Planning on adding some native plants to your garden this spring? Good for you! All the bees and birds will thank you. Keep your eyes open because there are plenty of choices out there these days. But if you’re trying to figure out what to buy based on the information on a plant’s label, you…
This spring you’re going to see plenty of plants being promoted as ideal for your garden because they’re drought tolerant. But is this help or hype? The way I see it, if you live in a bonafide desert (or anywhere where summers naturally bring extreme heat and a lack of water from natural or artificial…
Growing red tomatoes. Ho hum. But what if you could find seeds for tomatoes that glow orange and gold like a burning sunset? Or almost-black toms? Or a tomato that looked just like photos of a galaxy? (That would be the aptly named Cosmic Eclipse tomato.) When I first laid eyes on The Whole Seed Catalog, I…
At one of my favourite grocery stores, the exit takes you right through the floral department. You have to push your laden cart through a gauntlet of kaleidoscopic bouquets and potted houseplants primped with foil wrappers and cute signs for maximum adorableness. Which is fine by me. In the depths of winter, I love a…
You used to be able to buy a house, walk out the back door, and, if you were so inclined, dig a little vegetable patch. Nothing complicated. Just plant some carrots and beans or maybe stake a row of tomatoes. But things are so much more complicated now. The Toronto Star ran an expose last…
I just got tipped off by the folks at Garden Rant that they’d been asked by Time Inc.’s Money.com for some “brutally honest” advice about where to spend big moola on your garden and when to keep your cash in your pocket. From an online collective with a website subtitled “Uprooting the gardening world” that…
A friend of mine recently asked me about manure. In a nice way. And it got me thinking. And doing a little research. And what I gathered will raise some eyebrows. But first, I’ll back up a bit. She asked me about manure because she knew I’m in the middle of taking the Organic Horticulture…
Two big boxes of live plants were delivered to my front door the other day. I hadn’t ordered them. Was there a rogue grower out there randomly gifting eager bloggers with young plants? Or what? I pulled out the contents of both boxes, trying to find a clue about their origins. I finally found the letter…
Is that beautiful rose calling your name? Are you thinking about splashing out on that gorgeous shrub with the deep discount price? Garden centres are good at selling plants. And if you’ve fallen in lust with a luscious rose dripping with blooms, then the store has done its job. But keep this in mind: some…
I dropped into one of my favourite grocery store pop-up garden centres yesterday and was very surprised to see impatiens for sale. They’ve always been a popular plant, for sure, and a terrific problem solver in past years if you wanted lots of cheap ‘n’ cheerful colour in shady areas of your garden. But they’re…
Can garden gloves make you laugh? (In a LOL way. Not a nervous giggling kind of way.) They can if they come from Watson Gloves of Burnaby, B.C. I think I love this company. It’s so refreshing to see people making good products and doing a good job of getting that product out to people without…
It was love at first strike. With one smooth movement, the CobraHead sliced into the ground. I gently angled it and then pulled up, releasing the gnarliest dandelion from its smug existence. Ironically, I was the one that was bitten. My CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator arrived in April’s mail. The Wisconsin-based makers of these tools…
We sneak peeks “behind the scenes” on everything from Canada’s covert commandos to Kate’s latest meet-n-greet (with Wills and baby George in tow), so I thought the time was right–just before the spring plant-buying frenzy–to delve into the mysterious world of commercial garden nurseries. Was I going to find adorable sprouts? Exotic aliens (gardener-speak for…
Reflections On A Life in Exile
Saint Andrew’s 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
Gardening in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
The life and loves of a plantsman
if your garden is bigger than a courtyard, but smaller than an acre
Exploring the Depths of Curiosity
A blog about nature, home, community, books, writing, the environment, food, and rural life.
Ministry of the fence 