A noun. A verb. A blog.
Certain plants. Hostas. Daylilies. They inspire the collecting FEVAH. I never thought I would get as potty about hostas as my sister Helen; but now, inexorably, I am. I never thought I would get as potty as my father was about succulents. But now I am. Is there something about certain plants that invade your […]
Ah, common names! Here’s a plant with many: spotted or dotted mint, spotted or dotted beebalm, horsemint and spotted horsemint (and possibly even dotted horsemint), for example, all with the botanical name Monarda punctata. No, it doesn’t look like your typical monarda, does it? Whatever you call it, you can call it great for native bees. Pollinators […]
Herding 60 cats bloggers into our Minneapolis Fling group shot in the sunken garden of the Marjorie McNeeley Conservatory in Saint Paul’s Como Park meant we ran out of time to do Como Park’s Japanese Garden justice. At least, I felt so. But all was not lost. Perhaps it’s the dry shade in me, but I heard the sunlit waterlilies […]
A bouquet of tulips from my garden, in light from my window Call this post: I’m going to show you pictures of these tulips until you beg me to stop. Tulips are amazing in a vase. They continue to grow and change for days. One day, the morning light caught the bouquet I’d picked last […]
Tulipa ‘Parrot King’ is a kingly parrot tulip Yes, I’ve had problems with squirrels and tulips. Who hasn’t? It almost put me off ever planting tulips again. But I’ve learned that the best way to foil squirrels when growing tulips is to grow more tulips. Like the British way of making tea: Plant “one for […]
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), looking lust-afterable in a Beach garden Virginia bluebells are native North American spring ephemerals and they’re just fabulous – in any garden but mine. Wish my shady garden had the moisture they need to be as happy as they are here. You want them, too. You know you do. Mobot tells […]
I think these lovelies might be the turkey-tail fungus (Trametes versicolor). You’ll correct me if I’m wrong. There are many (many!) things I don’t know, but I know what I like. Something that falls into both categories is tree fungus. Despite the damage they cause to the forestry industry, I find tree fungi to be […]
Hello, little snowdrop! This is our earliest-ever official Toronto Gardens snowdrop sighting – I noticed my usual earlybird snowdrop was up yesterday, February 3, 2016, but it had likely awoken a few days before. Our neighbours S and B have a nice little patch blooming in their front yard, too. Prior to this, the earliest […]
What is that – a flower spike? Could it be? It is! My Clivia is blooming! This was a year for miracles in the garden. Not only did the Hoya I’d tended for 30 years bloom for the very first time this spring – it did it three more times in succession over the summer! […]
Gorgeous, creamy and scented Rosa ‘Windermere’ from David Austin Today, I’m grateful for this lovely ‘Windermere’ rose, sent to me to trial and planted in spring 2015. Ultimately growing about a meter tall and wide, this rose easily fits into the Microgarden. And, unlike some David Austin roses I’ve tried, the heavy-headed flower doesn’t sag. It’s […]
In High Park, June 2015 – a patch of spontaneously regenerated wild lupines (Lupinus perennis) I’ve seen wild lupines in Iceland and in Nova Scotia. But I had no idea that Ontario was also a habitat for this lovely legume (Lupinus perennis). Then we visited High Park this June with the Toronto Fling and learned […]
My photo is not exactly tack-sharp, but you get the idea. Begonia hybrid ‘Gryphon’ is a fabulous foliage plant Thank you to Proven Winners for introducing me to the fabulous ‘Gryphon’ begonia, which they sent me to trial in 2014. It looks like Proven Winners has since applied its own trademarked brand name ‘Pegasus’ to […]