A noun. A verb. A blog.
Instead of framing a parterre with boxwood (Buxus) hedges, how about using feather reed grass (Calamagrostis) instead? Unlike box, it will change through the season. Don’t you love how the soft foliage here allows these bulbs to shine? Grasses have been the big thing recently. I’m not talking about puny little turf grasses, but statuesque […]
California dreaming at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers At times like these, escape is tempting. I speak of the weather, of course. What else would a Toronto person want to escape from in November 2013? Luckily, Toronto has wonderful escape hatches in the form of conservatories – indoor Wonderlands and protected respite for lovers of […]
Boardwalk provides the pathways around this pond in a Toronto Island garden If you count the Islands and the ins and outs of inlets and bays, Toronto’s Lake Ontario shoreline stretches for an astonishing 138 km, according to the City. Long stretches of it in the eastern and western beaches, as well as on the […]
The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California What could be better on a cold, blustery November Wednesday than a quick trip to California? This almost-wordless visit takes us to the Ruth Bancroft Garden – the dry climate garden that was the first of many private gardens to come under the protective wing of the […]
White and weathered, the Cabots’ home is centuries younger than New France, yet seems to pre-date it Whether you enjoy 28 acres, as the Cabot family has at Les Quatre Vents, or 0.06 acres, as I do, it’s good to consider how your garden works with your architecture – and how your architecture works with […]
Le Pigeonnier and its garden is one of 24 garden spaces at Les Quatre Vents If you love gardens and live in Canada, be proud that one of North America’s finest gardens is right here. Well, right here and a little over to our right – near La Malbaie, Québec. It’s Les Quatre Vents. Few […]
One of a series of willow arches around the kitchen garden of Domaine Cataraqui, Québec A couple of years ago, we wrote about living willow fences. You can build just about anything out of willow – it’s a tree with a great determination to grow! This summer on a visit to Québec City, these willow […]
All-green fall planters at Allan Gardens A little almost-wordless wow for another grey Wednesday in November. Don’t you love the textures here? And these babies will take a little nippy weather, especially here where they’re a little sheltered. It was hard to choose between them but this one might be my favourite after all.
Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) – a North American native shrub – with glossy black pomes and bright fall foliage First, to confess. These fruits are highly decorative in the fall garden, but none of them are berries. As botanically defined, berries are fleshy fruits and seeds produced from a single ovary. Currants, blueberries and gooseberries […]
The Toronto Botanical Garden on a rainy (but clearly not grey) day in November Think November is drab? It doesn’t have to be, if you play your cards right. Look at the lusciousness in the photo above, without the use of a single flower – well, discounting the dried heads of a red-tinged oakleaf hydrangea […]
Travelling to a different part of the city lets you into different views, even different styles of fall planters. Saw this one outside the Roots store in uptown Toronto, and loved the pairing of the crimson mum and purple kale and cabbage. Remember the bad, old days when people didn’t put edible things into planters? […]
Two bright red begonias – B. ‘Dragon Wing’ on top and B. boliviensis ‘Bonfire’ at bottom – with golden Ipomeoa ‘Marguerite’ Isn’t it just the way that the street planters are at their best just before a cold snap makes them collapse like a failed soufflé. Give them a nod as you pass, and say, […]