A noun. A verb. A blog.
Heard of companion planting? It’s the concept of putting plants together – ones that attract pollinators, let’s say, with fruiting plants that need pollinating. In that spirit, I’ve just read two books on vegetable growing that make perfect companions. The first is Garden Rant-er Michele Owens’ Grow the Good Life: Why a Vegetable Garden Will Make You […]
Don’t be mislead by the title of Plants for Atlantic Gardens, Jodi DeLong’s new book from Nimbus Publishing. Atlantic gardeners aren’t the only ones who will find this book useful. Sure, east-coasters deal with a harsher range of climates (as cold as Zone 0!) than we do in our part of the Golden Horseshoe (Zone 5-6). They’re more […]
You’re looking at a greenhouse. No, actually, you’re looking at many teeny tiny greenhouses. Or, they will be, once we get through with them. My Number One Dot and I have embarked on an adventure in winter seed starting, inspired and informed by the Garden Faerie blogger Monica Milla and Montreal garden blogger Dirt Gently. Links […]
We published this in its original form back in April 2009. But with January starting the season for many garden societies, it’s worth saying again: Ten reasons why it simply makes sense for any gardener (or would-be gardener) to belong to a local garden society: 1. Inside dirt on what will work in your garden. […]
The inaugural issue of the Soiled & Seeded garden zine Canadian gardeners who want more than how-tos from their garden reading now have a new zine on the scene. The first issue of Soiled & Seeded launched this month. It’s worth bookmarking. The zine is a project of Toronto-based non-profit Soiled & Seeded Natural Heritage […]
Toronto gardeners (or those who know and love them) need to go further for a great little gift or stocking stuffer than The Toronto Gardener’s Journal now updated for 2011. I first wrote about this information-packed gardening journal back in 2009. Besides the timely tips for each week beside your journal entries, the book is […]
My Rosa ‘New Dawn’ is not only beautiful, she’s a tough customer. I’ve written about her before. Not many climbing roses put on a show with about a half day of sun. She does. But every couple of years at this time, when the buds show signs of life, she does need to be wrassled […]
On my way home from having my hair pruned the other day, I popped into Ten Thousand Villages on Danforth and noticed they were all kitted up for garden season. If you’re shopping for garden pots or decor this spring, browse around their fair trade goods and shop with a healthy conscience. That lovely brown-on-brown […]
A quick but timely post specially for us east-enders: Celena’s Bakery has opened on Danforth near Woodbine. I can write about this in a garden blog with good conscience for two reasons: One: See what’s on top? Rosemary! A fresh sprig tops Celena’s surprising and delicious Rosemary Raisin Bread. We have been back for seconds. […]
Oh, what a tangled web we weave… when we don’t know how to prune a weeping mulberry (Morus alba ‘Pendula’). You can see this popular weeping standard tree all over the city – and when not wearing its cloak of green, the tangled, haystack-headed results of improper pruning are only too evident. Therefore, when I […]
This photo of my sad front garden (let’s simply call it the before picture) illustrates why I’m sooooo happy to be taking this Art and Management of Landscape Design course [ed. actually, I have the name wrong. It’s the Art and Management of Planting Design – even better!] at Ryerson University. Instructor Michelle Reid outlined […]
I’ve always hated winter. Why? Because I hate, hate, hate being cold. I was the kid with the 17 comforters on my bed: I relished the weighty coziness of it. Living in Canada, I’m way out of my comfort zone: born in England, I came (was dragged) here as a fairly wee tot, and never […]