Monstera Philodendron and Orange Abutilon spending the summer on my canopied deck. You’ve got overwintered geraniums and houseplants that have been cooped up indoors for months. You’ve noticed they’ve started packing their bags and are impatiently awaiting their summer vacation. They’re ready to burst through the screen door and start soaking up that gentle spring […]
Toronto Island Gardens – Inspiration and Delight
A trip to the island is always a joy when you are enduring a summer in the city. As soon as I get on the ferry all I can think is, “Why don’t I do this more often?” It is so beautiful and green there, and it’s so close for us inner-city types. A quick […]
What’s growing in June: Digitalis
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 […]
“The lemon lilies are in bloom again…”
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 […]
Just because it’s June, June, June!
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) […]
What’s growing in May & June: Alliums!
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 […]
What’s growing in May & June: Irises!
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 […]