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An eye-catching swathe of red haws (hawthorn fruit) on Lake Shore just east of Leslie (taken Dec. 6, 2013) This stretch of hawthorns I often walk past keeps the ruby-red fruits well into winter. Have you noticed them? They’re well placed for show against the dark brown SolarWall on the City garage next to Loblaws. […]
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 […]
Call this salt and pepper: peppery-tasting nasturtiums in one of our grandmother’s saltware jugs It’s feeling kinda frosty outside, but some plants are still chugging along – even those fleshy ones you’d think would be susceptible to chilling. Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum) for one. They’re the biggest-bang-for-buck annuals in my garden, and I always have room for […]
The rain brought out the rainbow in this mosaic rug by Clare Dohna – in the garden fittingly called Floramagoria Who knows at what stage this glorious mosaic came in this Portland garden’s planning and design? (A rhetorical question, as garden designer Laura Crockett and owners Craig Quirk and Larry Neill likely know quite well.) […]
Large firepit sitting area from designer-retailer JJ deSousa’s garden in Portland, OR Are you stuck with a garden that isn’t “on the level” – so sloped, it creates awkward changes in elevation? Want to turn that negative into a positive? Well, our promise to bring back ideas from the Garden Bloggers’ Fling in Portland OR […]
The tour program describes this Williamson Road garden as a “plantswoman’s paradise.” No wonder I loved it. Sunday’s Beach Garden Society garden tour had many highlights – and we’ll write about others, later. But, by accident, Sarah and I saved the best till last, the subject of today’s post. It showed how even a plant […]
Coneflowers, photographed outside East of Eliza and filtered through the Waterlogue photo app. It’s almost shameful what technology can do – like turning a photo into a “watercolour,” as I’ve written before. To try this yourself, compose your shot well first. Enjoy my field of coneflowers!
This way to the gardens! We know you’ll be inspired. Have you ever wished you could be cloned? I have. Then you and I could be everywhere at once – especially every garden tour at once. This weekend, two local tours at least have the decency to be on different days. Saturday, it’s Leaside. Sunday, […]
I absolutely love this planter design by Lucy Pelletier of Perrin and Rose garden design. Pairing the ‘Princes Irene’ tulips with the wine-coloured pansies and the traditional variegated ivy works remarkably well, especially with the addition of the red twigs. Instead of pairing the orange tulip with contrasting blues or more in the orange colour […]
In the midst of another snow storm, here are a few shots from my trip to the Allan Gardens Spring Show last Saturday – shot in the midst of another snow storm. The Spring Show isn’t the cornucopia of bloom that the Easter Show will be. Still. Any port in a storm. While, outside, Allan […]
“Call her green and the winters cannot fade her…” ~ Joni Mitchell, Little Green Green was the theme for the New Year’s Eve bash thrown at our place by our Number One Dot before she takes off next week for London, England. Although the dishes have long since been washed, the leftovers eaten and empties […]
A bright dogwood hedge (likely Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’) on Lakeshore Avenue East* [See Ed: below] You know that it would be untrue. You know that I would be a liar. If I was to say to you, this is my ‘Midwinter Fire.’ No, it probably belongs to Loblaws, whose parking lot it borders along […]