A noun. A verb. A blog.
Not very promising for Blooms Day, eh? But don’t go away. You might be surprised by how this story ends. Yesterday’s wind did a good job trimming branches from the trees, including these whips from a weeping willow. I wish I’d found more. Because, with their flexibility and buttery colour, weeping willow whips make excellent […]
Last March in the Dominican Republic, I watched a craftsman build a palapa or tiki hut from wood and palms. I recorded the process in pictures and have wanted to share it ever since. But how is the construction of a tropical palapa relevant to a Toronto audience? Especially a wintry Toronto audience. That was […]
Can’t you imagine long conversations in this cosy spot? I love eating outdoors. There doesn’t seem to have been enough of that in summer 2010. My back yard is only big enough for a bit of garden and a dining table. A small dining table. So I’ll be putting on a sweater to squeeze the […]
How charming to see a word as tricky as “chlorophyll” correctly written in learning-to-print letters! Even more charming to think that the knowledge came from a plant that children had grown themselves from seed, transplanted, tended and soon would taste. It’s all in a school-day’s work in Stonewall Gardens at Stonewall Jackson Elementary School on […]
You never know where you’ll find garden inspiration – perhaps on holiday in Reykjavik, Iceland. After a day of seeking out and being rather disappointed by the Reykjavik Botanical Garden, we headed to Reykjavik City Hall to look at the 3D map of Iceland. Almost by accident, we exited via the not-so-obvious front door, and […]
Because, really, the privacy screening a hedge provides often only makes a difference when you’re outdoors during the clement seasons. Why not use it to support your beans and cukes – which can be highly ornamental, as well as being practical and delicious. A more decorative frame might have more good-neighbour appeal, and I perhaps […]
For the garbage bins Toronto residents hate to love, or for those who say a rain barrel is too ugly, here’s one of our favourite snippets from the Garden Walk Buffalo preview. Paint yourself a garden. The gardener who painted these in Buffalo’s Cottage District gave me the basic how-to. She simply used acrylic paint, […]
Here’s a fountain any garden would have space for: A perpetually refilling watering can. One like this captured my imagination at Canada Blooms one year, so I immediately asked the ever-ingenious Mr. TG to figure out how to make one for me. It’s just the kind of challenge he relishes. With a few rocks in […]
You can add texture to your garden in many ways. Here, we have a tulip with fringed petals, one of the many forms (or textures) available in hybrid tulips today. Imagine having two tulip varieties blooming together in the same colour, but with different textures – simple but dramatic. Or try contrast. I don’t know […]
At the Toronto Botanical Garden on Sunday, we visited the Ontario Rock Garden and Hardy Plant Society plant sale. Wow. Wall-to-wall plants and people make for a floral feeding frenzy. Considering the temptations, Sarah & I were restrained, coming home with only three and two plants. (The members’ preview for the TBG’s own plant sale […]
Last Sunday, Sarah and Helen visited Barry Parker’s Open Garden Toronto and were once again blown away by this lovely Parkdale garden gem. Helen: The first thing that impresses me about Barry’s garden is its structure. Structure is one of the things that moves a garden from good to great. And Barry proves that you […]
Urban gardens are usually small gardens. This little album of tricks contains ideas that help urban gardeners overcome some of our spatial limitations. The picture above has three to begin with: • Use the upward dimension. Be sure your small garden makes use of the infinite vertical plane with elements like arbours, trellises and wall […]