Oh, how wonderful! What a nice day you must have had! They must have irrigation if it has been as dry there as down here. Everything of mine is fried. Thanks for sharing Woody.

On the other side of the water there was a sweep of Persicaria that brought Rouge to mind

So nice 'woody' that I am in your thoughts :).

Actually I dont have "Firetail" but even so I am surprised this mass planting looks so healthy in full sun. One of the ones I rave about "Golden Arrow" would melt in such an aspect. Maybe it is more sun/heat tolerant like say...polymorpha? Or maybe that area is included in the irrigation?

Thanks for the pics. I keep meaning to visit RBG.

All the newly planted areas seem to be in the irrigation system - I noticed the black sprinkler heads in most areas. So that probably helped a huge amount this summer!

Why are they calling it a rock garden - the plants are not alpines, there is no evidence of any sort of rockery plantings, even woodland types. Sticking a few boulders around does not, by any stretch of the imagination, constitute a rock garden. No disrespect to you Woody, but this is just a bunch of perennials...and quite uninspring ones at that.

Clearly, people can call their gardens whatever they want...and there seems a vast difference between European alpine and rockery gardens and the US and Canadian interpretation. Glad you had a good day out though.

Campanula - I think we had this discussion on the threads I posted earlier this year.... No, it's not an alpine rock garden. It is a garden made (originally in the 1930s) in an abandoned quarry on the Niagara Escarpment. I think I posted a link to images of the Niagara Escarpment on one of the previous rock garden threads. If you look at those images you will better understand that this is a garden made in a very rocky environment where the plants are naturally large, not little dwarf alpines!

Camp. check out this link and this one to better understand the context of the RBG rock garden....

I have to agree with Camps, I had the exact same thought looking at the photos. Not that its not a nice garden, its just not my idea of a rock garden. If I was a tourist & rock garden enthusiast planning a visit to the RBG rock garden on my itinerary I'd be mighty disappointed-- I'd be saying well heck, these are just regular run of the mill plants. We can't do alpines in the central US or low altitude SW region so I typically think of cactus, succulents and small scale xeric plants (unusual ones at that) and of course lots of big rocks and gravel. The link explained it but the name would be misleading to visitors.

But presumably one of the reasons you visit a botanical garden is to learn something.... One lesson here is that 'rock garden' means different things in different geographical contexts!

I agree botanical gardens are places to learn and get ideas but I disagree about the geographical part. The title Rock Garden suggests something specific, the plants will obviously differ from one geographical region to the next but you would still expect a certain natural look achieved with plant spacing, choices of plants and dominant rock features even if those plants and types of rocks vary from one region to the next. You would not expect to see organized drifts of typical perennials, neat formalized rows of hostas or Miscanthus grasses, its the formal layout that makes the title rock garden misleading. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying its not a nice garden, it is very nice but I did have a "are you kidding me---thats a rock garden????"

We seem to be talking at cross purposes. A rock garden doesn't require alpine or desert plants to be a rock garden. It seems you assume I am talking about types plants necessary for it to be called a Rock Garden but I am emphasizing the lack of naturalism and hardscape which are the hallmarks of any rock garden. The formal layout makes it a typical general Botanical Garden located in a rocky setting from what the photos show. sounds like a good use of an area. It was merely a reaction to the name Rock Garden which you explained by the link.

Again, its a nice garden and lovely.

The hardscape is there in large part to make the garden accessible given its location as the bottom of a deep pit. You would perhaps have preferred the 'original' rock garden where the bottom could only be reached by walking down a multitude of stone staircases. It had been more than 20 years since I had visited the 'old' rock garden because I could no longer walk those stairs. It was also difficult-to-impossible for young families with toddlers or babies in strollers. Making the garden accessible, as well as updating/replacing deteriorating water and other systems, were important reasons for the multi-million $ renovation of the rock garden. I, for one, am happy they traded off some naturalism for accessibility! Much of the original stone stairs remain. This version widens the reach of the garden by making it usable for everybody.

Oh, there is a loooong established horticultural tradition of rock gardens, scree beds, gravel gardens...and my northern hilly birthplace was the epicentre - limestone pavements, marble caverns, granite and millstone grit...so it is hugely resonant for me and evocative and I guess I just wasn't seeing it at all. Put it down to a matter of interpretation Woody...although I would have been very deeply disappointed to have made a trip to see it without any of the research and back story.

In truth, the whole rockery thing has been dying off even in Europe - our local botanic garden, once world famous, has more or less given up on maintaining the huge limestone and sandstone landscape features...and it now only appears in little specialist areas (Scotland and the north of England). I have predicted a resurgence in alpines for years since they transpose very well indeed to small gardens, troughs and containers...while the woodland types which often originate in the Himalayas, still play a huge part in UK horticultural traditions. It comes down to a lot of things, Woody - not least our colonial past in India, Kashmir, Nepal...and that European tradition of 'the Grand Tour'.

Sounds good. I'll work on broadening my mind.

I'd love to take you on a walk through an alpines area TR :) Too bad we don't live anywhere near that environment!

You can put just about anything down to interpretation but meanings would become so hazy that no one would know what anyone else was talking about. We live in a country of rampant relativism using phrases like "to each his own" or "thats fine for you but I believe this" on any given subject which makes any discussion break down into nonsense. I guess Canada is no different. I suppose if I wanted to call a garden in my back yard a cloister garden since it was closed in by a chain link fence I could do so according to my own personal interpretation but it would be considered ridiculous to most gardeners. Personally I think its important that words retain universally understood meanings but that seems to be a lost cause nowadays. We can now call things whatever we like or prefer, never mind if none of it is accurate because who is to say we are wrong? Its just our interpretation after all.

I'd be ticked off if I'd spent the money to make the drive to see a 'Rock Garden" if I hadn't read before hand it wasn't one at all.

Camps, you guys over there seem to go through national garden phases. I suppose we do here too but I don't notice it so much but of course down here in Oklahoma its not like we are on any kind of cutting edge.

Thats true barron. The poor things would fry like eggs out here or drown in a flood. We'll just have to be content with pictures.

Love and let live.

Woody I'd love to have been able to take that stroll through the garden with you, so much to see and take in, thank you for posting these pictures. There's a lovely alpine garden at the UBC botanical garden, I don't have any pictures of my own but found this on YouTube if anyone cares to take a look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7vreTz1Lvc  I've been there several times and it never fails to impress me.

Annette