A noun. A verb. A blog.
Instead of framing a parterre with boxwood (Buxus) hedges, how about using feather reed grass (Calamagrostis) instead? Unlike box, it will change through the season. Don’t you love how the soft foliage here allows these bulbs to shine? Grasses have been the big thing recently. I’m not talking about puny little turf grasses, but statuesque […]
A screw-up with iPhoto deleted my 2013 “Scott Shot” of urban bee guru Scott MacIvor, so I’ll have to make do with 2012. With some regret, last month I waved bye-bye to my last urban wild bee nesting box – or, the last in the three-year study by ecologist and PhD candidate Scott MacIvor. Read […]
Autumn crocus (Crocus speciosus) blooming in November 2013 Especially after having written a Trellis Magazine article that mentions them among “the other bulbs” that are oft neglected in gardens, you’d think I’d have rushed right out and bought me a bundle of autumn crocuses (Crocus speciosus) and their cousins Colchicum speciosum. I could be enjoying […]
The Toronto Botanical Garden on a rainy (but clearly not grey) day in November Think November is drab? It doesn’t have to be, if you play your cards right. Look at the lusciousness in the photo above, without the use of a single flower – well, discounting the dried heads of a red-tinged oakleaf hydrangea […]
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 […]
Rip me up into eleven pieces! If ever there were an excuse for human cloning, it would be so that I could attend these eleven events at once on Saturday, May 11, 2013. Here’s this week’s full-of-ideas Idea File – check the links for further details on each: 1. Helen speaks on Shade Plants at […]
Sculpture Installation “Stooks and Punes” by Gary Smith at Toronto Botanical Garden This fantastic piece of sculpture at the Toronto Botanical Garden stopped me in my tracks this fall. It delighted by pressing all of my fave Tim Burton-y, Dr Suess-y buttons: it intrigues, plus makes me laugh, a little bit. It’s just plain fun. […]
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 […]
Berries in the snow, just what the doctor ordered. No, I’m not advertising for a mate with a charming drawl. It’s only me letting out an inner “D’oh!” after a spot of Googling. It’s all to do with winter interest in the garden, or lack thereof, in my own. Four years ago, determined to get […]
Autumn at the Toronto Botanical Garden Joining the Toronto Botanical Garden was one of the best garden gifts I’ve given to myself – to preview how good it can be, check out tomorrow’s TBG Open House (Dec. 8, 5:30 to 9:30 pm). The TBG gardens are beautiful in any season – ignore the parking lot reno for […]
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 […]
On Sunday, I spent three wonderful hours looking at a spectacular garden, and talking to people about it. What bliss. Most of these images are cleverly devoid of people… but be assured, the place was hopping. And the rain held off. Hope you enjoy the tour.