A noun. A verb. A blog.
Here’s what I was going to write: Don’t toss your banana peels into the Green Bin (or even the compost pile). Instead, chop them up and sprinkle them around your roses, to give the roses a good, organic snack of potassium. I cut mine into bite-sized pieces and apply directly to the soil. The peels […]
My name is Helen, and I am a composter. In fact, I was once the Compost Queen, the kind of girl who stole grass clippings — that had been bagged and left on curbs for the garbage truck. Few things heat up and speed up a compost pile quite like a layer of grass clippings. […]
[Edited update: Mystery solved. According to someone who grows this, accosted as I passed their garden while I was out on a walk, this is ‘Rare Edition.’ Thanks to everyone who contributed their guess. Helen] For the iris experts out there: What is the name of this lovely little plicata iris growing on a neighbour’s […]
Okay, the picture exaggerates. But today we’ll get a taste of it, and tomorrow’s forecast is 30˚C and full sunshine. Sudden summer, indeed. Expect your new plants to go into mild to moderate shock till they acclimatize. Bye bye, last of the tulips. Oops, there go the apple blossoms. Many spring flowers will move into […]
Some people get 15 minutes of fame. Some trees get what feels like 15 minutes of flower. In early May, it was the Magnolias. Now, it’s the flowering crabapples (Malus sp.). No May in Toronto would be complete without their fleeting blaze of glory. Certain areas of the city are positively bowered with their white […]
Clematis and I have a thing. It isn’t always good. It isn’t always long. But, you know, I just can’t quit them. This time of year, the love affair begins, when the garden arch in the back is decked with the blue wings of Clematis alpina ‘Pamela Jackman’ (above). It’s a lovely little clematis that […]
I’m new to this “tradition” (if the term applies to something so young) initiated by Indiana blogger Carol of May Dreams Gardens. On the 15th of every month, she asks all bloggers to show what’s growing in their gardens. Here’s what’s happening in (and around) my Zone 6 Toronto garden, starting with the top picture, […]
If your garden is small, here’s a technique to keep certain plants from overgrowing it. If your garden is shady, it keeps plants from becoming leggy and floppy as they reach for the light. If your garden is both, listen up. And, by the way, this technique also increases the number of flowers and can […]
Two of the tulips I like best (besides two lips in the dark) are late-bloomers making a show right now. The Tulipa above is in the fringed group of tulips. I wish I knew its name. Squirrels and their guillotine tendencies aside, these were reliable performers in my garden for many years, increasing happily and […]
Among the Top 10 questions Toronto gardeners ask at Humber Nurseries is one about Canadian hardiness zones. In case you didn’t know: Canada is different from the U.S. Here’s why. Both countries map their landscape into zones to denote plant hardiness — where a plant will survive, especially over winter. Yet, Canada and the U.S. […]
The weather guys at City-TV warn there might be frost tonight in the GTA — though the closer you are to the moderating effect of the lake, the lower the risk. (FYI, The Weather Network doesn’t put frost on the horizon.) Spring/fall frost dates are merely based on statistics, and freak weather does happen. Think […]
Note: The big clover leaves are from seed sown last year. It’s been 3 weeks since I sowed my white clover seed on the (many) bare patches on my lawn, and it’s coming up like crazy. Clover seed is so tiny, and I sowed very thickly. At the moment what I can compare it to […]