A noun. A verb. A blog.
I love the asymmetrical. Something in the balance of off-balance appeals to me deeply. Yet, the perfect order of a four-square courtyard can also be satisfying, don’t you think? This garden, with its European-style courtyard, has been calling to me for more than two years. We saw it back in September 2014 on a story tour with the […]
At the My Luscious Backyard, workshop magic began with this foraged wreath kit – a great package of scavenged materials On December 5th, 2015, Mr TG dropped me off at Propellor Coffee in the west end – and lucky for me he did, as I found on my way home with my delicate foraged wreath […]
Hopefully, the wreath I end up making will be as beautiful as this one by Sarah Nixon By sheer serendipity, the day after posting my story about Sarah Nixon and My Luscious Backyard, an email landed in my inbox announcing Sarah’s December 5th workshop on making a foraged wreath. I jumped at the chance. So […]
Adorable multicoloured green roof seen at Joy Creek Nursery near Portland Winter 2015 is for the birds – and so are these nifty birdhouses. That’s just about all I have to say on this record-setting-cold-streak, Almost-Wordless Wednesday. Except: Enjoy! Give your fine feathered friends the licence to move in. This great recycle even looks like […]
A close-up of the bottle paving in Portland-area Bella Madrone garden There’s something magical about glass, isn’t there? Even when we can’t see through it or when light can’t penetrate from behind (like a stained glass window), it still manages to capture the light. As we approach the time of dull days, I like to […]
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 […]
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 […]
A small-scale garden folly can be like this dry stone fountain in Shelagh Tucker’s Seattle garden (see it close up here) If you watched Mr. Darcy propose dripping wet to Lizzie Bennet in the Keira Knightley version of Pride & Prejudice*, you’ve seen a prime example of a garden folly. Not his ill-done proposal, but […]
Look what’s being served as an appetizer on the glass-top table in this contemporary, east-Toronto garden! Could be the icy weather but, for this Friday’s Idea File, I’m thinking about glass (in French, ice is the sound-alike glace). Mirrors are one of my favourite uses for glass in a garden. They expand a small space, […]
Ingredients: Paper birch poles, staghorn sumach, rosehips, magnolia leaves, silvery eucalyptus (okay, okay, these last two aren’t local), variegated boxwood, noble fir, white pine, and, although you can’t see them here, red-budded pussy willow. Also not visible are the purple chard and Swiss chard from this summer, still producing around the edges. In this one, […]
Reykjavik’s soaring Lutheran Hallgrimskirkja, tallest building in Iceland Icelanders build cathedrals out of concrete. Striking, creative and – most crucially in that seismically excitable area – resilient ones. That’s why you shouldn’t turn your nose up at this adaptable, inexpensive material when it comes to the garden. I’ve been itching to make some garden art […]