Two big boxes of live plants were delivered to my front door the other day. I hadn’t ordered them. Was there a rogue grower out there randomly gifting eager bloggers with young plants? Or what? I pulled out the contents of both boxes, trying to find a clue about their origins. I finally found the letter…
The weirdly early May Long has come and gone. The temps are up and staying up. We can all exhale. It’s safe to go plant shopping. This year, natives are going to be on the top of my list. And, no, I haven’t gone all crunchy-granola on you. Native plants can save you lots of…
My back garden has finally rediscovered spring. There’s a Virginia creeper about to conquer new territory. The clematis is feeling sorry for itself. And I’ve got morning glory seedlings about to bust open their seed tray. All of this means one thing. There’s gonna be trellis. In my opinion (as someone who loathes to spend loads…
There’s a nasty threat of aliens taking over (and I don’t mean the already-panned Tom Cruise space thriller due out this June). I saw it first-hand and took the photo you see at left. It’s a rampant patch of periwinkle flourishing in the woods near Wiarton on the Bruce Peninsula. What this area should look like…
Can garden gloves make you laugh? (In a LOL way. Not a nervous giggling kind of way.) They can if they come from Watson Gloves of Burnaby, B.C. I think I love this company. It’s so refreshing to see people making good products and doing a good job of getting that product out to people without…
Maybe it’s that we’re lucky to live in places where there are lots of big trees (read: gardens with lots of shade) or maybe it’s because we’re looking for plants that reliably show up every year, do a great job of quickly filling up an area with lushness and look quite elegant in the process.…
In art class, a depiction of a bunch of stuff all in the same colour family is considered monochromatic. Think Picasso during his Blue Period. In gardening, this is usually considered boring. Unless you were Vita Sackville-West, whose White Garden (Ok, so there are green and silvery grey plants, too) at Sissinghurst Castle still brings droves…
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. For all those people who have left figuring out what to do until now, I have one suggestion: Skip the chicken special and hit the road. I know. Taking dear old Mum out for a special meal is right up there with giving her flowers or a plant and buying her…
It was love at first strike. With one smooth movement, the CobraHead sliced into the ground. I gently angled it and then pulled up, releasing the gnarliest dandelion from its smug existence. Ironically, I was the one that was bitten. My CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator arrived in April’s mail. The Wisconsin-based makers of these tools…
Let me state for the records that I’m anti-minimalist when it comes to gardening. Minimal does not do anything for me, even if you’re talking a painfully chic urban rooftop garden-slash-yoga retreat. To illustrate my point, just Google anything about Japanese zen gardens–supposedly the poster gardens for minimalism. There’s actually a lot going on in…
You may have heard that Monarch butterflies aren’t doing very well this year. Turns out their numbers have hit an all-time low while they were winter vacationing in Mexico. Jode Roberts of the Toronto-based Homegrown National Park Project reports on David Suzuki’s website that there are two reasons for this: severe weather and “the virtual eradication…
We sneak peeks “behind the scenes” on everything from Canada’s covert commandos to Kate’s latest meet-n-greet (with Wills and baby George in tow), so I thought the time was right–just before the spring plant-buying frenzy–to delve into the mysterious world of commercial garden nurseries. Was I going to find adorable sprouts? Exotic aliens (gardener-speak for…
Are you ready to go a little wild in your garden? Miriam Goldberger says there are 60 ways to do it. (Don’t get your rubber hose in a knot quite yet.) We’re talking sixty of her favourite native wildflowers and grasses. She knows what she’s talking about. Miriam is founder and co-owner of Wildflower Farm, a…
Forecasters are predicting a long, hot summer. If we’re looking at a dry summer, too, that’ll also mean plenty of blazingly bright days. Luckily, you can still turn a deck or patio into a lush oasis despite the hot + dry + bright equation. One answer is wildly popular Calibrachoa hybrids, commonly known as million bells…
Despite below-average spring temperatures here in Southern Ontario, the big box hardware stores are busily stacking patio furniture to the rafters–always a heartening sign. But I’m not feeling the love for tastefully modern, ebony-coloured plicker side tables or neon-bright recycled-plastic faux Adirondacks. After one crazy-long winter, I’m thinking big and bad. Huge and heavy. I’m thinking…
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 