Last month, The U.S. Department of Agriculture updated their plant hardiness zone map for the first time in over a decade. Unsurprisingly, the new “lowest likely winter temperature” in all 48 states south of the Canadian border is now 1.4C warmer. In an AP news article, Boston University plant ecologist Richard Primack, who was not…
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…
After enjoying a fun two-week-long road trip, travelling to Cedar Key and parts farther south, we’re back in the land of frosty autumns. So long, shorts and sandals. Good-bye, waist-expanding deep-fried coconut shrimp. But, thanks to a detour we took to Southampton, Ontario, on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, we’ve been very lucky to…
Hello from Cedar Key, Florida! We love coming here for a little warmth and sunshine as Ontario starts the long wet chill that eventually congeals into winter. Sunrise over the pier at Cedar Key, Florida You may have heard about Cedar Key last August if you were watching the news about Hurricane Idalia. This small…
As Halloween approaches I love to indulge in some good old fashioned creepiness–the kind that only Mother Nature can provide. Natural creepiness, I find, is so much more satisfying than anything Hollywood can conjure up just because it’s happening right under your nose. In fact, I’d bet that a lot of horror movie makers get…
As the temperatures take a deep dive, I’m starting to miss gardening already. All the garden beds around here in southwestern Ontario are tucked up under a blanket of leaves, tender shrubs wrapped in a protective layer of burlap. Winter has its own special qualities, of course, but autumn? I’m already missing the deliciousness of…
About a week ago, King Charles III, while in Bordeaux, France, got his hands dirty (symbolically, at least) by planting a Loquat Leaf Oak. This, in itself, is not news. Royalty and other VIPs the world over often make gestures like planting trees for the sake of bonhomie and a great photo op. But this…
Our (Canada’s) Thanksgiving long weekend is happening right now. The perennial question, of course, is when to serve up the big feast (Saturday night? Sunday mid-day? Monday afternoon?) but Sunday morning puts us right in the middle of the celebrations and always, to me, feels like a good time to pause for a moment and…
There are so many wonderful flowers that can light up an early autumn garden but I can’t think of one that brings so much to the party as Strawflowers, also known as Paper daisies. Gorgeous colours? Check. Easy to grow? Check. Some weird attribute that makes it a stand out? I think blooms that have…
Autumn has officially arrived and to mark the occasion I thought it would be fun to reminisce a little. Here are a few of my favourite moments, relating to some of the blog posts I published this summer, that just go to prove that life certainly is like a box of chocolates… starting with the…
The official start of fall is still a week away and yet my inbox is jammed with enthusiastic announcements from various nurseries. “OUR BULBS ARE IN!!!” (They’re caps, not mine). “Hurry! Get yours before they sell out!” Where to start? If you’re stalling for inspiration, here are some over-the-top ideas in the Go Big Or…
This summer has been exceptionally cool and wet so no surprise to see so many mushrooms popping up everywhere on our mostly-woodland property in southwestern Ontario. But I’ve never seen so many different kinds. And some of them are truly weird. Take a peek, if you dare. A reef on a leaf This is a…
If you need to install a staircase in your garden you probably have a really good reason for doing so. People don’t usually throw a staircase into their hardscaping plans just because they love to climb steps. There’s a good reason for them and there’s no getting around the fact that they’ll have to be…
This whole ‘She Sheds’ thing is a bit of a puzzler to me. I get that women can hanker after an equivalent of a man cave and I totally get that a plain old garden shed offers up infinite possibilities beyond storing gardening equipment and a lawn mower. But I didn’t realize how much these…
Filling up a big spot in a garden bed can be pretty easy. But what if you want volume (height or width or both) without bulk–as in heavy, leafy, darkness-inducing shrubs? Look to the frothy fronds of fennel and asparagus offering the softest forms there are in the plant world. They offer a lot of…
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 