A noun. A verb. A blog.
Unless the real person happens to have been a multi-millionaire, real gardens by real people doesn’t apply in this case, but I can’t resist. The person in question was Sir Henry Pellatt, the super-rich Edwardian industrialist whose dreams and moneybags built Toronto’s castle* Casa Loma. At least, this picture is of a garden… which gives […]
Sarah’s plants Go To (Winter) Plant Jail, without passing Go and unfortunately without collecting $200 Is there frost in the forecast? Yep! That means the onset of the Annual Frenzied Midnight Annual/Houseplant Rescue. As per usual, I was out in the dark last night about midnight digging in near freezing soil with my bare hands. […]
The about-to-be-felled-by-frost ‘Paintbox’ nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus), still oh-so-orange and still going strong. Almost missed it with all the fuss and bother lately ’round these hyar parts. And it’s a suddenly wintery October 15, 2009. Tomorrow might be a whole n’other post-brrrrrrrr story. So here’s what has been dodging frosty bullets chez nous mid-month. Corydalis lutea […]
No, we don’t want you to take a tumble. However, the view of the Don Valley from the Leaside Bridge is one of my favourite places in the city to enjoy the fall colours. As it’s impossible to stop on the bridge, the best way to get there is by bike, or park your hybrid […]
Frost hit my community garden plot over Thanksgiving weekend. And there is a frost warning in the city for tonight, about a week ahead of the statistical average for downtown Toronto – though right on target for the northern part of the city. Bring in those tender plants! With such a clearly demarcated end-of-season, it’s […]
Or, rather, Au revoir. Ile d’Orléans, the island in the St. Lawrence River just a few kilometres east of Québec City, has been our family’s second home since 1987. This weekend, we drove the 800+ kilometres there (and back again) to pack, disperse and transport the accumulation of more than two decades. This, and the […]
This Thanksgiving Weekend is a time to give thanks for all our blessings – like the wonderful family weekend Sarah’s family and mine spent together two years ago at her little house in the country near Marmora. Here are some outdoorsy images of that autumnal time.
Toronto is often described as a city of villages and Parkdale, on the west side of town, is one. We confined ourselves to one street for Sunday’s visit. Here are some observations. This may not be the face of Parkdale, but it will do for a start. Parkdale citizens are brave enough to plant Japanese […]
We don’t usually show people pix, but this one tells a story. From left to right, Barry Parker, Sarah, You Grow Girl Gayla Trail, Helen. Through crosshatched lines on our mum’s side, Welsh blood flows in our veins. So we were doubly delighted to be invited to visit the Parkdale garden of Welsh-born Torontonian Barry […]
Gardeners spend hours pouring over seed and nursery catalogues, looking at books, thinking about colours, bloom times, soil conditions. They might even consider plant succession through the seasons, foliage shapes and textures, winter interest. One thing they often don’t consider: the gardener. When I first stuck my spade into the soil in this garden, I […]
The unvarnished truth: My front garden, complete with hose and bald patches, doing its best to pose for its “before” picture at right. That headline almost said “Taking stock of the carnage.” After summer’s heat and drought, my garden – especially the front garden – usually does look like a battlefield by September. (To my […]
The 2009 Blotanical Awards were announced yesterday. Toronto Gardens was one of the five finalists in the Best Canadian Blog category – something we were absolutely thrilled with. In fact, we were number five in the first round. After the final voting, we moved from fifth place to fourth place. I can’t tell you what […]