A noun. A verb. A blog.
Joseph’s coat amaranth is ornamental and (technically) edible Performers who sing, dance and act are called triple threats – a good term for amaranth, too. Amaranth’s three-times-great features include: highly nutritious seeds, tasty young leaves and rather smashing flowers and foliage. Although, not always in the same plant. Like trendy quinoa, its kissing cousin, this […]
I’d call this a jubilation of purple (and not-so-purple) purple coneflowers (Echinacea), wouldn’t you? From mid-July into September, purple coneflowers (Echinacea) are among the bright stars of the garden. Long-lasting and fairly easy to grow, on well-drained soil in full sun or light to part shade, they are a great flower for beginning gardeners. What’s […]
Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ with Heuchera ‘Caramel’ I chuckle when people say “nothing will grow under Norway maples.” Then I point to a scene like the one above, growing in my doubly Norway maple-shaded, root-infested, deeply sandy garden – the indomitable ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea, fattened on a regular diet of chopped leaves and, recently, duck manure. Yes, things […]
The bold, blue leaves of sea kale (Crambe maritima) anchor a collection of planters – and sea kale is actually edible. Sea kale also produces clusters of white flowers. With less-attractive large leaves, its cousin colewort (Crambe cordifolia) outdoes sea kale with its billowing clouds of small, white flowers. Sometimes you need to sweat the […]
Tulipa ‘Antoinette’ at the Montreal Botanical Garden ‘Antoinette’ really is prettier than a picture. She arrives a lemony shade of yellow, and gains a widening, lipstick-pink edge on every petal as she ages. I hear that she is also multi-stemmed! A fitting feature for this almost-Wordless Wednesday. A full palette of beauty for any size […]
Heucherella ‘Sweet Tea’ with Hosta ‘Pineapple Upside-Down Cake’ and the glorious Tulipa ‘Prinses Irene’. May has raced by so quickly, I forgot it was the 15th – the day when, every month, Carol of May Dreams Gardens invites garden bloggers to share what’s growing on. I might just make it under the wire. After a […]
Beautiful ‘Prinses Irene’ tulips have me wanting more, more, more! Every spring finds me wishing I could turn back the clock to fall – to plant more bulbs. But, in a small garden, how do you deal with the necessary (and unsightly) evil of ripening foliage afterwards? The leaves busily making food for next year’s […]
Having survived late dumps of snow and ice pellets, the spring planters are growing a great crop of Optimism It’s Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – or it was yesterday – when every 15th of every month, Carol of May Dreams Gardens invites gardeners around the world to show what’s growing their way. If you were […]
Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) in the Westview Terrace at the Toronto Botanical Garden What is a native plant? We weighed in on this complex discussion – or argument – in 2011. Let’s just say that the four lesser-known flowering shrubs in this Friday’s Idea File are native to North America. All are hardy in Toronto’s […]
The nodding bracts of prairie smoke (the actual flowers are hiding inside their pointy nose) blooming in May Don’t be entirely fooled by the name. The wildflower called prairie smoke (Geum triflorum) isn’t restricted to prairies and is native to some parts of Ontario, the eastern limit of its natural range. As you’d expect, it […]
An ad in the Yonkers Herald Statesman [PDF], March 30, 1961 1962-3 was a stressful year for our family, full of upsets and changes. We’d moved again. Ten times in my ten (and Sarah’s seven and a half) years. But somehow, that spring, this pair of rootless sisters became owners of a Punch ‘n Gro. […]
Beautiful yellow trout lily (Erythronium – perhaps ‘Pagoda’?) from Barry Parker’s Parkdale garden Spring has arrived, and now we’re waiting impatiently for it to actually begin. But just because there are blank, snowy spots where your plants are supposed to be doesn’t mean you can’t be thinking about what to plant between them next year. […]