Hedges with no intention of hedging. Garden beds built for sidewalks. A swimming pool that takes a plunge into the woods. These ideas and more were on display at this year’s Toronto Botanical Gardens Through The Garden Gate tour, this time featuring private home gardens in the Lawrence Park area. Here are my favourites: 1.…
Just as the first wave of blooms in my garden has peaked in late spring, our wildflowers farther to the north are just starting to show. I’m amazed at how many truly strange and wonderful plants grow in Southern Ontario and though they’re not everywhere, you don’t have to trek for miles into the wilderness…
I love crashing strangers’ backyards and having a good, long snoop around. There’s so much to see and, when you’re with a like-minded chum, so much fun to be had pointing out what strikes your eye and sharing your opinion. Lots of opinions. Ah, yes. It’s garden tour time. Garden tours are like all-you-can-eat buffets…
I don’t normally plant annuals in my flower beds. I’d rather invest in perennials that are going to come back year after year. And I splurge on ephemeral annuals for my pots where I can spotlight them in all their delicate and exotic glory. If a plant can’t survive our Southern Ontario winters then it’s…
This is the first in a series of postings for a new blog category I’m calling Garden Nurseries Worth The Drive. Here in Southern Ontario, we’re lucky to have so many independent, creative, specialized and personal garden nurseries and–bonus–they’re often in a funky part of town or off-the-beaten track in the countryside. I’m looking forward…
I’ve always thought irises were otherworldly. So it didn’t come as a surprise when I learned that, in Greek mythology, Iris is the goddess of the rainbow. With this in mind, planting some of these flowers in your garden might be a good idea on several levels. What was more surprising to me was that…
Busting out in sumptuous clumps of intoxicatingly scented blooms, lilacs are sensational plants. So why are they so unloved? Just Google “lilacs bad luck” and you’ll find all kinds of lore about how bringing lilacs into the house is not good and wearing a sprig of them can be even worse. Then there are the…
The Bruce Peninsula in Southern Ontario, surrounded by Lake Huron, is home to the world renowned Bruce Trail, two national parks (one is underwater), and the unique Oliphant fen. It’s been designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve and happens to be a very favourite place of mine. [Full disclosure: this is where my guy has a cottage…
Most everyone with a garden has a spot under some trees or along the side of the house where the sun hardly shines and the soil is often (as my endearingly direct guy will sometimes put it) as dry as a popcorn’s fart. These are the places that try a gardener’s soul. What can grow…
Is it just me or did all the dandelions in the universe just invade our gardens overnight? The battle is on but it doesn’t have to be horrific–especially if you take a different tactic than the usual OBLITERATE THEM ALL. Here are some timely reasons for putting down the pesticides and making dandelions our co-conspirators…
Wild ginger appears every spring on a moss-covered boulder just outside the door to our cottage on the Bruce Peninsula. It’s a peculiar plant in many ways so I’m pleased but a little surprised to see it showing up at more and more garden centres here in Southern Ontario. If you’re tempted to try some of…
You used to be able to buy a house, walk out the back door, and, if you were so inclined, dig a little vegetable patch. Nothing complicated. Just plant some carrots and beans or maybe stake a row of tomatoes. But things are so much more complicated now. The Toronto Star ran an expose last…
I can stand, staring at one spot in a garden bed, for a long time. Too long, really. You’d think that, after some years of designing gardens and nurturing plants, deciding on what to stick in a bare spot wouldn’t be that much of a challenge. But sometimes, for all the pondering, coming up with…
Set against a garden busting out all over in buds and leaves, our Sand Cherry shrubs (Prunus x cistena) stand out with particular elegance. For a nice show of wine-coloured leaves all season long, these shrubs are reliable and, quite frankly, a lovely relief from all that enthusiastic green-ness a shrubby garden can have. And then…
The Clash is making a super-hot fashion statement for Spring 2015–no surprise given the tidal wave of throwback-to-the-Seventies looks. But will jarring colours work in the garden, too. Oh, yeah. Two of the plants I trialled on behalf of Proven Winners last year were Supertunia® Black Cherry Petunia hybrid and Vermillionaire™ Cuphea. The petunias had decadent,…
Horticulturist, Arborist and Garden Columnist
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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 