A noun. A verb. A blog.
Do these stepping stones above the water call to you? What draws you through a garden? The answers pop up again and again as – in the midst of another January coolth-wave – I look longingly through garden photos. Certain garden features give me what I call “come-hither looks.” Come here, they say, irresistibly. Walk […]
A modest entry marks one of my favourite garden experiences from 2013’s Through the Garden Gate – because the reveal was such a surprise, combining formal elements with quirky details. If you read our blog, you know: Quirk R Us. P’raps that wasn’t one of those headlines. You know. The crawler-friendly ones that neatly index […]
“Call her green and the winters cannot fade her…” ~ Joni Mitchell, Little Green Green was the theme for the New Year’s Eve bash thrown at our place by our Number One Dot before she takes off next week for London, England. Although the dishes have long since been washed, the leftovers eaten and empties […]
My completed fragrant-ish wreath (and a great reflection of the new kindergarten wing across the street) A couple of weeks ago, Twitter started it all with a link to this post by Shannan at Flower Patch Farmgirl. In it, she tells how she dried orange slices to make an orange garland. Cute! It reminded me […]
The poinsettia’s real name is Euphorbia pulcherrima, meaning “beautiful euphorbia” It seems that the Ecke family introduced poinsettias to the commercial market back in 1900 (Although I rarely point you to Wikipedia on the blog, you can read their story here). Today, the ubiquity of the poinsettia at Christmastime has made people say ecke! in […]
A bright dogwood hedge (likely Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’) on Lakeshore Avenue East* [See Ed: below] You know that it would be untrue. You know that I would be a liar. If I was to say to you, this is my ‘Midwinter Fire.’ No, it probably belongs to Loblaws, whose parking lot it borders along […]
A spray of rolled magnolia leaves adds a novel touch to this mantletop display by Sheridan Nurseries’ Jung Won Woo The ideas were cool, and not just because the topic was winter decor. Yesterday evening at the Toronto Botanical Garden holiday open house, Sheridan Nurseries shared trends and tricks for prettying up the outside and […]
A whole lotta Santas going on at the Toronto Botanical Garden shop True story. I arranged to meet a client at the Toronto Botanical Garden last week. After our meeting, I pointed out the shop. “I’ll just look in for a minute,” she said. Half an hour later, she walked out with gifts for a […]
White cedars (Thuja occidentalis) and yews (Taxus) get precision haircuts It takes you by surprise. As you walk up the gentle rise through a very pleasant, but somewhat conventional shade garden in front and stand beside the hundred-year-old cedar-shingled home in St-Romuald, Quebec you see this. It’s a wow reveal; so beautiful, and so unexpected. […]
Schlumbergera truncata, an unwieldy name for the Thanksgiving cactus In my post on unkillable houseplants, I missed a worthy addition that proves its worth with its pretty flowers around this time of year, Slumbergera truncata. It’s commonly known as the Thanksgiving cactus, referring to its bloom time near American Thanksgiving at the end of November. […]
At $26 a bunch, the coral-coloured winterberry (Ilex) was my most expensive buy. Worth every berry. Today, I began to assemble our winter containers – or winter container, singular. Have you noticed that it’s cold out there? The soil in my two smaller containers was frozen rock solid, making the fall stuff impossible to extract, […]
Simple but effective planter combo: Monstera deliciosa and this chartreuse coleus, Solenostemon ‘Wasabi’ Treating this one as an almost-wordless Wednesday, because it’s hard to type with a dislocated finger. Isn’t this planter great? Simple drama, with the tropical plant and fancy-leaf coleus – like giving your houseplant a summer romance. Love it with the blue […]