If you’re not lucky enough to have a property measured in acres instead of metres, conveniently positioned at the edge of a lush forest, you can still adopt some of the landscaping and planting ideas from this spectacular woodland garden located in southwestern Ontario (Canadian garden zones 5b to 6a). Even its grandest elements, like…
Maybe it’s our depressingly dark, wet, cool June here in southwestern Ontario that’s inspired me to look at dead things with renewed interest. While the plants I’ve recently installed in the ground and in containers are already looking exhausted from repeated deluges, perpetually damp stumps and fallen logs are springing to life as generous hosts…
Think you don’t have room for any more plants in your garden? The wonderfully over-stuffed front and back gardens of this home in northwestern Metro Toronto will have you thinking again. The owner/gardener of this average-sized suburban lot has used every inch of space with no plans for curbing her collecting habit. I think these…
Sorry for going dark these past couple of weeks. My guy and I have been crazy busy moving homes and, just to keep life really interesting, we topped everything off with another epic road trip across Canada. Now that things have settled down a bit, I thought I’d kick off my return to blogging with…
Sculpture? Gazebo? Multi-tiered plant container? The Growroom, an “urban farm pavilion” is all that and an elegantly presented political statement. Swedish architects Mads-Ulrik Husum and Sine Lindholm teamed up with Space10, an innovation lab supported by DIY furnishing mega-brand Ikea, to promote local agriculture and came up with the Growroom. They’re hoping the globe-shaped structure…
I don’t normally associate gardens with hotbeds of revolution but a lot of researchers, journalists and horticulture pros believe that the way people garden is radically changing–some might say in wonderful ways, others might say in ways that are a tad odd. Which of these 10 gardening trends for 2017 might change how you garden? TREND…
There’s a spirit in your garden and I think I can help you find it. But, first, we’ll need to back up…a lot. In ancient Rome, everyone had their own personal guiding or guardian spirit called, in Latin, a genius. (Love that.) And there were protective spirits for a place, too. Guess what one of those…
Are you tired of potted mums and asters? Can’t bear to look at another white pumpkin? Ornamental cabbages (Brassica oleracea) might reignite your flare for fall decor. Sure, these tasteful (if not tasty) plants have shown up in grocery stores and garden centres every fall since Martha Stewart first caused an outbreak of Obsessive Seasonal…
Despite a torrential rain last night, producing the briefest dip in temperature, we’re enjoying a ridiculously hot and humid summer here in southwestern Ontario. Our flower beds are parched and our lawns are going KFC–golden and crunchy. There’s only one thing to do: go sit somewhere in the garden with a chilled glass of wine…
Can you make a retaining wall look like garden sculpture? Can you camouflage a lush zen retreat within a rustic ranch-style enclosure? The owners of this full-of-surprises home and garden in southwestern Ontario (zone 5) sure did and they made it all look so easy. Compared to the other homes and gardens I saw on…
There’s something really magical when a Garden Unfolds Into Rooms but you don’t need high fences and garden walls to create the sense of moving from one space to another. The gardens in this post, both in southwestern Ontario (zones 5a/5b) are very different from each other. One was a very big country estate. The other was…
A garden with room for a view is one thing but a gobsmacking garden with many rooms, each with completely different views, is something altogether different and a little tough to capture with still photos rather than 3D Sensoround. But I’ll try. On a recent (June 23, 2016) garden tour presented by the Toronto Botanical…
My guy and I just got back from an epic road trip to Maine and I couldn’t wait to show you the mesmerizing moves of this dancing garden sculpture we discovered on a rainy day at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Powered only by the wind, its long, curving stems appear to dip and sway.…
What is it about coastal living that can bring out the zaniness in a homeowner? I thought I’d seen my share of mermaid garden sculptures and porches studded with seashells but I wasn’t prepared for the kind of no-holds-barred exuberance of Grimsby Beach, Ontario (one destination on a recent garden tour hosted by Frank Kershaw featuring gardening…
Secret hideaways with your choice of hovering rain umbrellas, pink flamingoes or a sparkling chandelier overhead. Old bed frames in new flower beds, a canoe filled with cannas and a loo with a view (made extra panoramic by the absence of a door). These were just some of the surprises awaiting us on a recent…
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 