A noun. A verb. A blog.
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!
White Iceland Poppy
Strongylodon Macrobotrys, or Jade Vine, native of the Phillipines. Do you want to get a gander at one of the most bizarre blooms ever? Of course you do! Then head on over to Allan Gardens this week. The eye-popping Jade Vine is blooming, and you won’t want to miss its display of pendulous waxy blooms […]
Corner store tulips, taken with Camera+ app – cropped as Golden Rectangle; Miniaturize filter applied. What could be an easier than treating myself to an afternoon walk down the Danforth, looking at corner-store tulips through the eye of my iPhone? Then taking a few self-indulgent minutes with neat camera apps, making pretty pictures – prettier? […]
California dreaming at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers At times like these, escape is tempting. I speak of the weather, of course. What else would a Toronto person want to escape from in November 2013? Luckily, Toronto has wonderful escape hatches in the form of conservatories – indoor Wonderlands and protected respite for lovers of […]
Having survived late dumps of snow and ice pellets, the spring planters are growing a great crop of Optimism It’s Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – or it was yesterday – when every 15th of every month, Carol of May Dreams Gardens invites gardeners around the world to show what’s growing their way. If you were […]
The florists’ display was a standout at Canada Blooms. This, by Quince Flowers attracted photographers like bees to nectar. As a daydreamy ten-year-old, I was often late for school. Taking our long walk through fields of wild weeds, time disappeared as I carefully arranged a bouquet of ox-eye daisies and Queen Anne’s lace, and learned […]
Blue Muscari in a cheerful pot on Sarah’s balcony Apparently, it’s Blue Monday, the saddest day of the year. Who knew? I’m not feeling particularly sad myself, but I am always ready to think about the colour blue. Here’s some cheeriness for a blue day. Blue flowers are notoriously hard to photograph, and usually look […]
A big, blue transferware vase that was a lucky thrift store find (on an old high chair thrown out by a neighbour) You definitely need a big vase. And you don’t need anything expensive to fill it. I gathered long stems of dill, their seeds in tones of brown and chartreuse for this, with a […]
Clematis alpina ‘Pamela Jackman’ is in the Group or Type 1 or C (oops!) A pruning group. (Sometimes, a proofreader would be handy, too.) Clematis are usually classed as Type A, B or C (aka Group 1, 2 or 3), each with different pruning requirements. I know what the requirements are. Trouble is, I can never […]
Harold & Frances Holt Physic Garden at UBC Botanical Garden Of all the great gardens in Toronto, one thing that seems to be missing is a physic garden – a garden devoted to medicinal plants. These have been around since humans graduated from folk remedies to the science of medicine. Except that the infancy of […]
A carpet of Pushkinia and Chionodoxa at Rosetta McClain Gardens In his chapter on bulbs in Planting the Dry Shade Garden (a review of that will follow), Graham Rice mentions two that for me are tried and true, one that is on my wish list, and one big surprise. The charmer brightening the path above, […]