A noun. A verb. A blog.
As I drove back from a meeting today, this little fountain of sunshine rose up from all the mousy brown blanketing the city. Had to double back with my camera. This is the witch hazel, Hamamelis, so valuable for its splash of colour (and, in many cases, perfume!) at one of the most drab and […]
There’s something about Toronto and roses. Even the most unassuming front porch can often have an amazing display of climbing roses in June. I once took a course on perennials at the then-Civic Garden Centre (now, Toronto Botanical Garden). It was taught by Keith Squires, of Country Squires Garden in Milton (worth a visit for […]
Dame’s rocket or Hesperis. The bees still love them. They still smell lovely in the evening. They’re still making flowers. And, this afternoon before the big rain, I even saw an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly swooping down for a sip. But they’re taking over. Despite, or perhaps because of, the perpetual flower-making machine at the […]
By dint of name alone, foxgloves are like fairy flowers. If foxes wore gloves, they might look a bit like these. The bell-shaped flowers remind me of the kind of thing I might have seen fairies wearing for hats — along with the fuzzy caps of poppies – in the British children’s books I grew […]
At this time of year, the words above go through my mind, and often pass my lips, in a bad Katharine Hepburn accent (with apologies to calla lilies). Old-fashioned lemon lilies (Hemerocallis flava) are among the legacy plants in my garden. Along with the morning glories (Ipomoea purpurea) and purple irises (Iris), the lilacs (Syringa) and mock […]
Now that the crazy humidity has eased off, I could actually go out and look in the garden – to discover that, next door, M.’s blood red poppies have popped open. In June of last year, I obsessively photographed their every move. But just look at them. Who could blame me? Oriental poppies (Papaver orientale) […]
You don’t like dancing with crazy Ted, he’s always jumping on your head? But, oooooooo, you love onions? Join the club. Now is the time the popsicle-like flowers of Alliums come into their own. I captured the display above on a small street in the Junction. All the neighbours seem to have shared in the […]
The cornu is definitely copious when it comes to irises in June. Even my Microgarden tends to feature a good flush of the intermediate purple irises (above) that came with the house – and which, over the years, have overflown to neighbours’ gardens up and down the street. Albeit, for silly me, the flush of […]
When you find a shrub that will grow in fairly consistent shade, and has interesting foliage, and will flower, and on top of it all will flower fragrantly, you need to crow about it. Hence this homage to Daphne ‘Carol Mackie.’ I was first introduced to ‘Carol Mackie’ in a fantastic garden during the Riverdale […]
Yes, we have spring weather! In the middle of April. At least, we do temporarily, as it is threatening to transition right into summer, with 21˚C predicted this week. On the weekend, I gingerly scrumpled the leaves on top of the garden, and found some of my favorite spring things. Here is one: Lathyrus vernus, […]
This is a phrase that my dad used to say a lot, as in: “Don’t worry about me, I’m as tough as old boots.” And this descriptor popped into my head while walking through my fall garden this morning. I realized I have a few plants that should be placed in this new category. Plants […]