Before the rain began this morning, our walking group headed west for a change. The Distillery District would be our turnaround point, but I never made it that far. Corktown Common and a golden patch of flowering witch-hazel fixed me and my phone camera to the spot. Click the arrows above for the slideshow.

What an excellent park this has turned out to be! A relative toddler in the world of parkdom (the first phase opened in 2012), it has grown into itself and is already close to having that “always there” feeling.

The plantings at Corktown Common are largely native North American species, including American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) above and our native witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) below. The links take you to Walter Muma’s informative Ontario Trees website.

Besides shrubbery, the park includes many native tree species, from tulip trees (Liriodendron) to the deciduous conifer larch (Larix), its foliage also changing colour and getting ready to fall.

Dog-walkers and runners were trying to out-race the rain clouds. I don’t blame them. It’s a very pleasant place to be.

Hopefully, the Toronto Parks people will be able to keep it safe from botanical invaders, like the Oriental bittersweet spotted on the way back, just after the bridge along the trail at Don Roadway. A little too close for comfort.

Have you visited Corktown Common? What did you think of it?