"The
Willow
Garden"
is located outside
Antigonish, Nova Scotia,
and is
the home of Sharon Bryson and the late Bill Wilgenhof. It is located on several acres of semi-woodland
with an
eclectic blend of bulbs, shrubs and herbaceous perennials. We are in
hardiness zone 5b.
Bill
had
been growing Rhododendrons and Azaleas from seed for over twenty years. His aim was to produce more beautiful and hardier plants
for our
region. There are over 5000 seedlings ranging in age from a few years
to over 25 years. Some of the fruits of this "labour of love" are included in
the Rhododendron growing
section.
A great many plants in our garden have been grown from seed. That
"seedy" interest has led to seed collecting each
year. We
have also been involved in the ARHS
Seed
Exchange for a number of years, and have included an online
version
of that exchange.
The
garden changes as the seasons unfold, as do the activities of 'The
Gardeners'. We have tried to present the garden from a seasonal
view. We welcome visitors from everywhere. If you are interested
in a
visit, simply contact
us. We often recommend that people visit several times
during
the growing
season; nothing is ever the same!
We
look
upon the development of our website as an additional way to share
our love and knowledge of gardening. Along the way, we will try to
introduce
you to our plants, our gardening friends and various sources of
inspiration. Many of the items are getting to be somewhat "historic", but occasional updates will happen along the way.
"The Willow Garden" has lost its namesake.
(Willow Garden in Dutch is Wilgenhof )
Bill passed away October 3, 2019
Here is an excerpt from the Nov 2019 ARHS Newsletter with some remembrances of Bill written by three ARHS members
