Darts Hill Garden Park
1633 170th Street V3S 9X3 Surrey, BC, Canada

Cryptomeria japonica 'Cristata' (crested Japanese cedar) is a broadly conical tree-form of Japanese cedar that reliably grows bizarre, contorted fasciations on many branches and branchlets. Every tree is unique as the growth is completely random. This cultivar is of unknown origin, thought to have originated in Yokohama, Japan in the early 1900s. There are two of these trees growing in the garden with a note on the old inventory stating they were a gift in 1976 from EV Jack. The taller of the two pictured here is in Bed 8 with the second kitty corner across the Meet and Greet area in Bed 7s. Francisca Darts must have been fond of cryptomeria as Darts Hill boasts a good collection of this genus.

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Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’. Hamamelis intermedia hybrids are crosses between Japanese witch hazel (H. japonica) and Chinese witch hazel (H. mollis). There are a few different hamamelis in the garden but ‘Jelena’ is certainly a standout. In the closeup shot did you notice the tiny fly trying to blend in? Just barely breaking bud is the gorgeous Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ the darker colour and the sunny Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida’ Scarlet Black

Pinus sylvestris, commonly called Scots pine, is a fast-growing, conical to columnar, medium sized conifer with distinctive flaking orange/red-brown bark. It typically grows 30-60’ tall in cultivation, but may reach 100’ in the wild. It develops an open-rounded, irregular crown as it matures. It is a very widely distributed pine that is native to northern Europe and northern Asia, but has also naturalized in parts of the northeastern and north-central U.S. It is the only pine that is native to Great Britain. This tree was grown by Francisca Darts from seed collected in the wild in Spain and sold through the Alpine Garden Club - B.C. for 50 cents in 1980. Spanish populations, sometimes treated as var. nevadensis H. Christ or var. iberica Svoboda, are genetically distinct. Scarlet Black

Happy New Year from Darts Hill Garden. Looking forward to a bright and beautiful 2021 in the garden and all around the world! Scarlet Black

Very Christmassy scenes at Darts Hill Garden captured here by Scarlet Black who always takes advantage of the weather and/or light to best capture the beauty in the garden. The snowy background and highlights make these stately trees really stand out. Scarlet Black

Receive a 2 hour on site garden consultation to identify plants and advice on what to do about garden problems by Society volunteer Sharon Lawson. Sharon has extensive experience in many avenues of horticulture and has literally travelled the world to see gardens. Her display gardens in Burnaby were real traffic stoppers, so much that Steve Whysall noticed and wrote an article about them and her. She has probably the most extensive plant recognition skills of anyone you will meet and could probably tell you where to source almost any plant or garden related item that you might want. She has given many other volunteers at Darts Hill really great advice on improving their gardens. Worth every penny for her advice. Online now, this offering and many others are available for your bid at the Fall Fundraising Online Auction at www.dartshill.ca

Today we are highlighting a couple of the smaller pieces of functional art donated by members of the Fraser Valley Woodturners Guild. The first is a cute little honey pot with the lid and swizzle stick crafted from a Bigleaf maple, Acer maxrophyllum. The two decanter stoppers were turned from wood of the same tree that was downed in the garden a few years ago. Online now, these pieces and many others are available for your bid at the Fall Fundraising Online Auction at www.dartshill.ca Susan Murray

Golden tones glowing in the garden at Darts Hill include the fruit of Mespilus Germanica (Medlar), the needles of Larix kaempferi (Japanese larch) and the leaves of Corylopsis pauciflora (buttercup witch hazel). These gorgeous photos by Scarlet Black.

This auction item is a magnificent, extra-large wooden turned bowl that has been completed by Keith Ruttan using an exquisite fourteen layer finish. A beaded rim and a double black line of trim on the underside of the lip add significant detail to this stunning piece of functional art. Online now, this piece and many others are available for your bid at the Fall Fundraising Online Auction at www.dartshill.ca

Ferns of Darts Hill Garden showing off their beautiful detail and grace in these gorgeous photo studies Scarlet Black

Euonymus europaeus (European spindletree) and Euonymus hamiltoniana ssp. sieboldianus (Hamilton’s spindle tree) are two of the twelve different named varieties adding sparkle to the autumn garden at Darts Hill. Scarlet Black

If you have admired the skill of the photographer who has contributed most of the photographs to our IG and FB accounts and our website you might be interested in this Auction item. Personalized Photography Coaching to improve your photography skills with this one on one session with Darts Hill Garden Park photographer Scarlet Black. The Fall Fundraising Online Auction goes live today at dartshill.ca

The Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society, with the assistance of the City of Surrey Cultural Grants Program, published A Secret Garden The Story of Darts Hill Garden Park in 2019. The book traces the lives of Ed and Francisca Darts who transformed their rough, stump-covered acreage into an acclaimed garden containing rare and unusual shrubs and trees, many grown from seed. The online auction starts tomorrow, Nov. 15, and you can bid on this informative book at dartshill.ca

Cyclamen of many varieties provide delightful scattered carpets of colour in the garden in autumn. Ferns such as Asplenium scolopendrium ‘Angustifolia’ (narrow Hart’s Tongue Fern) and Athyrium niponicum var. pictum (Japanese Painted Fern) are two beautiful examples of the acres of ferns at Darts Hill. Scarlet Black

Looking through the chains of winged fruit of Acer henryi to the bench in Bed 50 and marvelling at the maturity of the garden. Second photo was taken around 1996/7 of Francisca Darts on the same bench just as the Bed was planted. Bed 50 was the last bed that Mrs. Darts planned and her gardener, Graham Laine, planted in her garden. Scarlet Black

Darts Hill Garden began as a fruit and nut orchard in the 1940’s with 200-300 Italian prune plums and a multitude of apples, apricots, pears, walnuts and filberts. These photos show scenes from the two remaining areas of the Apple orchard. An added bonus of a historical photo of Francisca Darts enjoying a book on a bench in the sunshine in front of her Apple trees. Scarlet Black Mrs Darts photo from their collection.

Rhododendrons aren’t only beautiful when in flower as illustrated with these photos of one small section of Bed 2. One of our senior guides likes to take her tours to this spot to show some of the many leaf types to be found in the rhododendron family. For all the leaf guys out there - enjoy. Scarlet Black

Athyrium niponicum 'Apple Court' with the common name Crested Japanese Painted Fern. This lovely fern was donated to Darts Hill by @cherry.ong. Cherry is a Lower Mainland gardener/plant artist whose beautifully photographed Instagram postings are filled with gorgeous containers, garden beds and fern fairways. Her donation is doing well in a newly established fern bed next to the only second growth Thuja plicata (western Red Cedar) remaining in the Historical Garden. The ferns are nestled up against a low stone wall built by Ed Darts. These stunning detailed photos of the fern fronds are part of a series of fern studies by #scarletblackphotography. More to come Scarlet Black

Clematis integrifolia, commonly known as solitary clematis or virgins bower, is not your typical clematis but a non-climbing, woody-based, herbaceous perennial native to Europe and Asia. The Genus name comes from the Greek word klematis which is an old name applied to climbing plants. Look for this beauty in Bed 44. Scarlet Black

Please join the musicians of the Indian Standard time Trio, performing in the Surrey Fusion Festival, for their digital performance filmed in Darts Hill Garden Park this past August. The music performance is this Friday September 18 from 7 to 8 pm. Here is the link. Enjoy! https://www.surrey.ca//naad-malhaar-water-music-concert-in

Rhododendron Elizabeth is a small-leaved, compact Rhodo whose flower size is smaller but is always produced in spectacular profusion in Spring. She is one of the best and most floriferous second bloomers in the fall, a cross of R. forrestii Repens Group x R. griersonanum. There are four R. Elizabeth’s in the garden, one each in Beds 5, 40, 41 and 42. Scarlet Black

Hesperantha coccinea unknown pink variety (flag lily) formerly Schizostylis coccinea. This lovely unnamed pink variety in the garden adds a Spring like colour to the Autumn show at Darts Hill Garden. A dozen years ago there were quite a few stands of different colours of Hesperantha in the Garden that the Collections Committee is working on restoring. Scarlet Black

Hesperantha coccinea 'Major' (crimson flag lily 'Major') formerly Schizostylis coccinea ‘Major’. This Gladiolus cousin is native to South Africa but certainly grows well at Darts Hill Garden and adds some gorgeous fall colour. There is also a lovely unnamed pink and a white variety in the garden with both Major and the pink available at our plant sales. Scarlet Black

Darts Hill Garden late summer scenes captured here by Scarlet. Always a beautiful garden. There is still time to visit, check Dartshill.ca for info.

Of all the creatures great and small spotted at Darts Hill these are are few of the more benevolent or least less damaging varieties. The garden is awash, over run, invaded by a fluffle or large colony of rabbits that eat way too many plants especially newly acquired unusual plants. Where are the coyotes when you really need them? Those along with the largest population of slugs I have ever seen do a terrible amount of damage in the garden. Scarlet Black