A noun. A verb. A blog.
These are the insignificant-looking flowers that cause so much misery in late-summer hay-fever season You’re probably blaming the wrong guy. The culprits behind all that sneezing aren’t those pretty yellow flowers in late-summer bloom. They’re ones you might not even pay attention to – despite the fact that one of them grows really, really tall […]
Endearingly polka-dotted and charmingly shaped, the plate-sized leaves of Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty’ Another reason to thank Marie the Gardenbug: she introduced me to this cool plant, known only to me by name before. It’s an exotic hybrid cousin of our native may-apple called Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty’. For info on this dramatic family of plants, see […]
A bee’s-eye view of scarlet bee balm, Monarda didyma I need cheering up, after nearly ten days of being seriously under the weather. What could be cheerier than the bold blast of colour that comes from our native North American bee balm (Monarda spp.) and its hybrid cousins – many of which are blooming right […]
Basket o’ Tomatoes. See also the best little pruner/deadheader, by Fiskars, at left. Thanks to a fun plant swap hosted by our local Toronto garden genius, Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl, I’ve come away with a lovely pile of new tomatoes to try this year. All are new to me, and I’ll update later […]
White Iceland Poppy
Look at that face, just look at it! Who could resist Rex begonia (Begonia rex-cultorum) ‘Escargot’? Not me, it seems. Despite her better judgement, Helen the House Plant Killer has become the owner of a slightly fussy Rex begonia ‘Escargot’. The showy leaves with their whorled, snail-shell centres wooed her, that is, er, me. In […]
In a sheltered position, close to the house, one tiny snowdrop defies Winter 2013-4 A little bit of spring has finally emerged from the Polar Voldemortex that was Winter 2013-4 – in the shape of this tiny snowdrop. This is a full ten days later than the latest snowdrop sighting we recorded back in 2008, […]
Strongylodon Macrobotrys, or Jade Vine, native of the Phillipines. Do you want to get a gander at one of the most bizarre blooms ever? Of course you do! Then head on over to Allan Gardens this week. The eye-popping Jade Vine is blooming, and you won’t want to miss its display of pendulous waxy blooms […]
Corner store tulips, taken with Camera+ app – cropped as Golden Rectangle; Miniaturize filter applied. What could be an easier than treating myself to an afternoon walk down the Danforth, looking at corner-store tulips through the eye of my iPhone? Then taking a few self-indulgent minutes with neat camera apps, making pretty pictures – prettier? […]
Viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare) – in Canada, a weed; in Europe, a fairly respectable wildflower. I also happen to be rather fond of the fairy-ring flowers of narrow-leaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata). Photographed on Toronto’s Leslie Street Spit. Many common North American weeds are aliens that piggybacked here accidentally with agricultural settlers. An interesting timeline in […]
Jade plant (Crassula ovata) blooming its heart out in the Allan Gardens cactus house, December 2013 Jadenappers! They had the nerve to sneak into my back yard one summer and steal my lovely jade plant (Crassula ovata) as it was innocently sunning itself outdoors on vacation. Broken-hearted ever since, I hadn’t replaced it. Mine had […]
The poinsettia’s real name is Euphorbia pulcherrima, meaning “beautiful euphorbia” It seems that the Ecke family introduced poinsettias to the commercial market back in 1900 (Although I rarely point you to Wikipedia on the blog, you can read their story here). Today, the ubiquity of the poinsettia at Christmastime has made people say ecke! in […]