Echinacea flower seeds planted in fall for colour in the garden next year.

Planting flower seeds in fall for a glorious garden next year

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…

Does your garden really need drought tolerant plants?

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…

A seed packet from Renee's Garden Organic Seeds.

The No space, No time Veggie Growing Guide

Want to try growing some of your own food but don’t have a lot of space? Maybe all you’ve got is a small raised bed or a couple of containers, some hanging baskets or a window box. And what if you live in a place where summertime is glorious but all too short? Luckily, there…

Examples of flower heads and stems that should be left as is during fall garden clean up.

The lazy gardeners ultimate guide to Fall Clean Up Day

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…

Tulips planted in fall for good spring colour.

6 out of the box fall bulb planting ideas

Ok. You just bought a brand new box of bulbs. Now what? How about shaking things up a bit by: • breaking the rules. • helping bees some more. • easing a new bed into the garden. • inviting a family of fairies to stay awhile. • protecting a neighbouring ravine. • sending a signal.…

An ornamental gate leads into a lush garden at Lost Horizons

Rare finds at Lost Horizons

GARDEN NURSERY WORTH THE DRIVE: Lost Horizons in Acton, ON. MY RATING: ♥♥♥♥ (This highly unscientific and thoroughly opinionated rating system is based on a range from lowest score of one ♥ to a highest score of five ♥♥♥♥♥). THE TIP-OFF: I knew I had to check out Lost Horizons because it seemed every time I went to a…

Seeds of inspiration for growing rainbows

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…