If, like me, you’re still biding your time before gardening season begins then also, like me, you may be going slowly stir crazy. A good sign this is happening is when you start casting your eye over stuff around the house and considering what could be pressed into service as a plant container or a…
Are you itching to get gardening but also a tad concerned about where you’re going to put any new plants? Part of the fun of having a garden–any garden–is adding to your collection. What do you do if your gardening space is already filled to the brim? If the only gardening direction you can go…
By the time you’ve read this post, my garden will be all tucked up for the winter. Putting away pots (or tipping them over–more on that later), stowing away my weird and wonderful assortment of garden decorations and emptying the bird bath are all chores that I like to do at the last minute. But…
Streptocarpus sounds like the kind of throat infection you really want to avoid but it’s the deceiving name of one of my favourite little houseplants–one that can outshine a lot of outdoors plants in the summer garden as well. And that’s not all. My weathered Streptocarpus after a recent rainstorm in mid-July. A relative of…
Plants in containers are to a garden what spices are to a stew. They add a little extra zing. But when you want to kick that zing up a few notches, that’s where the art of the container display comes in. Simply gather up your potted plants and arrange them in a grouping for maximum…
I love squirrels. Don’t get me wrong. They can be pretty cute. We’ve got a whole new spring crop of them living their best young lives in and around our back deck and their antics can be pretty entertaining. Until they get into my container plantings. Then, the love is gone. I was perusing some…
We’ve all read about how nature does remarkable things to help care for and nurture its own. Research reveals new and exciting examples of this every year it seems. I love how we can learn from these findings and actually mimic some of Mother Nature’s neat tricks when caring for our own gardens. A little…
Of all the trends that pundits are hailing as hot, hot, hot for 2024, none intrigues me more than stumperies. Elegant and always on point Garden Design magazine declared that, along with other rising trends such as installing a rain garden and accommodating for climate change, building a stumpery will be a really big thing.…
A week into 2024 and so far, so good. I’m very lucky to be looking ahead and figuring life is pretty good. The world is getting more complicated, for sure. But I have so many wonderful reasons to feel grateful and you are one of them. Thank you so much for your interest, for following…
Longwood Gardens in southeast Pennsylvania, U.S.A., has been on my bucket list for years and I finally got the chance to visit this outstanding place last week. Entry tickets are timed during the summer so my friend and I had no choice but to explore the gardens during a downpour. Were we disappointed? Not at…
The Canadian Garden Council’s promotion ‘Live The Garden Life‘ for this year includes a collaboration with Communities in Bloom and is inspiring everyone to “plant purple, the colour theme of the year in 2023“. According to the council, purple was chosen for the variety of effects the hue has on mind and body including: Now,…
When I started writing this post I had every intention of waxing poetic about the virtues of Snake plants. I realize that, as houseplants go, they’re about as run-of-the-mill as you can get and yet I found myself looking at them in a new light. My guy and I had offered to temporarily take care…
More And Less lists are replacing New Year’s resolutions and this makes sense to me. Compiling a list of what you’d like to do/see/manifest more of as well as what you’d like less of in your life seems, well, just easier–less intimidating, more approachable and (getting down to brass tacks) more achievable. I’ve never been…
Working with the colour red in a planting scheme is the most challenging to me. In a line-up of eye-catching plants, I find the reds are doing more than catching the eye. They’re doing a full-on fandango. Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of red plants sporting flowers, stems and/or leaves that I…
I first laid eyes on Red when he was on his last legs. Stunted, hunched and neglected, Red was clearly in need of love and care. But I snatched him up, not because I felt a need to do the right thing but because I was desperate for a sketch model and he was the…
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 