I couldn’t believe the inventiveness of this fellow in Australia (that’s him in the video below) who, after discovering a frog living in his fence post, proceeds to fine tune a better home for the wee thing (whom he names Frod) after a series of night ops-style observations. With some fancy 3D printing and a…
A week ago, one little bright red maple leaf fluttered to the ground just outside the back door of our cottage on the Bruce Peninsula in southwestern Ontario. Me and my guy were horrified. The turning leaves in autumn in Ontario (as well as most of eastern Canada and parts of northeastern United States) is…
You’ve heard that saying – Be careful what you wish for! I’ve been waiting for those classic hot-‘n’-muggy summer days to finally arrive here in Southwestern Ontario. In my mind, it ain’t summer until you and your can of cold beer are both sweating buckets. But with humid weather comes mosquitoes. And so the battle…
I read an article recently about some gardeners in North America (ok, the U.S.) who’d designed lust-worthy gardens evocative of an English country garden and it occurred to me that, despite the fact that the gardens did indeed have that distinctive English Country Garden vibe about them, there wasn’t any information about why exactly they…
You say elderberry. I say elderflower. Tomayto, tomahto. Whatever you call it, Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis is a wonderful shrub for the garden offering a spectacular variety of bonuses to the gardener. You can even make music with the stems. (More about that later.) Here are 8 admirable attributes that I love about this elegant…
I’ve been trying my very best (for several years now) to start a completely natural wildflower garden at our cottage on the Bruce Peninsula in southwestern Ontario. The garden is a small patch of land, decorated with several dead logs and a tree stump, just feet from the shoreline of our small freshwater lake. I…
I had to share this post by Daniel Cartwright, Head Gardener at Winterbourne House and Garden, an Edwardian historic house and garden in Birmingham, which is basically in the centre of England. He shares his top 3 tips for attracting and supporting healthy bees Choosing flowers for bees: Take careful consideration of the shape of…
A wonderfully mysterious plant at the base of a tree stump on our neighbour’s property caught my eye this spring (May, 2021). The stems and new leaves, looking like shredded rags, were a lovely deep purple with a velvety sheen. Amidst the leaves were tiny blue brown flowers, each accented with a mini golden star.…
In my ongoing pursuit of next-to-effortless gardening, this fall I’m taking a cue from Johnny Appleseed. Although Michael Pollan, in his book Cooked, pretty much debunks the legend of a friendly wandering giant sprinkling seeds through the wilderness with little fruit trees sproinging up in his wake, the idea of basically tossing seeds on the…
This is the second in a series of posts covering very special but easy care plants to grow in honour of Canada’s birthday. Ferns are popular for being equally good at giving a garden a nice touch of swish and authentic wild woodsyness. These 3 additions to my Celebrate Canada Plants List are all gorgeous ferns that…
We missed the baby hummingbirds’ grand exit from their nest high up in the branches of a tree near Peru’s Machu Picchu. They fledged on the first day of the new year (1/1/17). The Hellgate Ospreys’ nest in Missoula, Montana, is empty now, too. Filled only with snow on the day I was snooping into…
Ferns are having a moment not just because they’re sharing airtime with Zach Galifianakis during his hilarious/shockingly irreverent celebrity interviews on Between Two Ferns. Their general gorgeousness, lush but not overpowering, make them a popular choice for small gardens and many have an impressive hardiness that’s earning them starring roles in high profile places like New…
Is this the ultimate guide for the lazy gardener? If your ideal Fall Clean Up Day is to do as little as possible, you’ve come to the right place. But what if I told you that by doing far less, you’re actually helping your garden’s health and wildlife way more? That’s a real win-win. Here’s…
In spring, you can’t swing a bat in a garden centre without sending a display of bee-friendly flowers flying. Everyone’s on the bee-saving bandwagon and that’s a good thing. But even though we’re heading into autumn, you can still plant for beauty and the bees. Add a nectar-producing tree to your garden. Some of the…
“We need plants to be more than just the parsley to the pot roast of our house”, he said. Ok. I’m in. Thomas Rainer, landscape architect and co-author with Claudia West of Planting In A Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities For Resilient Landscapes, has a way with plants and words. His landscape designs look like…
Love to Garden? Learn Some Helpful Tips And Tricks To Help You Get That Green Thumb
Life is an interesting journey. These are journals, stories, reflections of a traveller of this journey. (songoftheheartsite@gmail.com)
for OCA Visual Communications BA (hons)
Where observation and imagination meet nature in poetry.
A blog about life in Wellington, New Zealand
Plants, veg and chickens: a cottage garden on the edge of Brussels
This blog is about gardening in the north.
Discovering the joy of art
Do not go where the path may lead, instead go where there is no path, and leave a trail -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ministry of the fence 