A noun. A verb. A blog.
A combination of luck and planning produced a pleasing fall display in 2012 A dry shade garden can be a happy place in a rainy year, especially when the soil has been fed properly. This spring, it enjoyed a healthy top-up of duck compost, as well as all the shredded leaves it could eat, the […]
The front door to Post Architects on Victoria Park Avenue Behind a street-facing business office, a young family – he’s an architect, she’s an artist, they have tots – have created a garden that grown-ups and kids can enjoy. They welcomed visitors into their space this June on the Gardens of the Beach 2012 garden […]
Between the busy-ness of summer holidays and back to school, September’s garden can be messy. That’s so in my back garden, where morning glories typically take over by September. This year, they are true to type. Because our front yard Grand Simplification project consumed us this summer, the Microgarden in the back is now channelling Aretha Franklin: N.E.G.L.E.C.T., just a […]
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, […]
My corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) in happier times I’m just awaiting the paperwork. Eastern Filbert Blight has again reared its ugly – uckily ugly – head, as predicted and feared when I wrote about it back in March. Now I’m waiting for an envelope from Rutgers University containing the import permit that will […]
The nose doesn’t have much going for it in the month of November. That’s why we treasure any little bit of sniff going our way. The smell of fallen leaves is always heady to me, especially sugar maple leaves (Acer saccharum). Then there’s the lowly little annual (in my climate) edging plant aptly called sweet […]
Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ This is when the Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) ‘Bloodgood’ really starts living up to its name. Today, the sun was lighting up maples like this all over the city. ‘Bloodgood’ is one of the tougher ones – which it has to be in my dry shade garden. This is its second year, […]
Guess which witch caught my eye while walking? Are they witches’ caps or gnomes? Whatever they are, they called to me (and my ever-present camera) from the shrubbery as I power-walked through our neighbourhood at 7:30 this morning. Not till I started to move again did I realize which witch was witch-hazel… in this case, […]
Savoy cabbage is one of many cole crops that like a touch of frost. With a few exceptions (we still have some carrots to harvest), we wrapped up our community garden plot back in October. But, next year, I won’t be so hasty. The pictures here, snapped a day or so ago, are reminders that […]
I’m thankful there are still stars in the sky. You’re apt to forget about stars when you live immersed in the light pollution of a city. This Thanksgiving, Sarah’s family and mine celebrated together at her one-room schoolhouse in the country. Urban glare is starting to creep in at the corners of her sky, but […]
A big bag of fresh-picked apples is sitting on my kitchen counter. And I mean a BIG bag. If we had a bushel basket, it would be full to overflowing. What kind did you pick?, I asked my daughter. Oh, lots, she replied. Jonagold, Northern Spy, Empire, some other kinds. It’ll be a […]
All the trees on the street are usually bare before my next door Norway maple (Acer platanoides) drops its leaves. Look here; it’s still green, in this picture taken yesterday. It doesn’t matter if I rake. The day before the first big snow, this guy typically drops the whole shebang. Whomp! Then we’re shovelling up […]