Why is it that sometimes the things closest to us are the least understood? Here’s a quick myth-busting guide to native plants with some gorgeous options for adding “local colour” to a garden in Southern Ontario. Myth #1: Native plants are drought tolerant. A plant native to your area has thrived in your area for a…
In Southern Ontario, long, frigid February nights may seem particularly abysmal but at this time last year, a couple of photographers in our region captured the dark sky filled with vertical streaks of coloured light. Though Science and Weather Reporter Nicole Mortillaro romantically referred to the pillars as “one of winter’s gifts, an almost apologetic gesture for the…
Each time I’ve visited deserts in New Mexico and Arizona, I got the eerie sense that I was walking along the sea floor. Desert plants, and succulents in particular, can bring an otherworldly aspect to a garden. So I was happy to find “How to create a sea-creature succulent garden”, an online article on the…
What’s going to be hot in the coming months is a hot topic every January. My favourite trend predictions so far come from the fashion world, convinced that 70’s throwback styles will rule this spring and, on the home front, from Pantone colour officials who are sure that, very soon, we’re all going to fall under the spell…
Fall’s loud and brassy flower show may have packed up and left but nobody bothered to tell the rhythm section. Seed heads of every shape and size are still shaking it up–none more rattlingly satisfying than Baptisia australis, a hardy perennial commonly called Blue false indigo or Blue wild indigo. A native of the Northeastern U.S., this robust…
Originally posted on gardeninacity:
Judy saw a coyote trotting down the street in front or our house a few days before Thanksgiving. Hurrah! Coyotes enjoy the suburban life. Photo from urbancoyoteresearch.com. I like to think that this means we now have our own neighborhood coyote, maybe even our own pack. We need some predators around here…
Southern Ontario just got our first dump of snow and even though it’s only added up to a few centimetres (sorry, Buffalo), I’m already feeling nostalgic for green and growing things. So discovering a posting on David Suzuki’s website about eco-connections between urban and natural environments such as pavements and cliff faces, gutters and streams, was a…
When you want to give your garden a brilliant send-off before it slips into winter, asters can supply the fireworks. Looking like mini-daisies in purple, pink or white, they’re easy-to-grow perennials and (bonus!) the best of the bunch is a native wildflower of Ontario–New England Aster (Aster novae-anglia). They’re the tallest of the asters and…
Who knew that a fen system, one of the rarest types of ecosystems in the world, can be found on the west coast of the Bruce Peninsula in Southern Ontario? The Oliphant fen system is, as you might guess, right next door to the tiny hamlet of Oliphant. A fen is a wetland created by fresh…
Though its name suggests otherwise, the Toad Lily (Tricyrtis) is a delicate wonder. And it’s really helpful for shady spots in the fall garden–the part of the garden that so often looks the worst first as summer fizzles out. Blooming from September until late in the season in Southern Ontario, they’ll light up a spot…
I just got the cutest poster in the mail. Hand-drawn pictures of flowers, shrubs and trees illustrated “Ontario’s pollinator pals”–pollinator-friendly plants that Ontario Nature is suggesting you plant in your garden. It’s a good idea. Bees, butterflies, moths and birds help spread pollen so that more plants grow. We should help these critters by supplying…
Having leftover firewood at our place is a little like having leftover wine. Basically, it never happens. But if the fascination with setting things, er, logs aflame slows to the point where we do have some hanging around, I’m definitely going to try this nifty idea I came across during a terrific weekend visit to…
If Wilma Flintstone was a gardener, I bet her back yard would’ve been gushing with native plants–garden centres selling imported varieties having not been invented yet. But what would that garden have looked like? You can get a pretty good idea by visiting San Francisco Botanical Garden’s Ancient Plant Garden. My besty Diane Hall did…
Real estate agents love to talk “curb appeal”. In Toronto’s Cabbagetown, home-owners have taken this concept to a whole new level. Here are some ways home-proud gardeners have created teeny, tiny front yards that can make any sidewalk stroller do an “Oh, wow!” Click on any image to get more info.
You can watch your fave episode of Sons Of Anarchy twice, so why can’t you do the same with your plants? Well, you can. Amazingly, there are plenty of perennials that burst into flower and then, do it again, and sometimes, again and again. Talk about getting your money’s worth–particularly when these plants, being perennials,…
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 