Two weeks ago I drove (and drove and drove) to Reford Gardens, also known as Les Jardins de Metis in Grand-Metis. The historical landmark sits on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River about halfway up the humped back of the Gaspe Peninsula. The journey there took two solid days of driving from my…
Using the lawn as a back-scratcher hadn’t occurred to me until I met Berkley, our almost-white golden retriever. He’d casually walk into the centre of the backyard and then flip onto his back, throwing all four paws in the air and wriggling his back. He’d leave a flattened patch that seemed oddly paler than the rest…
Last May, I planted some beans in a pot–another big gardening adventure for me. I’ve already admitted my fear of vegetable growing in a previous posting so I hope you’ll understand that, after the exhilaration of throwing all caution to the wind and planting lettuce, I felt downright at one with nature and the universe planting…
Globe thistle (Echinops sphaerocephalus) shares its name with a cuter-than-cute hedgehog from Madagascar (Echinops telfairi) because of their uncanny resemblance but, by the light of a recent super moon, I thought the plant looked very nearly like a teeny, tiny exploding planet. Almost, but not quite. Planetary explosions must be massively messy and the head of a globe thistle has to…
I know rock-star botanist sounds like an oxymoron but I’m loving the fact that Voice Of America is trying to sprinkle a little glamour over plant research. This article is a fun read not only for the idea of a 60+ year-old plant geek rappelling down the same cliffs where scenes from Raiders of the…
I made and designed succulent arches for a client recently that hand vertically. I was commissioned to make two of them and they would hang in the exterior entryway of their home. Each vertical garden is approximately 7′ tall and almost 2′ wide. During this process I discovered that certain succulents can take longer than…
The sun has almost completed its wide arc around your house and is low on the horizon, finally lighting up your back patio. Beads of moisture start to form on your icy G&T. After hours of chilly AC, you’re loving the heat. But for your flower-filled planters, maybe not so much. If you walk out onto your…
If the plants you planted earlier this spring are already heading south or your lawn is more gold than green, even when there’s been plenty of rain, try asking your weeds what’s going on. And don’t say you don’t have any. Anyone with a patch of dirt either has some or is gonna get some.…
Originally posted on Old School Garden:
Can you spot the odd one out? Old School Gardener
Roses always get the credit for having fabulous fragrances. You can’t deny that perfumers have been laughing all the way to the bank on the popularity of their scent. Even when Coco wanted to reinvent women’s perfume, she still held on to a sumptuous rose note in Chanel No. 5. But yesterday morning, the heat…
If you love to stop people in their tracks, try stuffing a garden bed with flaming red Caladiums. They’ll only last until frost but if you plant them in late spring, what a show they’ll put on all summer. They’re really handy if you’ve got: • a shady spot–part to full shade • lots of…
For searing colour that grows even hotter in the setting sun, you’ve gotta try Echinacea–yup, the plant that’s used for a variety of herbal remedies. It’s actually one of over 4000 herbs, used for medicinal purposes, that are grown either in the wild or cultivated in Canada. But I figure this dependable, easy-to-grow perennial earns its…
Nowhere is the old adage about beauty being in the eye of the beholder more appropriate than when you’re staring at a great weed. The unfortunately named Goutweed is a weed for sure. But what a beauty. And handy, too–if you feel like living dangerously. Aegopodium podagraria aka Goutweed aka ground elder, bishop’s weed or snow-in-the-mountain…
Sick of all those happy, shiny bright blooms out there? Reaching for your shades rather than endure another moment of glowing greenness? Same here. Come mid-July, I’m over the smiley-face-yellow flowers, the cherub-bum-pink rosebuds and the so-cheery-my-face-hurts flowerpots. It’s time for some black. Actually, I think a little black is great for the garden any…
In a post earlier this year I asked “Are you ready to give up your lawn?” The motivation behind the question was sincere but, now that I’m neck deep in organic horticulture studies, I’ve realized I was really just jumping on a bandwagon. Sneering at lawns has seemed the politically correct thing to do for…
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 