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Keppel Croft Gardens
About Keppel Croft
Come and explore Keppel Croft Gardens at Big Bay, on the beautiful Bruce Peninsula.
We have four acres of gardens, a nature trail, an arboretum, and Keppel Henge.
Enjoy your picnic at one of our numerous picnic spots.
Days and Hours
Wednesday through Sunday, and Holiday Mondays : 10 am - 5 pm
May 16th - October 12th, 2026
Contact us for after hours visiting and photography sessions. The light is so beautiful outside of visiting hours!
Entrance $5 per person. Children free.
Dogs on a lead are welcome.
Contact
Bill and Dawn Loney
Georgian Bluffs, Ontario
N0H 2T0
519·534·1090
Website renovations made with support from Jennie Hoekstra.
Our Garden Journal
Occasional entries about our gardening endeavours at Keppel Croft.
It is beginning to feel autumnish so it is time for updates beginning with a new series of Fall entries and some catch up photos of the summer that was.
August 27
September 15
Preparing for winter
It's a rainy dreary day, just perfect for cleaning up the Green Room for tender plants that will spend winter here. I took everything out of the Green Room, covered the permanent plantings with old sheets, and washed all the windows, walls and ceiling with vinegar. I have found this a very effective black mould deterent.
Here's the Green Room in November, 2025. We have pots of orchids and clivias waiting to be brought inside. Our Wollemi Pine, various palms and ferns also come in for winter. A palm growing from a seed picked up from Whangamata's main street is getting to be a decent size now! Begonias fit around the bigger plants. as do pots of plectranthus, members of the mint/sage family that grow very easily from cuttings.
In winter the orchids come into bloom. These orchids are cymbidiums and are cool temperature orchids. They can deal with night time temperatures down to 4C. Cool night time temperatures and reduced hours of light trigger flowering. With no insects around to fertilize the blooms in our home the flowers last for ages,
All our clivias spend the summer under an old crab apple tree.. This plant bloomed in summer and sported seeds from last summer!. It takes up to a year for the small green seeds from spent blossoms to ripen on the plant. When these seeds change colour from green and have the feel of a soft peach it is time to pot them up!
September 1
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds
Our hummingbirds are still busy at our feeders. It won't be too long before they start their southwards journey. They are quite confident that we understand their communication with us. "Fill the bird feeder" message is used quite clearly. These hummingbirds were photographed by Mary Prawecki in her garden at Oxenden.
Thanks, Mary, for sharing these photos of your summer long garden visitors!
August 27
Beating the Wildlife to the peaches
The days are getting noticeably shorter. The nights are definitely cooler. The first Blue Jays are back in the gardens. The flocks of Canada geese are increasing their practice take offs and landings each morning and evening. When the flocks fly low overhead as they come off the bay you can hear the rustle of their feathers.. Autumn is sliding into place.
Harvest season brings on a season of mixed feelings. We enjoy sharing Keppel Croft with various wild creatures but the competition at this time of year with the raccoons, squirrels and chipmunks reaches fever pitch, especially with the peaches.. Nothing ever bothers the zucchini...
Yesterday Bill picked a big basket of nearly ripe peaches just in time to deny the squirrels their annual harvest, Last year they got the lot! Here's fruit for our dinner tonight.
May 8
Oh, no! It was inevitable. On Friday we got our first Black fly bites.
Last year I bought a bottle of lavender spray to use as bug deterrent. I will buy another this season. It works for me!
Many lavender products are available at Bluewater Lavender Farm in Wiarton.
Annual Wiarton Lavender Festival to be held July 25 and 26 at Bluewater Park.
https://www.bluewaterlavender.com
May 11
In today's sunshine there was a sparkling dispaly in the barnyard of blue and while anemones. They are self seeded, escaping from the garden behind the rail fence. The patch grows larger each year.
May 14
In spring 1977 we found the survivors of the original gardens - the bank of lilacs in front of the house, two columbines and a red tulip at the back of the house and this clump of narcissus at the front of the house. The clump has expanded slowly. The Pheasant's Eye blooms are delightfully fragrant but not flamboyant.
May 16
The tiny bell shaped Leucojum blossoms are one of my favourites.
I knew them as Snowdrops in my mother's garden. Later found out they are called Snowflakes!
May 18
No Mow May is in evidence now.
June 1
Our super useful and ingeniously made garden cart was an end of season gift last year from our neighbour, Sandy Pynn.
He built this cart using a golf hand cart. The large wheels make the cart easy to move over our uneven ground.. It is remarkably easy to maneuvre and light to pull or push.
There are two hinged wooden supports, front and back, The platform is quite stable. A low rim around the platform keeps the load secure.
There are plans to refresh the paint work but so far this season the cart has been fully employed. No time for a paint job! Thanks a lot, Sandy, for your gift!
Our Garden Guest Book
Our Guest Book
Absolutely divine. Whimsy and nature, rocks, stones, pottery and all of nature's beauty.
Linda L., Owen Sound
So special a place, twenty five years visiting and still so beautiful in its aging prime.
S. Rodrigues. Toronto
In June in 2025 we found an unexpected potted shrub by the workshop. In the Guest Book we found this comment:
The Daphne is a gift from Gwynn and Jana in thanks for your hospitality last year. We have had a lovely time in your garden today. I hope you can find a space for the Daphne and that it does well for you. Gwynn and Jana.
Thanks, Gwynn and Jana. We planted your Daphne by the patio edge. Come and enjoy the scent in the spring. It's doing well this spring. Thanks again.
From Our Garden Journal, May 27 - an update on that Daphne!
.After the winter we were anxious as the plant was not looking very promising but our concern was misplaced.
It has burst into bloom and the fragrance is a delight. Thanks for your gift, Jana and Gwynn!
Rural Gardens of Grey and Bruce Counties
We are founding members of Rural Gardens of Grey and Bruce Counties. Visit the RGGB website featuring our member gardens for information about each garden, gardening advice from experienced people and for special events offered by our members: www.ruralgardens.ca/
