Secret hideaways with your choice of hovering rain umbrellas, pink flamingoes or a sparkling chandelier overhead. Old bed frames in new flower beds, a canoe filled with cannas and a loo with a view (made extra panoramic by the absence of a door). These were just some of the surprises awaiting us on a recent…
Here in southwestern Ontario, the Victoria Day long weekend, which falls on or around May 24th, is anticipated with guarded respect by gardeners. Not because this 3-day weekend also goes by the name May Two-Fer, referring to cases of beer, not the date. No, it’s because this weekend represents all that is soul-crushingly cruel about…
Containers full of plants can do wonders for adding colour to a garden patio but they can do so much more. They can direct traffic, help wildlife, lend some privacy and give you the feeling that your space is much bigger than it really is. And you don’t need much space to begin with, either.…
With a shady garden, summer evenings (when you finally have time to sit back and relax) can be a mixed blessing. You’re not baking in the sun’s glare but lengthening shadows can fade bright flowers, shrubs, and lawns into a cool but disappointing dullness. Many a garden design guide will recommend white flowers and plants with…
I don’t normally plant annuals in my flower beds. I’d rather invest in perennials that are going to come back year after year. And I splurge on ephemeral annuals for my pots where I can spotlight them in all their delicate and exotic glory. If a plant can’t survive our Southern Ontario winters then it’s…
The Clash is making a super-hot fashion statement for Spring 2015–no surprise given the tidal wave of throwback-to-the-Seventies looks. But will jarring colours work in the garden, too. Oh, yeah. Two of the plants I trialled on behalf of Proven Winners last year were Supertunia® Black Cherry Petunia hybrid and Vermillionaire™ Cuphea. The petunias had decadent,…
I didn’t think of marigolds as a salad ingredient until I visited the vegetable and herb garden at Les Jardin de Metis, also known as Reford Gardens. The ‘potager‘ as it’s called there (hey, it is in Quebec) is a screaming example of how things you can eat can also make the most incredibly beautiful garden. The…
Do not go where the path may lead, instead go where there is no path, and leave a trail -Ralph Waldo Emerson
MOSTLY MONTREAL, MOST OF THE TIME
Discover Finland’s hidden gems
…about landscape journeys…
native gardens from seed
How to Create an Organic Permaculture Suburban Homestead
The sun is the great luminary of all life - Frank Lloyd Wright
A girl and her garden :)
"Looking Back on Our Four Seasons of Life"
Damp and in the middle of nowhere
The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies - Gertrude Jekyll
From suburban lawn to backyard homestead...with ducks. A journal by Lori Fontanes
