A noun. A verb. A blog.
Campanula and Veronicastrum against the golden leaves of Calalpa bignonoiodes ‘Aurea’, VanDusen Botanical Garden The same garden from beneath the fretwork of the branches A basketload of May/June blooms on the species of this North American native tree Now, in close-up And from a distance in an east-end Toronto parkette Helen and Sarah and […]
Helenium autumnale – that’s Helen’s flower, to you. Not sneezeweed. Geez. Enough about me. Let’s talk about Helenium. I don’t know what variety this is (perhaps its short stature points to ‘Ruby Dwarf’ aka ‘Rubinzwerg’), but I wish it were growing in my garden. Despite what they say about the need for full sun and moist soil, […]
Wow, wow, WOW! The pre-sunset “golden hour” lights up butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) Stopped in my tracks on the streets of East York. That’s the only way to describe my reaction to this plant just after 7 pm on Wednesday evening, and thank the photo gods for my iPhone. Capturing the last of the sunlight […]
Double bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis forma multiplex AKA S. canadensis ‘Flora Pleno’) At last, I can put a tick mark on my Lust List: I now have double bloodroot, the fluffier, multipetalled version of the native spring ephemeral, Sanguinaria canadensis. The large-format image was a must here, that’s how much in love I am. They look […]
Ontario’s native floral symbol Trillium grandiflorum – can you be sure it was responsibly propagated? Is choosing native plants always the right thing to do for the planet? Simple answer, right? Well, after a couple of recent encounters, I’m surprised. The simple answer turns out to be more than a little complex. When are native […]
It’s too long since I’ve had the joy of seeing a sea of trilliums brighten up a woodland floor. This is one of my fond memories of childhood, having spent part of our youth living near wooded areas in different parts of Southern Ontario. However, I do have a few in the garden. This year, […]