REFORD GARDENS | GIANT HIMALAYAN LILY | CARDIOCRINUM GIGANTEUM | LIS GEANT | REFORD GARDENS | LES JARDINS DE METIS | METIS | GASPESIE | QUEBEC

REFORD GARDENS | LES JARDINS DE METIS

Visit: www.refordgardens.com

GIANT HIMALAYAN LILY: up to 3.5 meters tall, flowers blossom about once every 7 years.

From Wikipedia:

Cardiocrinum giganteum, the giant Himalayan lily, is the largest species of any of the lily plants, growing up to 3.5 metres high. It is found in the Himalayas, China and Myanmar (Burma).

Two varieties are recognized.
C. giganteum var. giganteum - up to 3 metres tall, the outer part of the flower greenish and the inside streaked with purple - Tibet, Bhutan, Assam, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim
C. giganteum var. yunnanense - 1–2 metres tall, the outer part of the flower white and the inside streaked with purplish red - Myanmar, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan

The plant was first described scientifically in 1824 by Nathaniel Wallich. The species was introduced into commercial production (as Lilium giganteum) in Britain in the 1850s. A bulb grown from seed collected by Major Madden flowered in Edinburgh in July 1852, while those collected by Thomas Lobb were first exhibited in flower in May 1853.

See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiocrinum_giganteum

Visit : www.refordgardens.com/

From Wikipedia:

Elsie Stephen Meighen - born January 22, 1872, Perth, Ontario - and Robert Wilson Reford - born in 1867, Montreal - got married on June 12, 1894.

Elsie Reford was a pioneer of Canadian horticulture, creating one of the largest private gardens in Canada on her estate, Estevan Lodge in eastern Québec. Located in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, her gardens have been open to the public since 1962 and operate under the name Les Jardins de Métis and Reford Gardens.

Born January 22, 1872 at Perth, Ontario, Elsie Reford was the eldest of three children born to Robert Meighen and Elsie Stephen. Coming from modest backgrounds themselves, Elsie’s parents ensured that their children received a good education. After being educated in Montreal, she was sent to finishing school in Dresden and Paris, returning to Montreal fluent in both German and French, and ready to take her place in society.

She married Robert Wilson Reford on June 12, 1894. She gave birth to two sons, Bruce in 1895 and Eric in 1900. Robert and Elsie Reford were, by many accounts, an ideal couple. In 1902, they built a house on Drummond Street in Montreal. They both loved the outdoors and they spend several weeks a year in a log cabin they built at Lac Caribou, south of Rimouski. In the autumn they hunted for caribou, deer, and ducks. They returned in winter to ski and snowshoe. Elsie Reford also liked to ride. She had learned as a girl and spent many hours riding on the slopes of Mount Royal. And of course, there was salmon-fishing – a sport at which she excelled.

In her day, she was known for her civic, social, and political activism. She was engaged in philanthropic activities, particularly for the Montreal Maternity Hospital and she was also the moving force behind the creation of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal, the first women club in Canada. She believed it important that the women become involved in debates over the great issues of the day, « something beyond the local gossip of the hour ». Her acquaintance with Lord Grey, the Governor-General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, led to her involvement in organizing, in 1908, Québec City’s tercentennial celebrations. The event was one of many to which she devoted herself in building bridges with French-Canadian community.

During the First World War, she joined her two sons in England and did volunteer work at the War Office, translating documents from German into English. After the war, she was active in the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies, and the National Association of Conservative Women.

In 1925 at the age of 53 years, Elsie Reford was operated for appendicitis and during her convalescence, her doctor counselled against fishing, fearing that she did not have the strength to return to the river.”Why not take up gardening?” he said, thinking this a more suitable pastime for a convalescent woman of a certain age. That is why she began laying out the gardens and supervising their construction. The gardens would take ten years to build, and would extend over more than twenty acres.

Elsie Reford had to overcome many difficulties in bringing her garden to life. First among them were the allergies that sometimes left her bedridden for days on end. The second obstacle was the property itself. Estevan was first and foremost a fishing lodge. The site was chosen because of its proximity to a salmon river and its dramatic views – not for the quality of the soil.

To counter-act nature’s deficiencies, she created soil for each of the plants she had selected, bringing peat and sand from nearby farms. This exchange was fortuitous to the local farmers, suffering through the Great Depression. Then, as now, the gardens provided much-needed work to an area with high unemployment. Elsie Reford’s genius as a gardener was born of the knowledge she developed of the needs of plants. Over the course of her long life, she became an expert plantsman. By the end of her life, Elsie Reford was able to counsel other gardeners, writing in the journals of the Royal Horticultural Society and the North American Lily Society. Elsie Reford was not a landscape architect and had no training of any kind as a garden designer. While she collected and appreciated art, she claimed no talents as an artist.

Elsie Stephen Reford died at her Drummond Street home on November 8, 1967 in her ninety-sixth year.

In 1995, the Reford Gardens ("Jardins de Métis") in Grand-Métis were designated a National Historic Site of Canada, as being an excellent Canadian example of the English-inspired garden.(Wikipedia)

Visit : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Reford

LES JARDINS DE MÉTIS

Créés par Elsie Reford de 1926 à 1958, ces jardins témoignent de façon remarquable de l’art paysager à l’anglaise. Disposés dans un cadre naturel, un ensemble de jardins exhibent fleurs vivaces, arbres et arbustes. Le jardin des pommetiers, les rocailles et l’Allée royale évoquent l’œuvre de cette dame passionnée d’horticulture. Agrémenté d’un ruisseau et de sentiers sinueux, ce site jouit d’un microclimat favorable à la croissance d’espèces uniques au Canada. Les pavots bleus et les lis, privilégiés par Mme Reford, y fleurissent toujours et contribuent , avec d’autres plantes exotiques et indigènes, à l’harmonie de ces lieux.

Created by Elsie Reford between 1926 and 1958, these gardens are an inspired example of the English art of the garden. Woven into a natural setting, a series of gardens display perennials, trees and shrubs. A crab-apple orchard, a rock garden, and the Long Walk are also the legacy of this dedicated horticulturist. A microclimate favours the growth of species found nowhere else in Canada, while the stream and winding paths add to the charm. Elsie Reford’s beloved blue poppies and lilies still bloom and contribute, with other exotic and indigenous plants, to the harmony of the site.

Commission des lieux et monuments historiques du Canada
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
Gouvernement du Canada – Government of Canada

© Copyright
This photo and all those in my Photostream are protected by copyright. No one may reproduce, copy, transmit or manipulate them without my written permission.

Taken in: Canada / Québec / Grand-Métis (show map)

Taken on: July 28, 2017

Tags:

REFORD

GARDENS

| more »

HIMALAYAN

GIANT

LILY

CARDIOCRINUM

LIS

GEANT

LES

JARDINS

METIS

GASPESIE

QUEBEC

CANADA

CANON7DMARKII

CANON

7DMARKII

MARKII

MARK

CanonEOSRebelT2i

CanonEOS7D

Canon7D

EOS7D

CanonEOS

EOS

Rebel

T2i

ph:camera=Canon

GIGANTEUM

Flowers

🌺

flower

Superb

Flickr « less

Groups appears in: • FLOWERS • Canon DSLR User Group more » • canon photography • The Unofficial JPG Magazine Group • Canon Current & past models (ie new 5D MKIII and old 300D) • visit the world - the travel guide • 1-2-3 • Travel Photography • Flickritis: over 87,000 waiting for a vaccine. • National Geographic Wannabes • FlickrToday (only 1 pic per day) • Photomatix • The World Through My Eyes ... • *amazing nature* • PEOPLE WHO JUST LIKE TO TAKE PHOTOS • Beautiful Capture • One Of A Kind • *Best of Flickr* (Comment 1 / invite 2) PHOTOS ONLY • PhotoPlus Magazine • Canon Users - Open group • VISUAL PLEASURE • This Week in Photo • Official National Geographic Group • Days out and about • National Geographic | World Wide • Absolutely Perrrfect:SWEEPER!! • The Daily Post • National Geographic Group • "SPARTACUS" Eyes without chains • NATURE RULES!!! • Canon 7D - All Models • Image Gallery... B&W and Colour !!! [No AI or SL] • Planet 7 - Canon EOS "7 series" cameras (max. 3 photos/week) • Sara's Garden ~ CLOSED • Fine Gold • Best Shot of the Day (1 post - 3 awards to give) • Flickr OBSESSION' • Flower Flower Flower • EOS Adventure • Flickr Photographer • flickr every day! • The Passion of Photography • A Personal Viewpoint • Today's Flickr • Colours of Flickr • Specialistz™ « less

Stats: 35,543 views / 14 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: