A noun. A verb. A blog.
If I had actually wanted the Clematis ‘Summer Snow’ to clamber along my north wall to mingle amongst the columbines, of course, it would have never happened. What a lucky accident that it never occurred to me to try. That way, there it is, looking bright and sparkly, like a well composed garden picture. And […]
Look who’s hanging out at my place! Spiderlings! Isn’t that a great word? On the weekend, I found this little cluster of what appeared to be eggs. Then I noticed the eggs had legs. A (gentle) poke with a twig sent the whole bunch scurrying into square dance mode. They’re very pretty; yellow, with a […]
Thanks to the blog Don Watcher for this tip: Get to know Toronto’s urban green spaces through one or all of this series of inexpensive hikes. They’re like mini-staycations. You’ll discover sides of the city you might not have known about, like Toronto’s Belt Line Trail – a forgotten bit of Toronto history, revived as […]
If you have been religious about deadheading your columbines (Aquilegia), you might still be enjoying the benefits of these generous producers. If not, and they’ve gone to seed, be sure to let them ripen and to sprinkle them where the tiny seeds will be exposed to light for germination. Or, better yet, shop around for […]
The father of my three children isn’t a gardener. Or rather, he’s more a veggie guy than a flower guy – or would be, if we still had our allotment (a long, doleful tale; don’t get me started). However, he’s a really great guy to have about the garden. This is the fella who built […]
This is for islandgardener, who wanted a close-up of the tomato stakes in the front-yard vegetable patch I wrote about earlier. These are sturdy stakes, tied together in a network at the top and anchored to the edging around the raised bed. I don’t know anything about knots, but I have a feeling this gardener […]
They’re out of the nest with Mum and starting to explore. Hang on to your everything movable. They’d be evil if they weren’t so darned cute. Be very, very… um, what would be a good word?
A tale of two beauty bushes (Kolkwitzia amabilis). This one is growing in full sun, spilling over the top of a fence along Broadway Avenue in Leaside. The other one was too pathetic, ungainly and flowerless to photograph, growing in shade in my neighbourhood today. Sunshine is the secret to such a splendiferous display of […]
Please don’t think I’m all about the flowers. Walking through the neighbourhood today, I was impressed with this front-yard veggie plot. Unsure if you can see it in the smaller photo format, but this little river of vegetables goes aaaaaaaaall the way back. To me, this looks like the work of an experienced and confident […]
After inadvertently toasting my Hoya this week, two days of rain have both quenched and spurred the garden. Poppies are in tatters and the necks of my alliums are bent and in a few cases, sadly, broken. The perky stems of catmint are prostrate, and risk being trodden flat along the pathway. Morning glory seedlings […]
I have barbecued my mother’s 25-year-old Hoya. I mean it. Literally barbecued. It looks decidedly miffed. Having brought this otherwise indestructible plant out for its usual summer vacation, I had thought perhaps it needed a shaded transition spot. And there was the ledge beneath our rickety gas BBQ. Oooh, thinks me, looks nice there. And […]
Hidden away on quiet Laing Street that runs between Queen Street East and Eastern Avenue is a little piece of Canadiana that most Torontonians might be unaware of: Maple Cottage. Standing at the corner of Memory Lane, Maple Cottage is named for the tall silver maple (Acer saccharinum) said to have inspired Alexandar Muir to […]