If it weren’t for evergreen plants our Canadian winters would play out like an old black and white movie. Tree bark and grasses are drained of colour–wet or frozen, outlined in snow and lit up by a steely sun. Unless, of course, you live on the far left edge of this country. Over there, everything…
Over the last few days our little town of Fernie in southeastern British Columbia has been buried under a thick blanket of snow. Driving is a horror show but, man, everything looks so pretty. The colours of our town, the woods and surrounding mountains have receded or vanished in the glare of a whiteness so…
All gardeners know that gardening is good for you. We can feel it. Any skeptic can check out the oodles of studies about how gardening can benefit your physical health and mental wellbeing. There’s even been recent research involving a group of seniors in or around their seventies that revealed gardening activities (digging, fertilizing, raking,…
At this time of year in North America, small red paper poppies are pinned to coats. It’s a solemn reminder and yet a lovely gesture, I think. Why the poppy? By the end of WWI, much of Western Europe had been decimated and much of the countryside had been transformed into barren fields of mud…
Having gained an hour of daylight, I feel like the rapid descent into complete winter gloom has slowed somewhat. At least when the cocktail hour arrives I won’t be groping around in the dark for a light switch in order to find the cork screw. For now. But I have to admit that increasingly dark…
Funny how sometimes the most taken-for-granted things can suddenly change the way you look at life. Take electricity, for example. Yes, it makes random stuff go like my computer, the dishwasher and my battery-powered wine bottle opener. But, up until recently, I wasn’t thinking of it in terms of powering anything living such as plants…
By the time you’ve read this post, my garden will be all tucked up for the winter. Putting away pots (or tipping them over–more on that later), stowing away my weird and wonderful assortment of garden decorations and emptying the bird bath are all chores that I like to do at the last minute. But…
Anyone familiar with my blog knows that I love a short-cut. I also think it’s important to introduce as many native plants into my garden as possible. And if I can combine a task that’s easy and/or fast with more beneficial plants as a result, well, I’m all in. Which is why planting wildflowers by…
Earlier this year I dived into the whole snail seedlings debate. That was the thing about whether starting seeds in a snail-like wrap of paper towel (which makes for a terrific imitation of a giant sushi roll BTW) was actually a better way of growing seedlings. I’m pretty sure the debate is still raging. Allow…
Daisy said it best in The Great Gatsby: “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” This makes sense given how most of us spent a good decade or more programmed to reset our lives every September. Going back to school meant a new lunch pail, a fresh pad of paper,…
I’m truly pleased to have seen some really inspirational gardens over the last few summers. Combining different colours, highlighting dramatic textures and adding drama with a dry creek or water feature were just some of the I-could-do-that! ideas that jumped out at me. But two gardens stood out because they did something marvellous in the…
I love a good outdoor animal sculpture. Abstract art is fine but I’m a sucker for a giant critter gracing a fence or sproinging up from the shrubbery. They’re great for adding drama or whimsy, some sparkle or pattern, maybe even movement to a corner of the garden. And they can also give you a…
Of all the gardens I had the immense pleasure of visiting this summer, the astonishing oasis of colour and lush greenery set within an old barn’s stone foundations was one of my favourites. The private garden is part of a home and farm near Mallorytown, Ontario. A gravel path leads the eye through a metal…
I have a couple of Cup Plants growing in amongst wild grasses and Blue Flag Irises, down by the water’s edge of the small lake where we live in southern Ontario. A garden this is not. I added the irises and the Cups in an attempt to add a little colour to the one and…
In my travels this summer I’ve been noticing that the plants that really stood out for me weren’t necessarily bright (although there’s something to be said for hot colours in the summer garden). But show me a plant or a group of plants with extraordinary texture and I’d stop in my tracks. Here are 5…
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 