A noun. A verb. A blog.
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 […]
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 […]
Full disclosure: On this Blooms Day in the Microgarden, it’s mostly green. However, you can see my opening statement of columbines; some blue Aquilegia alpina and an unnamed pink of the granny’s bonnet form. Both prefer the cracks in my paving stones, where their feet stay cool and moist. All efforts to get the alpinas […]
Our neighbours G. and W. got a blank slate when they purchased their corner property: a sunny blank slate once their towering Norway maple was devoured by carpenter ants (not all of it, just enough to make removing it a better, safer idea). Look what a dramatic garden they’ve created in place of the old […]
Really, the Microgarden reached its micro-acreage set point some time ago. But how could I resist these sky blue Penstemon? How could I not see how perfectly the perfect spiky form and perfect complementary blue would fit between my two yellow-tending hostas, Janet and June? Trouble is, there are already about four things over-planted there: […]
My friends and family should rejoice that this is not my garden. If it were, I might spend half my time sighing with contentment. That’s certain to become annoying. If it were my garden, I’d also be feeling, and perhaps acting, a little smug right now. Ah, the perfect popping of another perfect poppy. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
Looks like I’m talking magic again. No smoke, just mirrors. Mirrors are a way to fool the eye, making a small space seem larger, even outdoors. Here is my latest. Not some expensive glass globe. It’s an oversized plastic Christmas ornament snagged last season at Canadian Tire for $1.99. I’ve been saving it for the […]
You probably know of What Not To Wear, where some poor schmuck has her (or his) wardrobe made over from scratch. I just realized that one of WNTW’s tenets applies to gardening. More on that in a sec. My revelation came about because Sarah and I recently joined Blotanical, a great online directory of garden […]
I’ve no idea what these city-owned strips of (sometimes) grass or (too often) weeds between the sidewalk and the street are called: swales? easements? Anyone know? [Ed: Technically, they’re called “boulevards” but the common name for them is “hellstrips.”] All I know is that more and more gardeners in our neighbourhood have started to cultivate […]
***UPDATE**** June 4, 2009 First 9 trees are in the ground at Ben Nobleman Park, site of TO’s first community orchard: pears, plums, and cherries. Hooray! ************** I just learned about wonderful proposal to plant a community orchard not far from the Eglinton West Subway station in Ben Nobleman park. This initiative is spearheaded by […]