Rheum palmatum Chinese rhubarb

Accent plants with extraordinary texture

In my travels this summer I’ve been noticing that the plants that really stood out for me weren’t necessarily bright (although there’s something to be said for hot colours in the summer garden). But show me a plant or a group of plants with extraordinary texture and I’d stop in my tracks. Here are 5…

Summer flowers in white and pink

Hot colours in the summer sun

I’m seeing a theme this summer and I’m loving it–brilliant flowers in colours as hot as the summer sun. Forget your romantic pastels and delicate watercolour-esque beds. Bring on the eye-watering brights. A hot summer flower bed of lilies and bright pink Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria). I saw a lot of gorgeously clashing blooms on…

Close up of Lonicera reticulata ‘Kintzley’s Ghost’

5 plants for a gob-smacking summer garden

I love discovering an extraordinary plant that just stops me in my tracks [insert head-exploding emoji]. Here’s a round-up of some of the best I’ve found that reach complete otherworldliness in mid-summer. Unfortunately, not all of them are easy to find, at least not in Canada, but they’re well worth the search. I’ve added website…

Maple leaf on Canada $10 bill

Canadian gardeners: 5 patriotic things to do

Happy Canada Day! July 1st was yesterday but since we tend to spread out our traditional festivities over at least three days, I figure there’s still time to do something patriotic. Here are five fun suggestions for gardeners: 1. Brush up on your botanic identifiers The iconic maple leaf in the centre of our national…

Here comes summer 10 ways

The longest day of this year will officially begin on June 21, at 5:13 a.m. here in the Northern Hemisphere. This means, of course, that June 22 marks the inexorable decline of daylight into another long winter. So I figure celebrating heat and happiness right now are in order. Here are 10 not-so-conventional ideas for…

Blooms in garden

Late summer’s standing ovation

Spring’s got a reputation for being the apex of a garden’s beauty. The idea is that once those darling buds have popped, it’s downhill from then on. I blame it partly on Wordsworth who wrote about stumbling upon ten thousand yellow daffodils thus sealing the fates of a generation who, as schoolchildren, were programmed to…

Two types of Echinacea

Echinacea: The garden on fire

For searing colour that grows even hotter in the setting sun, you’ve gotta try Echinacea–yup, the plant that’s used for a variety of herbal remedies. It’s actually one of over 4000 herbs, used for medicinal purposes, that are grown either in the wild or cultivated in Canada. But I figure this dependable, easy-to-grow perennial earns its…