A noun. A verb. A blog.
Hellebores (Helleborus spp) are fabulous, long-blooming spring flowers for a dry-shade garden like mine. Although I’m hoping to incorporate more native plants in my garden, this gorgeous Eurasian will likely stay – not only for its months-long show of flowers, but as an early-spring pollen and nectar source for pollinators. In fact, an interesting tidbit […]
After all my whining observations about the early wave of spring in other parts, we are finally seeing signs of hope in Toronto. One of spring’s bellwethers for us on the Toronto Gardens blog is the arrival of snowdrops (Galanthus) in our small city plots. Well, they’re here. Today! Or one snowdrop is, as you can see above – and glory […]
My sister is the seed-starter in our family. She’d tell you all the great reasons to start plants from seed, beginning with the joy of seeing a wee plant unfold from the soil – an everyday miracle I never get tired of. Cost-effectiveness is another one. Seed-started plants make it all the more affordable to create a scene like the one above, a […]
If this seems a gruesome way to begin, it’s because of my “undying” admiration of the paddle cactus or prickly pear (Opuntia spp.). Did you know that southern Ontario has a native cactus (in the wild, it’s endangered)? This is the family, if not the one. And we can overwinter it here in Toronto’s USDA Z5/Canadian Z6. When […]
On the weekend, I FaceTimed with our youngest daughter, who currently lives in the UK. She was telling me about her life there. You know. Hopes, dreams, fears. But I was eager to get on to the important stuff. “I’ll bet you have daffodils.” “What?” She sounded confused by my non-sequitur. “Daffodils. I’ll bet they’re blooming now. Or […]
A bouquet of tulips from my garden, in light from my window Call this post: I’m going to show you pictures of these tulips until you beg me to stop. Tulips are amazing in a vase. They continue to grow and change for days. One day, the morning light caught the bouquet I’d picked last […]
Tulipa ‘Parrot King’ is a kingly parrot tulip Yes, I’ve had problems with squirrels and tulips. Who hasn’t? It almost put me off ever planting tulips again. But I’ve learned that the best way to foil squirrels when growing tulips is to grow more tulips. Like the British way of making tea: Plant “one for […]
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), looking lust-afterable in a Beach garden Virginia bluebells are native North American spring ephemerals and they’re just fabulous – in any garden but mine. Wish my shady garden had the moisture they need to be as happy as they are here. You want them, too. You know you do. Mobot tells […]
No. Unfortunately not a picture of a Toronto garden. Not yet. Nearly a year ago, I photographed this in the display garden of Sunset Publishing in California, sighing that it would perk me up before my return to the brownery back home. Well, Facebook just reminded me of it, so I thought I’d share it […]
Hello, little snowdrop! This is our earliest-ever official Toronto Gardens snowdrop sighting – I noticed my usual earlybird snowdrop was up yesterday, February 3, 2016, but it had likely awoken a few days before. Our neighbours S and B have a nice little patch blooming in their front yard, too. Prior to this, the earliest […]
Glorious sweet peas – wish our blog had smell-o-vision. Some seeds, like sweet peas, must be nicked or scratched to help them germinate. That’s called scarification. Other seeds need to be subjected to long periods of cold; even frozen. Stratified, in horticultural terms. For others, fire is as necessary to the seed as food and […]
Do a little “Where’s Waldo-ing” on this photo, and you can see masses of happy snowdrops, finally welcoming spring. Yes, Toronto, there are snowdrops! This year, Sarah won the local snowdrops sweepstakes, with a handful blooming by her drive. Mine are mostly hibernating. But look, look, look at these in a Riverdale garden on Saturday! […]