A noun. A verb. A blog.
By many measures, 2016 was one of the most deplorable of annus horribilis-es. The Grim Reaper was unusually busy, and some things did not turn out as hoped. But let’s try to bright-side it. A look back: January One thing to like, every year, is Toronto’s skirt hem along the great freshwater sea that is Lake Ontario. A […]
If you’re a creative person (as gardeners often are) it’s easy to get hung up on perfection. Rather than appreciating the garden that is, you compare it with the garden that exists only in your mind – your dreams. And you grumble. I love your garden, people might tell you. While, grumbler that you are, you give them […]
Gardening is a conversation. That’s what I’ve been ruminating on since spending an enjoyable hour last month talking to the Oshawa Garden Club about Gardening in Shade. What do I mean? Well, of course, a conversation is a sharing of thoughts, ideas and opinions with other people. After I spoke to the lovely folks in Oshawa about shade gardening, […]
Yes, they can look stiff and formal. But I like glads because they remind me of our mother. Not only because Gladiolus is August’s birthday flower, and August 31st – today – was her birthday. It’s because of a piece of art she made, a print of some coral-coloured gladioli. Both our parents were gifted artists. Both were art-school […]
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 […]
Our dad’s parents in the garden, captioned in our father’s lovely handwriting. Why do you garden? In our family, it’s something you just do – eventually, you become a gardener. For my sister Sarah and I, it’s now as ingrained as family jokes, traditions or recipes. We grew up with parents and grandparents who had […]
Thank you, garden, for not being perfect. Thank you for putting up with my sloth. Thanks …for managing to survive, despite my sloth. For reminding me to overcome it. Thank you for offering up continual surprises. Like roses in November. For those sweet doses of happiness, from spring to spring. For showing me what doesn’t […]
In winter, I walked past this snowscape on Unwin Avenue (shown through the lens of the Waterlogue app) Spring and fall are the big work seasons for gardeners. They’re also when my other hobby messes up my gardening life. I’m a power-walker. Since 2003, I’ve averaged 3.27 half marathons a year, in spring and/or fall. […]
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 […]
A little siss-boom-bah! from one of the many inspiring gardens we visited in 2014 – Floramagoria in Portland OR Sending you all a wish for a very Happy New Year – plus good health and great growing in 2015!
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 […]
A Rose by any other name… would be much happier. Or so our daughter says. Our nearly-summer-solstice Gift Child dislikes her second name, Rose – given because their bloom is almost timed to her birth. Yet, each birthday, I run out to gather the first-blown rose on the vine for her birthday bouquet. Now that […]