A noun. A verb. A blog.
They’re ba-a-ck! Now opening in a garden near you: the first of the yearly horde of seedlings of Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). Recognize them by the shiny, round primary leaves, followed quickly by pointy secondaries. If you see them, pounce immediately. Tree of Heaven is a prodigiously fast-growing, liberally self-seeding, non-native tree whose fronds […]
After yesterday’s heartless post on the subject of aphids and leafrollers, it’s incumbent of me [oops, I mean: on me] to say: not all bugs are bad bugs. Not even bugs with bad-boy reputations. Even in this day of catastrophic bee decline, Google carpenter bees, for example, and 99% of the results will be about […]
It has been a wet few days. The roses have been slurping up that water and their growing tips and buds are nice and juicy. Mmmmm, say the bugs, the rose buffet is now open! Not for long, bugs. First, meet the leafroller – larva of one of a number of common moths. Leafrollers produce […]
In 2007, we wrote about the whip of dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) that Sarah acquired in 2006 at Canada Blooms. Our fledgling tree, nursed along by neighbour M., has now flown the coop, and is planted in a sunny spot just across the street. Dawn redwoods are said variously to be hardy to USDA Zone […]
The Evergreen Foundation partnered with many others, including Toronto and Region Conservation, and the City of Toronto, to revitalize and publicize this green space, which has been mostly hidden in the middle of the city for many years. Working together they have made this historic site and wildlife refuge the lovely natural destination it has […]
Open Gardens Toronto is a fantastic program that lets us take an informal tour of our fellow gardeners’ spaces during the long weekday evenings of summer. (and on Weekends in fall) $25 gets you a pass for a full season, or you can pay $4 for each garden you view. Proceeds go to the Canadian […]
Witness here the final moment of a pretty but destructive Lily Leaf Beetle (Lilioceris lilii), an imported pest now chewing holes in your leaves and buds — and not only of lilies. [Update: What I should have said, two years ago now, was that although it likes lilies best, the lily leaf beetle will nibble […]
Spotted during the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon in the Don Valley this morning (with my 15-year-old daughter; her first race) — masses, and masses, and masses, and masses of dog-strangling vine or swallowwort (Vincetoxicum rossicum, syn. Cynanchum spp., from the Greek meaning “to choke a dog”) I’ve written warnings about this pernicious weed before: here […]
On a rainy Thursday this week, I popped over to one of the local open gardens, part of Open Gardens Toronto that Sarah wrote about back in April. These are pretty close to “real gardens by real people” all over the city. Check out the link for a garden near you. The one I visited […]
Make like a squirrel now and lop off your tulip heads – or deadhead them – after they finish blooming and before they put their energy into seed-making. Instead, we want the tulip to fatten the bulb for next year. For tulips, daffs and other spring bulbs, pinch off the seed pod, but leave as […]
This week, Nova Scotia garden blogger Jodi of bloomingwriter wrote about her experience freeing a hummingbird trapped in her barn. It reminded me of a similar thrill of mine. One summer at our place on Ile d’Orléans, in the St. Lawrence River just outside Québec City, the (francophone) kids next door were collecting Monarch caterpillars […]
I dropped into the Don Valley Brickworks for Doors Open this week and met with a group of bee-keepers who were there with their bee hive display — It’s an odd feeling to be standing near several people wearing blinding white bee-keeper outfits! You certainly can’t miss them in a crowd. They showed a 2 […]