A noun. A verb. A blog.
Hip-hip-hip hooray for Hippeastrum (aka Amaryllis) ‘Evergreen’ Other than snow flowers decking the branches, there’s not much blooming outdoors this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in our frosty neck of the woods. Indoors, the leaves of the over-wintering pelargoniums are hanging in, and the pale greeny-white blooms of Sarah’s new Amaryllis/Hippeastrum ‘Evergreen’ make a fabulous picture […]
Oh, how I love those mouthful names: Ampelopsis brevipedunculata Its pretty, many-coloured blue and purple berries give porcelain vine its name. I had one of these members of the grape family – the one with the variegated leaves – in the wrong spot in my garden. Please note the use of the past tense. It’s […]
Guess which witch caught my eye while walking? Are they witches’ caps or gnomes? Whatever they are, they called to me (and my ever-present camera) from the shrubbery as I power-walked through our neighbourhood at 7:30 this morning. Not till I started to move again did I realize which witch was witch-hazel… in this case, […]
Savoy cabbage is one of many cole crops that like a touch of frost. With a few exceptions (we still have some carrots to harvest), we wrapped up our community garden plot back in October. But, next year, I won’t be so hasty. The pictures here, snapped a day or so ago, are reminders that […]
A big bag of fresh-picked apples is sitting on my kitchen counter. And I mean a BIG bag. If we had a bushel basket, it would be full to overflowing. What kind did you pick?, I asked my daughter. Oh, lots, she replied. Jonagold, Northern Spy, Empire, some other kinds. It’ll be a […]
The characteristic blunt leaf of the Liriodendron A neighbour once asked me whether she should worry about tree roots invading her drains if she selected a “yellow poplar” through Toronto’s street tree program, as poplar roots are notorious for their water-seeking ways. I assured her that the yellow-poplar isn’t actually a poplar, but (along with […]
This single, late tulip, “El Nino” positively glows in the sun. I probably need to be planting flower bulbs right now, but I’m not. The last few falls I haven’t planted any tulip bulbs, no crocuses, no nothing. I have my reasons (cough *excuses*), listed here: • My city garden is hard as heck to […]
Just listened to a radio interview with three of the fab women of Garden Rant. It’s not often that these far-flung garden writers get together so it was a great opportunity to hear them talk off the cuff on Mike Nowak’s garden show from Chicago. Torontonians and others can listen on the web. The gardening […]
Too much direct sun, especially along with unusually hot weather, can be a bad thing if you’re a ripening tomato. It’s one factor that can lead to the colour disorder shown above, which goes by names including yellow eye, yellow shoulder and green shoulder. Some tomatoes, particularly some heirlooms, grow naturally with a bit of […]
Before the end of July 2010, we’ve harvested radishes, many bouquets of frilly lettuce, a kilo or more of bush beans, and nearly that in tomatoes, with more to come. Not to mention the flowers. Aren’t they all pretty? The contrast between this year’s and last year’s tomato harvest alone from our community garden is […]
Not Far From the Tree (NFFTT) is expanding in the east end of Toronto. If you know someone with a fruit (or nut) tree but with no time or energy to harvest it, you can spread the wealth through this network of volunteers, plus avoid that litter of fermenting, fallen fruit. NFFTT operates in west-end […]
Who in this metricized, largely urban world even knows what a peck is anymore? In grade six, when our family was living in a rural community, our class had to memorize all the Imperial agricultural measurements: 2 pints in a quart 4 quarts in a gallon 2 gallons in a peck 4 pecks in a […]