A noun. A verb. A blog.
Returning to Toronto after a road trip can awaken you to the constrained view of the sky from our little patches of urban heaven. This is especially so in the older parts of Toronto, such as our street, with their heavy canopies of green. (Though they’re a good thing, cooling our homes and gardens.) Office […]
Holiday garden sightings from the sublime to le ridicule. Seen on the road on the way to Ottawa, at a rest stop somewhere in the Haliburton Highlands, Ontario. Seen on the road on the way to Quebec City, at a McDonald’s somewhere near Berthierville, Québec. Monsieur Ronald and chums in a fauxpiary tableau. Crazy, but […]
While looking to acquire some desired object – probably electronic – on Craigslist lately I came upon the wonderful item of clothing pictured above (names have been obscured to protect the innocent). What a revelation. I instantly realized I’ve been going about my sartorial choices all wrong. The ugly truth: How can I consider myself […]
I was born in England, but my home is Canada. On this Canada Day, here are five reasons that, as a gardener, I’m glad to be Canadian: 1. The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear, the maple leaf forever. I love that our national symbol is something living and growing; I especially love that it has […]
The father of my three children isn’t a gardener. Or rather, he’s more a veggie guy than a flower guy – or would be, if we still had our allotment (a long, doleful tale; don’t get me started). However, he’s a really great guy to have about the garden. This is the fella who built […]
On a day when I accomplished scarcely more than half a teaspoon of deadheading, here are things to be happy about: • A cup of tea (Yorkshire red label) in the bee mug • Very hot tea with just the right amount of milk • Very hot tea with just the right amount of milk, […]
The miracle of digital SLR photography isn’t only that it helps me become a better photographer, through a 1,001 disposable mistakes. It is helping me become a better gardener, acting as a zoom lens for the mind, as well as the eye. The camera lets you get intimate with flowers and foliage and bark and […]
Gardeners might not think twice about running out in their pyjamas (as I did last night) to protect their tender annuals from a possible frost. But would they take the same degree of precaution for their own safety – when it comes to sun exposure? I know I didn’t, until recently. This year, I noticed […]
Gather round, kids. Now you too can amaze your friends with this simple garden sleight of hand: turn a flower into Dutchman’s breeches or Lady in the Bathtub. Just watch… Nothing up my sleeve. Lookee here: in this hand, one blossom of Dicentra spectabilis, or bleeding heart. Yes, kid, the white works just like the […]
The first of the year’s bazillion morning glory seedlings have just popped up in my garden. To celebrate my love-hate relationship with this weed in my garden, I’m posting my little ode to the odious. Enjoy. morning inglorious by Helen Battersby The gate-crashing has begun. They’re prying cloven-footed through the gaps, glad-handing all invited guests, […]
No matter where we lived, our mum always managed to have a garden. Before our family emigrated to Canada, there was the Cotswold farmhouse with its massive vegetable plot and borders of old fashioned hollyhocks, wallflowers, poppies and snapdragons — which form some of my earliest memories. Cowslips and dandelions from surrounding fields were gathered […]
I don’t know why it is but I often seem to like things not for the thing itself, but for the thing that goes with it. Like certain types of food, I only like because of the condiments that go with it: curry – you get to have chutney, fried bread (yes! ancient English tradition!) […]