A noun. A verb. A blog.
The fall foliage I uploaded yesterday leaned strongly towards reds. Yet, sometimes yellow can make an equal statement. Especially a yellow intense enough to literally drag me down the street to investigate. Meet the Japanese katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), a tree that should be planted more often in Toronto. This picture is just as it […]
Purple barberry (Berberis) showing its little red pal how to really do red in fall. In full sun, berberis gets that glowing embers effect; purple, red, orange yellow. Amur maple (Acer tartaricum var. ginnala, formerly Acer ginnala), striking in red. Yes, must get myself one. Too bad the columnar form is harder to find. The […]
No, we don’t want you to take a tumble. However, the view of the Don Valley from the Leaside Bridge is one of my favourite places in the city to enjoy the fall colours. As it’s impossible to stop on the bridge, the best way to get there is by bike, or park your hybrid […]
It never ceases to amaze me what evil can be done to a tree, simply with a tie and a stake. These homeowners probably thought they were doing a kind thing to their young tree, propping it up with a stake. However, this poor puppy should have been let off its leash long ago, before […]
This story happened in Quebec, but it’s a story that could have happened anywhere with trees. Take one 150-year-old sugar maple tree. Apply wind; lots of wind. Aaaand… oops! Miraculously, this tree-sized branch missed the car, landed on a fence but didn’t crush it, even the birdhouse made it through the branches unscathed. However, the […]
Who says front yard trees have to be boring. Look at this specimen of the Tricolour European Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Roseomarginata’) growing on the south side of Mortimer Avenue. I love all beeches for their smooth, grey, elephant-leg bark and regal stance. I love the way the juveniles of our native beeches hold their buff-coloured […]
They’re ba-a-ck! Now opening in a garden near you: the first of the yearly horde of seedlings of Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). Recognize them by the shiny, round primary leaves, followed quickly by pointy secondaries. If you see them, pounce immediately. Tree of Heaven is a prodigiously fast-growing, liberally self-seeding, non-native tree whose fronds […]
In 2007, we wrote about the whip of dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) that Sarah acquired in 2006 at Canada Blooms. Our fledgling tree, nursed along by neighbour M., has now flown the coop, and is planted in a sunny spot just across the street. Dawn redwoods are said variously to be hardy to USDA Zone […]
Some people get 15 minutes of fame. Some trees get what feels like 15 minutes of flower. In early May, it was the Magnolias. Now, it’s the flowering crabapples (Malus sp.). No May in Toronto would be complete without their fleeting blaze of glory. Certain areas of the city are positively bowered with their white […]
Poor cultural practices – the things you do when you garden – can be a hazard to your trees. People kill trees all the time, quite innocently, simply by saying: Honey, let’s put a cute little raised bed around the tree. All the active tissue in a tree trunk exists very near the surface under […]
Spotted along the bike trail on the north side of the white picnic shelter near the Leuty Lifeguard Station. Unsure how this piece of living artwork came about, or what effect it has on the life of the tree. My guess is that the bark formation came first and the artist tweaked it to help […]
It’s windy, windy, windy – and you can bet the ground will be strewn with willow whips tomorrow. All the better to collect and add to your flower arranging materials, friends. This weeping willow seen the other day near Branksome Hall illustrates the lovely spring glow the willows get around Toronto at this time of […]