A noun. A verb. A blog.
Our trees were the plants most damaged by this week’s April snow and ice storms. We see the evidence in bits and pieces on the ground all around us – or, if we’ve been unlucky, on top of our cars and fences. Hopefully, not on top of us! Sometimes, fruit trees can have their flower […]
No heavy snow to weigh down the grasses along Lake Shore East, January 2016 Perhaps we dreamed of a White Christmas in December 2015, but a dream was all it was. And the snow has just kept on not coming. Toronto often has little snow on the ground in January, but this year has been […]
More blow than snow on this first snowfall of Winter 2014 (well, technically Fall). An almost-wordless Wednesday tribute.
In the midst of another snow storm, here are a few shots from my trip to the Allan Gardens Spring Show last Saturday – shot in the midst of another snow storm. The Spring Show isn’t the cornucopia of bloom that the Easter Show will be. Still. Any port in a storm. While, outside, Allan […]
Cascades of dried grasses at the Toronto Botanical Garden. Admit it: they look even better against all the snow. Some people live in the past. But as this Polar Voldemortex-blighted winter drags on and on, many of us long to live in the future. Spring! Spring! Please, be sprung already! Tell me, why do we […]
Sarah’s garden won the Snowdrop Derby in 2013 It’s a tradition at Toronto Gardens to mark the arrival of the first snowdrops. Despite the recent dump of snow and slush, these welcome babies arrived on Sarah’s south-ish facing slope just yesterday, if not before. Snowdrops in February? Priceless. Time to note where to plant more, […]
Finally, Boxing Day 2012 had a late delivery of snow. Toronto gardeners got a late gift yesterday – a nice, deep blanket of snow! Whenever you’re shovelling it off your walks, don’t push it into the street. Pile it onto your garden! As long as it doesn’t contain salts, that snow contains just what your […]
A lily-flowered tulip was my first model for a snowflower If you need cheap, cheerful fun for a chilly day, there’s nothing easier than making paper snowflakes. Few crafts are so inexpensive – or so sure of success. All you need is a sheet of paper, sharp scissors and your imagination – which can get […]
The evidence is in: there’s Spring in them thar hills! Or, at least, there are snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) blooming in the east end of Toronto. These fellas aren’t the 60 or so I planted last fall. They’re part of the happily multiplying family that has been hardily pushing through snow and leaves for years. One […]
The days are lengthening. Round about this time, our dad would say, “Now we’ve broken winter’s back.” Experience tells me it hasn’t happened quite yet, despite this January thaw, but we are headed in that direction. In fact, winter hasn’t yet made a creditable appearance, up here in Toronto. So to find some of Winter’s […]
Last year about this time, while driving with the whole family in my sister’s van, we had a conversation about why we find this time of year particularly ugly, and, dare I say it, depressing. Then, as now, we were dog-tired of snow and winter and greyness. We were fed up to the gills with […]
Will it never end, Doctor? This compulsive diet of snow and ice and icy snow. And ice. I must confess, I’ve had my fill of it. Come on, winter, smarten up! There are snowdrops under there! Somewhere. I think. There should be snowdrops. There must be snowdrops. The snowdrops that usually tell me and the […]