A noun. A verb. A blog.
Who’d bother planting geraniums (Pelargonium) in planter boxes, when you could get a show-stopping display like this one at a Leaside pub. These are Mandevilla. And, in fact, so are dipladenias. Not till after I got a Dipladenia ‘Rio’ to trial, from Toronto Fling sponsor Fernlea, did I learn the difference between Dipladenia and Mandevilla. There […]
An arch of curly willow and a spectrum of flowers It was Pride weekend in Toronto, and I was walking on Queen Street. Whatever the designer’s intention, I chose to see this sweet combination as a rainbow. What do you think?
A welcoming way to break in garden equipment – invite it to a party and put it to work This wasn’t why we bought the trough, but as a happy coincidence it arrived at our house just before a Big Birthday. Post-Prosecco we put it (and another just like it) to work in another way: […]
Ignore the unplanted pots. Notice only the giant ferns. Please. This picture isn’t here for any particular “pride of urnership“, but to illustrate my two wacking great ‘Kimberly Queen’ Australian sword ferns (Nephrolepsis obliterata). Both, you might have read, have spent the last few winters indoors. In the urns. In my living room. It has […]
The race is on, to beat the frost. It’s always a last ditch rescue mission for me, this late in November, when I’m madly trying to bring in every last plant from the cold. Most of my container plants have been hauled indoors, but I still have a few things growing in actual soil that […]
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 […]
At $26 a bunch, the coral-coloured winterberry (Ilex) was my most expensive buy. Worth every berry. Today, I began to assemble our winter containers – or winter container, singular. Have you noticed that it’s cold out there? The soil in my two smaller containers was frozen rock solid, making the fall stuff impossible to extract, […]
Simple but effective planter combo: Monstera deliciosa and this chartreuse coleus, Solenostemon ‘Wasabi’ Treating this one as an almost-wordless Wednesday, because it’s hard to type with a dislocated finger. Isn’t this planter great? Simple drama, with the tropical plant and fancy-leaf coleus – like giving your houseplant a summer romance. Love it with the blue […]
All-green fall planters at Allan Gardens A little almost-wordless wow for another grey Wednesday in November. Don’t you love the textures here? And these babies will take a little nippy weather, especially here where they’re a little sheltered. It was hard to choose between them but this one might be my favourite after all.
Two bright red begonias – B. ‘Dragon Wing’ on top and B. boliviensis ‘Bonfire’ at bottom – with golden Ipomeoa ‘Marguerite’ Isn’t it just the way that the street planters are at their best just before a cold snap makes them collapse like a failed soufflé. Give them a nod as you pass, and say, […]
Swordless swordfish takes a dive I’ve been dying to use this picture ever since some enchanted afternoon in 2011, when I saw this bright blue swordfish across a crowded room – garden room, that is, during the Gardens of the Beach garden tour. Now most people browsing a vintage shop would look at a swordfish […]
Ingredients: Paper birch poles, staghorn sumach, rosehips, magnolia leaves, silvery eucalyptus (okay, okay, these last two aren’t local), variegated boxwood, noble fir, white pine, and, although you can’t see them here, red-budded pussy willow. Also not visible are the purple chard and Swiss chard from this summer, still producing around the edges. In this one, […]