On a recent garden tour, hosted by the Toronto Botanical Gardens, I was intrigued by a property described in the tour brochure as a reverse ravine garden. Now, I’ve always assumed that ravines only went in one direction–down. But having walked into my very first reverse ravine garden (thank you, TBG!), I now know that…
I love a good trend prediction. Declarations of this being the Year Of The ___________ just seem so optimistic and cheery to me. For instance, American online gifts and flowers delivery business 1-800-Flowers has just announced that Ranunculus is the 2025 Flower Of The Year and, bonus, Snake Plant is 2025’s Plant Of The Year.…
Goth gardens are a thing now, apparently. Garden Media Group (a public relations firm supporting the home and garden industries) points out in their annual Garden Trends Report that #Gothgarden(ing) is a natural progression of “our culture’s love affair with the occult”. This year, in fact, they predict we (Gen Z, in particular) will be…
I love beach towns. Lake or ocean, doesn’t matter. A small town cozying up to a strip of sand or pebbles along big water is my idea of heaven. Last month, we were very lucky to have visited two beach towns – Sunset Beach near St. Petersburg, Florida and Southampton which is situated along the…
If you’re craving a little country in your city garden, it might be easier than you think to add some rural charm. And there are inspirations everywhere. But why would you want to? Because farm love is a real thing. Recently, the New York Times ran an article entitled ‘The Modern Farmhouse is Today’s McMansion.…
Last Monday was Victoria Day here in Canada, a national holiday that was once the official day to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday and is now simply our unofficial kick-off to spring. This weekend also semi-reliably marks the moment when danger of overnight frost has passed–at least for most Canadians. Hence, gardening centres finally fling open…
More And Less lists are replacing New Year’s resolutions and this makes sense to me. Compiling a list of what you’d like to do/see/manifest more of as well as what you’d like less of in your life seems, well, just easier–less intimidating, more approachable and (getting down to brass tacks) more achievable. I’ve never been…
Earlier this month I published a post (highly opinionated, of course) about gardening shortcuts for getting that traditional English country garden style. Since then, I’ve been thinking. The British garden look is popular for good reason, as are other well-known garden looks such as the Japanese-style garden or the American Southwest style (think lots of…
Bridges are amazing things. They are the very manifestation of a proposition. What’s a bridge if not the offer to be on the other side? But they don’t have to span a physical thing like a river or a highway. According to Cambridge Dictionary, a bridge can be “something that makes it easier to make…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 