A noun. A verb. A blog.
LIke the big bad wolf, the wind huffed and puffed and blew the trees down. Big ones. Can you count the rings? Back in Fall 2012, a windstorm took down a swath of mature trees – about 14, if memory serves – in Monarch Park in our east-end neighbourhood. It was a surprise to see […]
One of a series of willow arches around the kitchen garden of Domaine Cataraqui, Québec A couple of years ago, we wrote about living willow fences. You can build just about anything out of willow – it’s a tree with a great determination to grow! This summer on a visit to Québec City, these willow […]
Photographed yesterday, a row of Freeman maples (Acer x freemanii) along Carlton north of Allan Gardens At this time of year, you can especially note how often Freeman or Freeman’s maple (Acer x freemanii) appears along our streets. That telltale “x” says this tree is a hybrid – a cross between red maple (Acer rubrum) […]
Green dots goooood; orange dots, baaaaad. What the heck are those green dots? I wondered, as I walked up Coxwell Avenue the other day. They were painted on most of the towering ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) that line this stretch of road. Oh no. Have they run out of orange paint, and are they coming […]
Campanula and Veronicastrum against the golden leaves of Calalpa bignonoiodes ‘Aurea’, VanDusen Botanical Garden The same garden from beneath the fretwork of the branches A basketload of May/June blooms on the species of this North American native tree Now, in close-up And from a distance in an east-end Toronto parkette Helen and Sarah and […]
The Bloor Street Transformation Project included granite planters and about 130 London plane trees Overspilling with colour, the new granite planters on chi-chi Bloor Street are hard to miss. But did you also notice the trees? These pix from September were meant for a post I’d wanted to call a Bloor Street Garden Tour (it […]
Who could resist the golden form of spike winterhazel (Corylopsis spicata) ‘Aurea’ also known as ‘Gold Spring’? Why do I always fall in love with the wrong guy? Look at those handsome leaves! All boldly goldy-chartreusy, with a blush on the newest. Then look below at the bright pink bud scales (that protect the leaf […]
Our temporary winterscape It’s the pagan in me that keeps my Christmas tree up long past traditional tree-time. For me, the tree and lights represent the resilient human spirit through the darkest days of winter. Usually, my whim is satisfied by an artificial tree. This year, however, I had a yen for a real one; […]
On first hearing about Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees by Nancy Ross Hugo and photographer Robert Llewellyn (Timber Press) I positively salivated. For dendrophiles, the book’s beautifully rendered cover image promises a new level of beauty and intimacy. First, though, a confession: I’m not just a dendrophile (tree lover), I’m a treek (tree geek). I […]
A multi-stemmed river birch (Betula nigra) You can’t always get what you want. Although you can try sometimes (gardeners call this “zone denial”). But when what you want is a tree called “river birch,” what you want (this tree with the amazing, exfoliating bark, especially as a youngster) might be ruled out by what this […]
Along with the site improvements for Victoria Park Station, an art installation by Aniko Meszaros Garden stories are everywhere, even underground on The Better Way. Victoria Park Station is the first stop in an occasional series I’m calling the TTC Garden Tour. New artwork was part of the plan for the recently improved station infrastructure. […]
Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ This is when the Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) ‘Bloodgood’ really starts living up to its name. Today, the sun was lighting up maples like this all over the city. ‘Bloodgood’ is one of the tougher ones – which it has to be in my dry shade garden. This is its second year, […]