden, so I gaze with wonder and admiration. It is late June in Alberta and peonies are in their full glory. Everything is lush and brilliantly green, except the blue spruce, which are decidedly blue, contrasting with the bright yellow-green of a northern lawn well fed with summer sunlight. A blue nesting spruce is edged with pink geraniums, set off by deeper blue lobelia and clumps of white. Leona has an eye for balance. Well planned annuals baskets are set among the perennials at heights that please the eye. Yellow and magenta, deep blue and white seem to be made for each other. This is clearly the work of a skillful gardener and Leona confesses that indeed she is a scrupulous gardening planner. She escorts us to her front door to show us a portfolio of her carefully kept records and planting maps, every detail recorded over yards of plantings. Plant names are precise: Hosta ‘Blue Elegans’ (note: blue-green leaves and white flowers) is placed in front Issue 2
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