A rain garden in Hogg’s Hollow

This lush rain garden was on the 2014 Through the Garden Gate tour in Hogg’s Hollow Hogg’s Hollow is set in a (surprise!) hollow – a steep-sided ravine – in some places steeper than others. The lucky homeowners who live in this charming setting aren’t always so lucky during heavy rains. Water scoots down the […]

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Oh yeah, Summer! I remember you.

A modest entry marks one of my favourite garden experiences from 2013’s Through the Garden Gate – because the reveal was such a surprise, combining formal elements with quirky details. If you read our blog, you know: Quirk R Us. P’raps that wasn’t one of those headlines. You know. The crawler-friendly ones that neatly index […]

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Idea File: Large leaves for big impact

The bold, blue leaves of sea kale (Crambe maritima) anchor a collection of planters – and sea kale is actually edible. Sea kale also produces clusters of white flowers. With less-attractive large leaves, its cousin colewort (Crambe cordifolia) outdoes sea kale with its billowing clouds of small, white flowers. Sometimes you need to sweat the […]

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Preview: Through the Garden Gate 2013

I wasn’t the only one slathering over this lush boulevard planting in Forest Hill It’s time to mark garden tours on your calendar. Yesterday, the press – and that would include lucky old moi – previewed the city’s “really big shoe” Through the Garden Gate, which on the weekend of June 8 and 9, 2013 […]

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Through the Garden Gate into Rosedale

Garden tours are like a box of chocolates. There’s sure to be at least one you love. It’s Toronto garden tour season! Last week, I previewed a few of the gardens you’ll oooh! and aaaah! over in Resplendent Rosedale for the city’s splashiest annual garden tour Through the Garden Gate, held every year in a different location as […]

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Through the Garden Gate 2011: A preview

A gaggle of writers under the tall trees   Sure, you know High Park, Old Mill or The Kingsway. But did you know the Village of Swansea is just around the corner? Swansea? Yes, Swansea – one of Toronto’s best-kept secrets. Long-time residents like to keep it that way, says garden writer Sonia Day, who lived […]

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Through the Garden Gate: Day Two

More garden inspiration from Through the Garden Gate 2010 in “my” neighbourhood, the Beach. Some of the tiniest gardens were the most intriguing due to the added challenge of space – or lack thereof. The Asian-inspired garden above is one of five or six on this year’s tour designed by local landscape designer Kim Price. […]

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Through the Garden Gate: Day One

Today was the first day of the Through the Garden Gate 2010 garden tour in the Beach. Despite having walked 21K in the heat this morning, I couldn’t not try to catch some of the gardens with my darling sister Sarah – although, afterwards I did feel as if all the bones had been removed […]

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Through the Garden Gate: The Beach

Through the Garden Gate is the major garden tour that’s an annual fundraiser for the Toronto Botanical Garden. Today, I attended a press preview. It was hot, it was bright (the worst kind of day for taking garden pictures), but it was oh, so worth it. I’m not saying this because it’s on my home […]

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