A noun. A verb. A blog.
In the many times I’ve walked through Cabbagetown, I’d never stepped into the secret corner that’s home to the Wellesley Cottages – until last month’s garden tour. What a revelation! But stick around to the end of the post. You’ll see that one cottage kept the biggest secret of all in its back yard. Hover over any image to […]
Fellow Toronto Fling organizers Veronica Sliva and Lorraine Flanigan on our scouting mission to Parkwood Estate With Mr. TG reading Roch Carrier’s Montcalm and Wolfe, I’m reminded how little Canadians know (or care) about the history of their own country. That goes for local history, too. How many Torontonians give a second thought to the […]
The Italian Garden on Garinish (aka Garnish) Island (aka Ilnacullin) A little putt-putt ferry took us from Glengariff in West Cork across Bantry Bay to see the Garinish Island garden by Edwardian landscape architect Harold Peto. Despite the drenching rain, I was excited. A Peto garden! But whether it was the quality of light on […]
The headquarters of Manulife Financial on Bloor Street East If you’ve walked or driven along that windy strip of Bloor Street, east of Church, you’ve seen the velvety carpet of green in the gated surrounds of the Manulife Financial headquarters. It’s often called the best lawn in the city, and there’s a reason. It’s creeping […]
Hatley Castle, just west of Victoria, British Columbia It’s hard to know where to begin with Hatley Castle. Not only is it a lavish, historic mansion and gardens, one of Canada’s castles, it’s connected to stories that would make a great miniseries or few, as dramatic as Downton Abbey. Hatley was designed in 1908 by […]
All the trees on the street are usually bare before my next door Norway maple (Acer platanoides) drops its leaves. Look here; it’s still green, in this picture taken yesterday. It doesn’t matter if I rake. The day before the first big snow, this guy typically drops the whole shebang. Whomp! Then we’re shovelling up […]