A noun. A verb. A blog.
It’s another heat wave. So we thought it worthwhile to repeat these tips for water-wise gardening from May 2009 – still useful, even as we enter July: Okay, the picture exaggerates. But today we’ll get a taste of it, and tomorrow’s forecast is 30˚C and full sunshine. On hot days like tomorrow, it’s smart to […]
A Rose by any other name… would be much happier. Or so our daughter says. Our nearly-summer-solstice Gift Child dislikes her second name, Rose – given because their bloom is almost timed to her birth. Yet, each birthday, I run out to gather the first-blown rose on the vine for her birthday bouquet. Now that […]
Wow, wow, WOW! The pre-sunset “golden hour” lights up butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) Stopped in my tracks on the streets of East York. That’s the only way to describe my reaction to this plant just after 7 pm on Wednesday evening, and thank the photo gods for my iPhone. Capturing the last of the sunlight […]
The star-shaped brownish-maroon flowers of dog-strangling vine. This picture makes them seem almost pretty. Don’t be taken in. One of Toronto’s worst – if not the very worst – of weeds is now making babies. Millions and millions and millions of them. It’s an ideal time to nip all that fecundity in the bud. Dog-strangling […]
Berries in the snow, just what the doctor ordered. No, I’m not advertising for a mate with a charming drawl. It’s only me letting out an inner “D’oh!” after a spot of Googling. It’s all to do with winter interest in the garden, or lack thereof, in my own. Four years ago, determined to get […]
Every garden toolkit needs one sharp knife, the ideal tool for tasks from cutting string to dividing plant roots. Garden tools are very much a personal thing, like selecting a wallet. You need to find what works for you. I wouldn’t be without my aged Felco #2 hand pruners, for example. And the same goes […]
A multi-stemmed river birch (Betula nigra) You can’t always get what you want. Although you can try sometimes (gardeners call this “zone denial”). But when what you want is a tree called “river birch,” what you want (this tree with the amazing, exfoliating bark, especially as a youngster) might be ruled out by what this […]
Just stop with me for a moment. The wind is blowing my neighbour’s grasses. Miscanthus or maiden grass. Sometimes we need to hurry to appointments. Sometimes, we need to stand and watch the wind toss the maidens’ tresses. I think Robert Frost wrote a poem like that. About birches, weighed down by ice: So low […]
My corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) in happier times I’m just awaiting the paperwork. Eastern Filbert Blight has again reared its ugly – uckily ugly – head, as predicted and feared when I wrote about it back in March. Now I’m waiting for an envelope from Rutgers University containing the import permit that will […]
This Blooms Day post will be a quickie. There’s not much still happening in the Microgarden this November. When the flowers are past their prime, how grateful we are for bright-coloured foliage: Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ A nursery Chrysanthemum – almost as spherical as the pumpkin beside it. Don’t be depressed if your mums never look […]
Oh, sure. They look cute, their nodding white flowers, crimped and curled at the edges, like fairies’ cloche hats. In May, they shake those little bells, and perfume fills the air. Plus, they’ll grow anywhere, in sun, shade, wet or dry, with minimal attention. What’s not to like? Grrrrr. Lily of the valley. Convallaria. Muguet […]
We first posted this back in 2009, but 2011’s long, wet spring seems to have been perfect – many of our street trees seem spottier than ever. Here’s a repeat of our original post: Black tar spot of maples (Rhytisma acerinum) is one of the few excuses I can accept for sending your leaves off […]