| Our Story
My name is Ann Granatier and my background includes many years in various horticultural careers - a garden designer, teacher and consultant - and I have finally come full circle. Having retired several years ago, I returned back to the countryside where it all began...in my own garden.
My husband, Bob, started out pleasing his wife, trying to
keep up with her demands for yet another garden, adding more
compost, moving more plants, improving that soil, "tote that
barge, move that bale". Guess what!! Now Bob has caught the
bug and is steering the ship. Most of the photographs are
Bob's work and his patience has paid off. Our children, a good
friend and now Bob himself continue to improve and add to this website
filled with even more stunning pictures.
Canadian Iris Society (CIS)
We are Board Members and serve as Secretary and Treasurer for the Canadian Iris Society (CIS), a group that promotes the cultivation and development of Irises. We are also members of the American Iris Society (AIS) and Co-Presidents of the Brantford Garden Club.
Speaking Engagements
We are often invited to speak and visit with a number of groups including Horticultural Societies, Canada Blooms
and the Royal Botanical Gardens.
If you are in need of a speaker please get
in touch with us. Thank you to all who have been able
to visit our gardens the last few years. We really enjoy chatting
with you about your favourite Irises and hearing your positive
comments.
Reblooming Iris
A few years ago, we were delighted with a wonderful show of
re-blooming
Iris that began flowering again in mid-August and continued this second bloom until
a hard frost after Thanksgiving. We researched and then planted more of these
wonderful varieties. They refresh our gardens when everything else is tired and
ready to close up for the season. Our customers are both surprised and delighted
to see their favourite flowers blooming when they pick up their Iris orders in
the fall.
Award Winning Iris
There are thousands of Iris varieties to grow and since we can't grow them all,
we have decided to focus on Award
Winners and New Introductions, ensuring that we offer the best to our customers.
Trails End Iris Gardens offers only high quality plants, grown with tender loving
care. Bob is so fussy he insists on doing the planting and digging of our Irises
(which is fine by me). This ensures no mix-ups and allows us to provide our customers
with true to name varieties guaranteed to give you the most beautiful flowers in a
rainbow of colours.
Open Gardens
We are very proud of our Iris Gardens and we welcome you to spend some time
browsing our site, either by the web or come for a pleasant drive and pay a personal visit.
Our ten acres of gardens/property is located in the rolling countryside between Hamilton and Brantford, Ontario (Canadian
Hardiness Zone 5b). We have lots more land to develop and Bob is talking about digging yet another large growing bed
for this year's increases. The monster I've created lives on!!
If you live nearby, come visit us in May and June. We have thousands of plants
and over four hundred different varieties; including historic, award winners and
the latest exciting introductions.
New Hours of Operation - May 8th thru June 27th
Come and see the Miniature Dwarf and Standard Dwarf Bearded
Irises the first 3 weekends in May. Afterwards during the
peak bloom period, we will be open Friday thru Monday from
9:00am until 5:00pm.
Early Bloom Period
Weekends Only
|
Sat. May 8th thru Sun. May 16th
9:00am to 5:00pm |
Miniature Dwarf, Standard Dwarf Bearded and early Intermediates |
Peak Bloom Period
Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays
|
Fri. May 21st thru Mon. June 14th
9:00am to 5:00pm |
Late Standard Dwarf, Intermediates, Miniature Tall Bearded, Border Bearded, Tall Bearded
(Early and Late) |
| All other times |
By appointment |
Very Early and Early Dwarf; Late and Very Late Tall Bearded |
|