A noun. A verb. A blog.
A sea of Bromelliads in bloom at Valleyview Gardens I have a new love. Where have you been all my life, Valleyview Gardens? We at Toronto Gardens have been bemoaning the lack of a really good, full-service garden nursery in the east end of the city for years. Long ago we lost White Rose nurseries […]
Easy to see why Epiphyllum anguliger is also called the zigzag, ric rac or fishbone cactus I’ve had a crush on this plant in the Allan Gardens cactus house for ages. A big crush. Look at those cool leaves! Well, not leaves, actually – as these are in the cactus family, they’re flat, zigzaggy stems, […]
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 […]
Look at that face, just look at it! Who could resist Rex begonia (Begonia rex-cultorum) ‘Escargot’? Not me, it seems. Despite her better judgement, Helen the House Plant Killer has become the owner of a slightly fussy Rex begonia ‘Escargot’. The showy leaves with their whorled, snail-shell centres wooed her, that is, er, me. In […]
Jade plant (Crassula ovata) blooming its heart out in the Allan Gardens cactus house, December 2013 Jadenappers! They had the nerve to sneak into my back yard one summer and steal my lovely jade plant (Crassula ovata) as it was innocently sunning itself outdoors on vacation. Broken-hearted ever since, I hadn’t replaced it. Mine had […]
The poinsettia’s real name is Euphorbia pulcherrima, meaning “beautiful euphorbia” It seems that the Ecke family introduced poinsettias to the commercial market back in 1900 (Although I rarely point you to Wikipedia on the blog, you can read their story here). Today, the ubiquity of the poinsettia at Christmastime has made people say ecke! in […]
Schlumbergera truncata, an unwieldy name for the Thanksgiving cactus In my post on unkillable houseplants, I missed a worthy addition that proves its worth with its pretty flowers around this time of year, Slumbergera truncata. It’s commonly known as the Thanksgiving cactus, referring to its bloom time near American Thanksgiving at the end of November. […]
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 […]
Red-edge sansevieria (Sansevieria subspicata) and silverbush (Convolvulus cneorum) A charming combo from the Cactus House at Allan Gardens. I’ve never seen red-edge sansevieria before, and was surprised that its silver-leafed companion is a shrubby member of the morning glory family. I’ll have to come back to catch it in flower – a silver shrub covered […]
This hoverfly might be narcissus bulb fly. Boo hoo. It sure looked like some kind of red-headed bee to me when I found it sitting on a Pelargonium leaf in my west-facing window. Out came a drinking glass and piece of card to capture it while I researched: What the heck is it? Then I […]
Staghorn Fern at Allan Gardens, Toronto. You know how certain plants call to you, and others don’t? I’d always been a little wary of Staghorn Fern Platycerium Bifurcatum. There was something a little creepy and non-plantlike about them that left me a little cold, but I never forgot how much they appealed to my father, […]