A noun. A verb. A blog.
Clematis alpina ‘Pamela Jackman’ is in the Group or Type 1 or C (oops!) A pruning group. (Sometimes, a proofreader would be handy, too.) Clematis are usually classed as Type A, B or C (aka Group 1, 2 or 3), each with different pruning requirements. I know what the requirements are. Trouble is, I can never […]
The rather gross-looking cankers of Eastern filbert blight, a fungus that’s not a fun-guy! Run out right now and inspect your corkscrew hazel shrub (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) for bumps like these. If you see semi-regular, black cankers along the stems (like I did), your hazel has Eastern filbert blight (Anisogramma anomala). If left to its own […]
The view is clear when you can see a tree silhouetted in its underwear. Let’s let go of our moaning. Snow in January is a good friend to the Toronto gardener. First, it’s precipitation; a long, cool drink for the garden. It’s an insulating blanket of snow for our tender plants, especially when the temps […]
Your forsythia shrub now is probably a fountain of gold. Or maybe it isn’t. Blooming season is when a less-than-forthcoming forsythia makes itself very plain. Wonder why? Forsythias always make this year’s flower buds last year. And most of the time when they don’t bloom it’s for two reasons related to pruning. Yours might not […]
Oh, what a tangled web we weave… when we don’t know how to prune a weeping mulberry (Morus alba ‘Pendula’). You can see this popular weeping standard tree all over the city – and when not wearing its cloak of green, the tangled, haystack-headed results of improper pruning are only too evident. Therefore, when I […]
Let’s call the whole thing … a really splendid harbinger of spring. Actually, most people say “fors-i-thia” when we’re talking about Forsythia. But I always see Mr. Forsyth’s surname fossilized in there. He was the royal gardener who introduced this Asian native shrub to the west, around the time when Jane Austen was a girl. […]
You’d be right in thinking this looks a bit of a mess. Poor Annabelle! This is her equivalent of a bad hair day. The ‘Annabelle’ Hydrangea arborescens is one of the best flowering shrubs for a small city garden. Compact and somewhat shade tolerant, it performs well in an urban setting, producing a load of […]
While we’re (almost) on the subject of overgrown trees, take a look at this little linear forest (shown in two seasons). This was once a hedge. That is, it was a hedge till someone put away their shears. If you pay attention to the city’s garden archeology, you can spot these runaway hedges all over. […]
Drat this vacation. The maniacal rush to get things done before taking a break is screwing up my garden. Next spring, I’ll probably regret not having deadheaded those tarda tulips. Hopefully, all their energies didn’t go into making seed. Just popped out now and sprinkled the seeds over some new ground. Don’t know if this […]