I am a very lucky person. Me and my guy live from fall to spring surrounded not only by our wonderful family but also an honest-to-goodness winter wonderland. Winter here in Fernie, B.C., can be long, very cold, and at times overwhelmingly snowy but it sure is pretty. The Elk River and the Lizard Range…
I guess everyone starts to look inward a little more during bleak winter months. With everything outside hidden under ice and snow, turning our attention inside just seems practical. There’s any number of ways to enjoy sun-drenched views without even leaving your couch. But it was just the other day that I realized how truly…
Leaves are pretty amazing things. Any plant that grows them appreciates their usefulness in their own way, of course. But dead leaves serve many purposes, too, including providing shelter over winter for insects that will work hard the next year as pollinators and predators to pests. But I didn’t realize that leaves just might be…
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,…
The weather has been “hotter than the hubs of hell” (as my guy likes to say) but that hasn’t stopped us from partying merrily with friends from near and far. Our cottage was made for entertaining and hosting overnight guests and we take full advantage. Which means that as our guests are getting my enthusiastic…
The sight of tender tulip and daffodil sprouts poking up out of the sodden earth in springtime usually makes me smile. But it isn’t springtime yet. So surprise, concern, even a little dismay is more like it. In most parts of Canada, this time of year is supposed to be all about that long pause…
I want to share my thoughts with you about an app I’ve been using that I think has really exciting potential for gardeners. It’s called One Second Every Day (1SE) and, no, I’m not getting paid to tell you about it. But I think you might find it really handy. Or just loads of fun.…
A week into 2024 and so far, so good. I’m very lucky to be looking ahead and figuring life is pretty good. The world is getting more complicated, for sure. But I have so many wonderful reasons to feel grateful and you are one of them. Thank you so much for your interest, for following…
After enjoying a fun two-week-long road trip, travelling to Cedar Key and parts farther south, we’re back in the land of frosty autumns. So long, shorts and sandals. Good-bye, waist-expanding deep-fried coconut shrimp. But, thanks to a detour we took to Southampton, Ontario, on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, we’ve been very lucky to…
As the temperatures take a deep dive, I’m starting to miss gardening already. All the garden beds around here in southwestern Ontario are tucked up under a blanket of leaves, tender shrubs wrapped in a protective layer of burlap. Winter has its own special qualities, of course, but autumn? I’m already missing the deliciousness of…
Our (Canada’s) Thanksgiving long weekend is happening right now. The perennial question, of course, is when to serve up the big feast (Saturday night? Sunday mid-day? Monday afternoon?) but Sunday morning puts us right in the middle of the celebrations and always, to me, feels like a good time to pause for a moment and…
Autumn has officially arrived and to mark the occasion I thought it would be fun to reminisce a little. Here are a few of my favourite moments, relating to some of the blog posts I published this summer, that just go to prove that life certainly is like a box of chocolates… starting with the…
This post is not completely on brand, I freely admit. It’s not about growing plants or designing gardens. It’s actually about something that takes place well beyond my garden and, I predict, a long distance from your garden as well. But I felt a need to share and ask your take on the trouble with…
Who doesn’t love a new year trend report? A little crystal ball gazing can be wonderfully entertaining. Granted, most predictions shouldn’t be taken too seriously unless it’s your doctor or your accountant who’s doing the predicting. But a garden trend report can be practically life-giving when enjoyed in the middle of a long, cold winter.…
Going on a garden tour boils down to three extraordinary experiences: Being witness, on occasion, to divine splendour, be it a transformative garden or a single bloom Learning just how much your ardour for gardening will spur you on while spitting sparks and growing blisters Developing new tactics for dealing with and/or avoiding other tourists…
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 