A noun. A verb. A blog.
Photographed yesterday, a row of Freeman maples (Acer x freemanii) along Carlton north of Allan Gardens At this time of year, you can especially note how often Freeman or Freeman’s maple (Acer x freemanii) appears along our streets. That telltale “x” says this tree is a hybrid – a cross between red maple (Acer rubrum) […]
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.
The Toronto Botanical Garden on a rainy (but clearly not grey) day in November Think November is drab? It doesn’t have to be, if you play your cards right. Look at the lusciousness in the photo above, without the use of a single flower – well, discounting the dried heads of a red-tinged oakleaf hydrangea […]
Joseph’s coat amaranth is ornamental and (technically) edible Performers who sing, dance and act are called triple threats – a good term for amaranth, too. Amaranth’s three-times-great features include: highly nutritious seeds, tasty young leaves and rather smashing flowers and foliage. Although, not always in the same plant. Like trendy quinoa, its kissing cousin, this […]
Leucothoe fontanesiana ‘Rainbow’ – ‘Rainbow’ drooping fetterbush or dog hobble Variegated foliage is my weakness. But, I have to be careful. A garden full of typical green-and-white “interesting” foliage can be too much of a good thing. But these two shrubs – both seen growing in Toronto – can introduce a kiss of pink into […]
Who could resist the golden form of spike winterhazel (Corylopsis spicata) ‘Aurea’ also known as ‘Gold Spring’? Why do I always fall in love with the wrong guy? Look at those handsome leaves! All boldly goldy-chartreusy, with a blush on the newest. Then look below at the bright pink bud scales (that protect the leaf […]
A combination of luck and planning produced a pleasing fall display in 2012 A dry shade garden can be a happy place in a rainy year, especially when the soil has been fed properly. This spring, it enjoyed a healthy top-up of duck compost, as well as all the shredded leaves it could eat, the […]
A multi-stemmed river birch (Betula nigra) You can’t always get what you want. Although you can try sometimes (gardeners call this “zone denial”). But when what you want is a tree called “river birch,” what you want (this tree with the amazing, exfoliating bark, especially as a youngster) might be ruled out by what this […]
My corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) in happier times I’m just awaiting the paperwork. Eastern Filbert Blight has again reared its ugly – uckily ugly – head, as predicted and feared when I wrote about it back in March. Now I’m waiting for an envelope from Rutgers University containing the import permit that will […]
Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ This is when the Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) ‘Bloodgood’ really starts living up to its name. Today, the sun was lighting up maples like this all over the city. ‘Bloodgood’ is one of the tougher ones – which it has to be in my dry shade garden. This is its second year, […]
The Black Garden at VanDusen Botanical Garden, Vancouver, B.C. Black plants are trendy at the moment. So I thought the Black Garden might be a good entry point into a post on an amazingly diverse botanical garden such as Vancouver’s VanDusen garden. Actually, it’s a bit misleading to call this a black garden. First, there are […]
As 2010 leaves us, we hope you’ll enjoy this little slideshow of some of the memorable leaves from the year behind. It doesn’t always have to be about the flowers… although a few did sneak in here and there. We hope that 2010 leaves you with fond memories, and that 2011 brings you health, happiness […]