Keppel Croft Gardens
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About Keppel Croft
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Come and explore Keppel Croft Gardens at Big Bay, on the beautiful Bruce Peninsula.
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We have four acres of gardens, a nature trail, an arboretum, and Keppel Henge.
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Enjoy your picnic at one of our numerous picnic spots.
​​​​​Days and Hours​​
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Wednesday through Sunday, and Holiday Mondays 10 am - 5 pm
May 16th - October 12th, 2026
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Contact us for after hours visiting and photograph sessions. The light is so beautiful outside of visiting hours!
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​ Entrance $5 per person. Children free.
Dogs on a lead are welcome.
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Contact
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Bill and Dawn Loney
504156 Grey Road 1
Georgian Bluffs, Ontario
N0H 2T0
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519·534·1090
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Website renovations made with support from Jennie Hoekstra.
Renovations have begun!
We are building a new website
for the 2026 gardening season.
Hope to complete this in time for our indoor seed planting season.
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:
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​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.
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Thanks, Gwynn and Jana. We planted your Daphne by the patio edge. Come and enjoy the scent in the spring. We are delighted with your gift. Thanks again.​​
Summer Solstice at Keppel Henge on
Saturday, June 20th, 2026​
Come and celebrate this annual event.​​
The Bluewater Astronomical Society will make a presentation. Bring
your picnic and your curiosity. All welcome.
2026 Garden Journal
We plan to add to our Garden Journal probably at irregular intervals.
We get too busy in the gardens to promise more than this.
March 2026
March 7
Two ponds and a stream joined forces to flood the hosta garden and discouraged some deer from coming here.
The area around Keppel Henge flooded and
the barn stream flowed across two fields and came down the dry stream bed,
February 2026
February 5
The first really sunny warm February day is the first day of pruning. We begin with our "Umbrella" tree, an old apple tree that we prune for shape not its crop of apples. We trim off the water sprouts, vigorous, upright shoots that are different from normal branches, producing no fruit and weakening the tree.
Heavy snow was too much of a load in winter, 2025. Two main branches snapped off. This winter Bill has made sure to knock off any piles of snow that accumulate on the branches. No damage so far this year.
February 21
Some winters are longer than others. One February, to ease the angst of a neighbour who really didn't like winter, we invited him and his wife over for a glass of wine on St Valentine's Day.
At least now we know that it is a downhill run to Spring!! Bill reports that the buds are starting to swell on the Pussy Willows.​
February 23
In late winter we enjoy the blooming of the pots of clivia and the hardy orchids which we brought in from the garden in the autumn. These plants spend winter is a
small conservatory attached to our house which we
call the Green Room.
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We store palms and ferns in this area as well as other tender plants in pots. In the spring we will move all the potted plants back into the garden when it is reliably
warm enough. ​
Don't forget that this is the time of year to go out into your garden and clip some branches of Forsythia to put in a vase. You will be glad you made the effort to be out in the snow when those golden buds begin to open!
January 2026
Links to the text for each earlier Journal entry will be added soon!
Our Winter Garden
Snow again ...
A Job for Early Spring
Learn about Bumble Bees
Bumble bees are important pollinators in Southern Ontario. Learn how to identify them. https://wildlifepreservation.ca/bumble-bee-resources/
Photo: Mary Prawecki
Photo: Mary Prawecki
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/​
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