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Welcome to the Beach Garden Society garden tour, June 19, 2016, from 1 to 5 pm Usually, when we write up the Gardens of the Beach garden tour it’s after the event. This year, in fact last night, we had a sneak preview. So I’m glad to tell you there’s still time to go see […]
For months, the Minneapolis Fling committee has been scouting out gardens far and wide for you, just like our Toronto team did. Some sites, the GBFling15 had to let go – like this formal spot in the Niagara Parks Botanical Garden. It’s heartbreaking for a committee to prune out great gardens, when we want to […]
Go Through the Garden Gate in The Kingsway with the Toronto Botanical Garden in 2016 When The Kingsway was first developed, around the time of the first world war, the developer Robert Home Smith had a vision of creating “A bit of England, far from England.” As the Etobicoke Historical Society explains, by contract, he […]
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 […]
You get an underworld view of daffodil bulbs in Persephone by the Toronto Flower Market and various local growers, including Sarah Nixon of My Luscious Backyard whom we ran into at the show. Happy Earth Day. A perfect time to share earthy thoughts that make us think. These scenes are just a few from the […]
No. Unfortunately not a picture of a Toronto garden. Not yet. Nearly a year ago, I photographed this in the display garden of Sunset Publishing in California, sighing that it would perk me up before my return to the brownery back home. Well, Facebook just reminded me of it, so I thought I’d share it […]
Joe Fafard’s cows in the meadow of Toronto’s Financial District Last night’s double-digit minus temps and today’s snow make me feel like these gals look. Resigned.
In a tableau I might call “Pardon My Dust” (which you might not have noticed if I’d not pointed it out) I hope to show that even my most lowly terrarium creation in the brandy snifter can add something cool to a tabletop setting. A shocking months and months have passed since I received my […]
Canada Blooms 2016 may be over, but my mind keeps returning to this show garden from Jacob’s Gardenscape. I don’t know which criteria earned it the Most Innovative Garden award, but the gabion fences were really interesting. If you’ve spent time on the trails along Toronto’s Don or Humber rivers, you’ve probably noticed the original […]
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 […]