A noun. A verb. A blog.
Our dad’s parents in the garden, captioned in our father’s lovely handwriting. Why do you garden? In our family, it’s something you just do – eventually, you become a gardener. For my sister Sarah and I, it’s now as ingrained as family jokes, traditions or recipes. We grew up with parents and grandparents who had […]
Planted itself! And kept producing. Who wouldn’t love that? Yes, there are cilantro haters, in a biiiiig way. And there are cilantro lovers. Put me proudly in Group 2. I got that lovin’ feeling for cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) – not only in my food, but in my garden. Because this pungent annual herb in the […]
If you’ve lost your boxwoods (Buxus), how about clipped Euonymus? The more popular boxwood parterres have become, and they’ve become very popular, the greater the loss if they die. After two harsh winters in a row, 2014 and 2015, I know of many who lost their boxwoods and, with them, the backbone of their formal […]
Thank you, garden, for not being perfect. Thank you for putting up with my sloth. Thanks …for managing to survive, despite my sloth. For reminding me to overcome it. Thank you for offering up continual surprises. Like roses in November. For those sweet doses of happiness, from spring to spring. For showing me what doesn’t […]
Sometimes a photographer doesn’t mind a brightly clad garden writer in the shot to add perspective and scale. We were lined up several deep to take this money shot. Patience is a virtue. Huge thanks go to horticultural therapist Margaret Nevett who, years ago at a Master Gardener meeting, suggested that I join the Garden Writers […]
The city also had a record-breaking February 2015 – the first time since record-keeping began in 1840 that temperatures stayed below zero for the entire month. January, when this shot was taken, Toronto had almost half its usual precipitation. How do I know these bits of weather arcana? Because, today, something great arrived in my […]
Through the balustrade, stonework and wrought iron create instant history in this Lawrence Park garden. The long architectural heritage of Ashlar stonework and wrought iron can give your yard immediate garden cred. You can do them in a major way, like this garden does so majestically. Or you can be like Mr. TG and I, who “got […]
Now this is a bold way to turn tradition on its ear – or at least turn it 90˚ – when it comes to a hedge that will complement contemporary architecture. Seen at Through the Garden Gate in Lawrence Park, June 2015. I sincerely appreciate all the work that goes into the planning and delivery […]
I’m truly thankful for the ideas that come home from our visits to artists’ gardens. Simple leaf cut-outs and a can or two of window frosting will get you this one. Much more fitting than curtains for balancing privacy and light in a garden shed! July 2015 was our first visit to the Port Hope […]
A first glimpse at the most private section of a garden in Niagara-on-the-Lake The generosity of private owners who open their personal spaces to the garden public should never be undervalued. I’ve known this as a garden tour fanatic and as a volunteer. But being one of the organizers for the 2015 Garden Bloggers Fling […]
Toronto’s skyline from Tommy Thompson Park It’s November. For the past few years on Toronto Gardens, that’s meant #NaBloPoMo – the blogging twin of National Novel Writing Month. Except we write a blog post a day. Just one. While that’s far less than the 50,000-word novel NaNoWriMo writers aim for in 30 days, it can […]
Who’d bother planting geraniums (Pelargonium) in planter boxes, when you could get a show-stopping display like this one at a Leaside pub. These are Mandevilla. And, in fact, so are dipladenias. Not till after I got a Dipladenia ‘Rio’ to trial, from Toronto Fling sponsor Fernlea, did I learn the difference between Dipladenia and Mandevilla. There […]