If you caught last week’s post on Chanticleer, I hope you were left craving more. Chanticleer seemed to me to have a never-ending supply of gardening ideas. A water feature that mimics a giant sarcophagus/banquet table, evergreen mastadons and a cutting garden to rival Giverny? Oh, yeah! The Ruin Garden The “ruin” in the Ruin…
Happy Canada Day! July 1st was yesterday but since we tend to spread out our traditional festivities over at least three days, I figure there’s still time to do something patriotic. Here are five fun suggestions for gardeners: 1. Brush up on your botanic identifiers The iconic maple leaf in the centre of our national…
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…
There’s a lot of talk about nativars–cultivars of native plants (read: cultivars of plants native to your region.) Ultimately, are these plants a good thing or a bad thing? Unfortunately, nativars can be more colourful, larger, taller, sturdier, hardier, etc., etc., but at the cost of being sterile, blooming in colours that insects don’t recognize…
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,…
Planning on adding some native plants to your garden this spring? Good for you! All the bees and birds will thank you. Keep your eyes open because there are plenty of choices out there these days. But if you’re trying to figure out what to buy based on the information on a plant’s label, you…
We’re already in the middle of April and I’ve just found out that butterfly season is already well underway. These bedazzled bugs start making their appearance in Canada as early as March in balmy British Columbia. It won’t be long before Ontario is in peak butterfly mode. What’s the panic, you may ask? It’s surprising…
I love a good gardening tip that saves time and effort and–big bonus–helps the environment. One of my favourites is to use gone-past-sell-by fruits and dinner leftovers cleanly and efficiently in your garden without having to compost. Sure, there are good reasons to start composting, top of the list being you reduce food waste and…
Foodscaping has been a hot gardening trend for years now. What goes around comes around. In a past blog post, I explored how a lot of “new” foodscaping ideas are actually pretty old. Gardening with edibles is simply a terrific idea. A real win-win. But, I have to admit, there are times when I’ve grown…
Whether your country is part of the Commonwealth as mine is (Canada) or not, you may have joined me in having some quiet thoughts about the remarkable woman everyone knew as Queen Elizabeth II. Even if you’re not into monarchies, you have to give her credit for her steadfastness and grace under pressure throughout a…
Allow me to sing the praises of grit. Not the grit so indelibly captured by John Wayne–the stuff of perseverance and passion–but the stuff scattered on the floor of hen coops. I don’t know what chickens personally think about chicken grit but they certainly rely on it to help them digest food in their powerful…
In a post I published eight years ago entitled The Greying Garden And What To Do About It, I explored the viewpoint that gardening was pretty much an older person’s pursuit. I had just attended a gardening seminar where pretty much everyone was rocking grey hair. Now, with a big boost from the pandemic, gardening…
Earlier this month I published a post (highly opinionated, of course) about gardening shortcuts for getting that traditional English country garden style. Since then, I’ve been thinking. The British garden look is popular for good reason, as are other well-known garden looks such as the Japanese-style garden or the American Southwest style (think lots of…
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 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…
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 