Edwards Gardens & Toronto Botanical Gardens

These are really two separate gardens, right next to each other. First, there’s the relatively new Toronto Botanical Gardens, beautifully designed and worth exploring. Then there’s Edwards Gardens with its deep valley, huge weeping willows, and annual and perennial plantings everywhere. Halfway down a slope there’s the fountain I remember from when I was a kid (it had goldfish back then), and down in the valley there’s Wilket Creek with two pretty bridges crossing it. On top across the valley is parkland with rose gardens, more perennial beds and a teaching garden. If you’re up for more exercise, you can follow the path near the creek all the way down to Sunnybrook Park and back. Not far from the entrance there’s a little café and patio, with washrooms at the other end of the building. But they’re not open all year round, so don’t count on them.