I realized we were officially in the grip of pre-Halloween hysteria last week when I was fishing out my wallet to pay for some items in our local pharmacy. A woman swept past me, one hand gripped on a trailing child, the other pointing towards the back of the store. In a loud, theatrical whisper,…
Autumn is officially here and, just like the garden itself, gardening topics are dwindling as winter sets in–at least if you live north of the 49th parallel. From now til spring I’ll be posting a little less often but I promise to keep in touch as inspiration strikes. I find reaching out to my fellow…
True story: A couple of years ago, when my guy was applying for a permit to build a stand-alone garage near our cottage on the Bruce Peninsula, he had to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops, including an on-site inspection by the powers that be to ensure we would be inflicting the least amount…
You say elderberry. I say elderflower. Tomayto, tomahto. Whatever you call it, Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis is a wonderful shrub for the garden offering a spectacular variety of bonuses to the gardener. You can even make music with the stems. (More about that later.) Here are 8 admirable attributes that I love about this elegant…
Hello, there. It’s been awhile, I know. What prompted me to dive back into blogging’s depthless waters was a long wait at the post office. On the wall was a poster displaying Canada Post’s recent issue of its annual flower stamps. The lush colours were as seductive to my snow-weary eyes as an oasis to a…
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…
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…
This is the second in a series of posts covering very special but easy care plants to grow in honour of Canada’s birthday. Ferns are popular for being equally good at giving a garden a nice touch of swish and authentic wild woodsyness. These 3 additions to my Celebrate Canada Plants List are all gorgeous ferns that…
Ferns are having a moment not just because they’re sharing airtime with Zach Galifianakis during his hilarious/shockingly irreverent celebrity interviews on Between Two Ferns. Their general gorgeousness, lush but not overpowering, make them a popular choice for small gardens and many have an impressive hardiness that’s earning them starring roles in high profile places like New…
In spring, you can’t swing a bat in a garden centre without sending a display of bee-friendly flowers flying. Everyone’s on the bee-saving bandwagon and that’s a good thing. But even though we’re heading into autumn, you can still plant for beauty and the bees. Add a nectar-producing tree to your garden. Some of the…
Sure, keeping rainwater on our properties is way better than having it wash away into storm sewers and eventually into our Great Lakes (picking up pollutants as it goes). At the same time, who doesn’t want to jump on the Grow Your Own bandwagon? But creating an edible rain garden? That had to be music…
To get into the head of a landscape architect is to see renovated gardens (at least this year) filled with rain barrels, fire pits and native plants. Hammocks? Not so much. I can predict this with relative confidence because The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) conducted a survey last month (February, 2016) to capture…
“We need plants to be more than just the parsley to the pot roast of our house”, he said. Ok. I’m in. Thomas Rainer, landscape architect and co-author with Claudia West of Planting In A Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities For Resilient Landscapes, has a way with plants and words. His landscape designs look like…
Want a gift that really spreads the love? Plant an oak tree. I know this isn’t the sexiest idea but hear me out. I’ve got 5 great reasons why oak trees are the lovingest of all the plants you can grow. REASON #1: Oaks are the ultimate sharers. Sitting under an oak tree in late fall,…
“Every garden has a desert and a swamp,” he declared. OK. He had our attention. Finding the right plants for those unlovely spots—that’s the challenge. So when someone comes along and offers a tried and true list of plants recommended for your personal garden hell, well, hello! At the recent Landscape Ontario Congress, a huge trade…
Love to Garden? Learn Some Helpful Tips And Tricks To Help You Get That Green Thumb
Life is an interesting journey. These are journals, stories, reflections of a traveller of this journey. (songoftheheartsite@gmail.com)
for OCA Visual Communications BA (hons)
Where observation and imagination meet nature in poetry.
A blog about life in Wellington, New Zealand
Plants, veg and chickens: a cottage garden on the edge of Brussels
This blog is about gardening in the north.
Discovering the joy of art
Do not go where the path may lead, instead go where there is no path, and leave a trail -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ministry of the fence 