Longwood Gardens main fountain 1

Spectacular Longwood Gardens (even in the rain)

Longwood Gardens in southeast Pennsylvania, U.S.A., has been on my bucket list for years and I finally got the chance to visit this outstanding place last week. Entry tickets are timed during the summer so my friend and I had no choice but to explore the gardens during a downpour. Were we disappointed? Not at…

Grand Cherokee commercial

Off-road rant

This post is not completely on brand, I freely admit. It’s not about growing plants or designing gardens. It’s actually about something that takes place well beyond my garden and, I predict, a long distance from your garden as well. But I felt a need to share and ask your take on the trouble with…

Red monarda

Taking a second look at nativars

There’s a lot of talk about nativars–cultivars of native plants (read: cultivars of plants native to your region.) Ultimately, are these plants a good thing or a bad thing? Unfortunately, nativars can be more colourful, larger, taller, sturdier, hardier, etc., etc., but at the cost of being sterile, blooming in colours that insects don’t recognize…

Double clematis blooms

Plant Purple!

The Canadian Garden Council’s promotion ‘Live The Garden Life‘ for this year includes a collaboration with Communities in Bloom and is inspiring everyone to “plant purple, the colour theme of the year in 2023“. According to the council, purple was chosen for the variety of effects the hue has on mind and body including: Now,…