Container recipes using hot new annuals, succulents, and veggies in unexpected combos plus garden and patio design ideas using container plantings.
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…
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…
Having leftover firewood at our place is a little like having leftover wine. Basically, it never happens. But if the fascination with setting things, er, logs aflame slows to the point where we do have some hanging around, I’m definitely going to try this nifty idea I came across during a terrific weekend visit to…
A pot of plants at the front door makes a great welcome. But a really BIG arrangement of plants and sticks and stuff that towers over your head registers high octane on the Howdy Meter. Here are some ideas for easy, budget-friendly containers inspired by front entrance whoppers I found on recent garden tours in Cabbagetown…
Who doesn’t love a short-cut? And when the short-cut saves you money? Even better. Ready-planted containers are a fast and easy solution for turning your backyard from lawn-mower country to cocktail lounge. And if you wait just another couple of days, most of those containers, looking at their peak of lushness, are going to go…
This is such a fun idea and so easy! I had to pass it along. Tipsy pots: free instructions for this fun and easy garden art project. via How To Make Tipsy Pots.
I was at a big box store a few days ago (ok, Costco) and barely got out alive. People were scrambling to grab white plastic hanging baskets stuffed with all kinds of crayola-coloured flowers. The prices were insane, of course. But as I dodged a careening cart bulging with containers of hot pink geraniums, peachy…
In art class, a depiction of a bunch of stuff all in the same colour family is considered monochromatic. Think Picasso during his Blue Period. In gardening, this is usually considered boring. Unless you were Vita Sackville-West, whose White Garden (Ok, so there are green and silvery grey plants, too) at Sissinghurst Castle still brings droves…
Let me state for the records that I’m anti-minimalist when it comes to gardening. Minimal does not do anything for me, even if you’re talking a painfully chic urban rooftop garden-slash-yoga retreat. To illustrate my point, just Google anything about Japanese zen gardens–supposedly the poster gardens for minimalism. There’s actually a lot going on in…
Forecasters are predicting a long, hot summer. If we’re looking at a dry summer, too, that’ll also mean plenty of blazingly bright days. Luckily, you can still turn a deck or patio into a lush oasis despite the hot + dry + bright equation. One answer is wildly popular Calibrachoa hybrids, commonly known as million bells…
In this month’s issue of Sunset magazine, a feature on mulches for containers suggests using untumbled mirror. That’s little pieces of broken mirror. Hmmmm. The idea is kinda cool. For a combo of alien-looking succulents, why not have something metallic and shiny as a mulch? I figure if you don’t have kids or pets and…
There are lots of amazing new plants being introduced in Southern Ontario this spring. I’ll keep you posted on the best over the next few weeks. Here’s one of my faves: a basil topiary. Tiny, tender basil leaves crown a woody (yep!) stem. Harvest the leaves all summer for salads and pasta dishes. Then bring…
Spring may be dragging its heels in our garden but it’s arrived in stores. Pots and planters are practically spilling off the shelves. I bring this up because last year at about this time I was too late to score a dark brown faux-wicker, moulded-plastic planter I had my eye on. I thought it tres…
Horticulturist, Arborist and Garden Columnist
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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 