Sure, keeping rainwater on our properties is way better than having it wash away into storm sewers and eventually into our Great Lakes (picking up pollutants as it goes). At the same time, who doesn’t want to jump on the Grow Your Own bandwagon? But creating an edible rain garden? That had to be music…
Originally posted on The Creative Flux:
Ever since I attended an architectural product luncheon back in 1993, where a Swiss rep was showing his wares – various sizes of the plastic, egg crate-looking modules holding the planting medium used to create planted roofs – and lauding their inherent benefits, I have been wondering why green…
What grows brilliantly in southern Ontario? What fails miserably? And what catches the eyes of pro landscapers? I found out last week when I was invited to view the newly expanded University of Guelph/Landscape Ontario trial gardens at the LO office on the outskirts of Milton. There’s nothing glamorous about these gardens. Bordered by the…
Color, texture, form, movement as well as interaction with light, deer, rabbits and overall health – all are assessed when trialing plants Between testing plants for growers and having the opportunity to grow new introductions in my landscape or containers for photo shoots I consider myself incredibly fortunate. The sense of anticipation never gets old;… via…
When it comes to growing a cooler backyard, for once I’m not talking about edgy, eco garden design trends. As southwestern Ontario continues its record-breaking heat wave, gardening is now all about the temperature. And since last month (July, 2016) was the hottest month around the world in recorded history, I don’t think we’re alone in…
GARDEN NURSERY WORTH THE DRIVE: Lost Horizons in Acton, ON. MY RATING: ♥♥♥♥ (This highly unscientific and thoroughly opinionated rating system is based on a range from lowest score of one ♥ to a highest score of five ♥♥♥♥♥). THE TIP-OFF: I knew I had to check out Lost Horizons because it seemed every time I went to a…
I had fun last year gathering ideas for how to rock your garden. There are a whole lot of gardeners out there creating gorgeous environments using stone they’ve either recycled from their own plot of land or brought in. Now, like collecting different coloured pebbles, I’m hooked on finding inspirations. Here are more DIY rock…
Despite a torrential rain last night, producing the briefest dip in temperature, we’re enjoying a ridiculously hot and humid summer here in southwestern Ontario. Our flower beds are parched and our lawns are going KFC–golden and crunchy. There’s only one thing to do: go sit somewhere in the garden with a chilled glass of wine…
Can you make a retaining wall look like garden sculpture? Can you camouflage a lush zen retreat within a rustic ranch-style enclosure? The owners of this full-of-surprises home and garden in southwestern Ontario (zone 5) sure did and they made it all look so easy. Compared to the other homes and gardens I saw on…
It goes by the unglamorous common name of Tickseed. The botanical Coreopsis sounds much more appealing but, in fact, just glosses over a hard reality. This fancier name comes from the Greek koris, for bug, and opsis, for ‘like’, meaning the seeds of this plant look like bugs or ticks. Resemblances to insects aside, these starry flowers are…
There’s something really magical when a Garden Unfolds Into Rooms but you don’t need high fences and garden walls to create the sense of moving from one space to another. The gardens in this post, both in southwestern Ontario (zones 5a/5b) are very different from each other. One was a very big country estate. The other was…
A garden with room for a view is one thing but a gobsmacking garden with many rooms, each with completely different views, is something altogether different and a little tough to capture with still photos rather than 3D Sensoround. But I’ll try. On a recent (June 23, 2016) garden tour presented by the Toronto Botanical…
The first time I saw cosmos in a blindingly sunny garden, orderliness was not the word that came to mind. No, barely contained chaos was more like it. The impenetrable thatch of tall stems thrust up cartoon-like flowers, in brilliant shades of pink, nodding in every direction. But the story goes that Spanish priests loved the…
The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is a system of gardens working together to make one enormous woodland garden that rocks (appropriately with rocks) on the rocky, amazingly beautiful coast of Maine. My guy and I were there only last week and the ideas I got from these gardens are still whirling in my head–massive stone…
My guy and I just got back from an epic road trip to Maine and I couldn’t wait to show you the mesmerizing moves of this dancing garden sculpture we discovered on a rainy day at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Powered only by the wind, its long, curving stems appear to dip and sway.…
Horticulturist, Arborist and Garden Columnist
Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
Garden of Flowers, Beads, and Yarns
ruminate vb. to chew (the cud)
Reflections On A Life in Exile
Saint Andrews Forest Farm Blog
a chat over the garden fence
There's always room for one more plant.
a little garden near Gawler
.....and nurturing my soul
Ministry of the fence 