Not So Ornamental Kale
I don’t like the taste of kale very much, but I do like it as an ornamental plant in my garden. Some of my friends…
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Highlights from Long Branch by the Lake Garden Tour 2018
We had a wet weekend for the Long Branch Garden Tour. Very. Very. Wet. But that didn’t seem to dampen the spirit of the intrepid…
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Plant profile: Heuchera
I have a problem with Heuchera (aka Coral Bells). My problem is that plant breeders keep coming out with amazing new varieties in a stunning…
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Plant profile: Alliums
If you’ve ever wondered at the purple lollipop-like flowers, blooming amongst roses and peonies, you’re not alone. Every time I see someone encountering these flowers…
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Tips for Enjoying Garden Tours
June is a popular month for garden tours in my area. It’s late enough that the garden has progressed beyond tulips, but early enough that…
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The Magic of Mulch
Mulch can instantly transform the look of your garden and provides real benefits in terms of maintenance and moisture retention. I am a big believer…
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How to Get Your Tulips to Bloom Again Next Year
Tulips are the tempermental stars of the spring garden. They put on a gorgeous show but then, if you don’t treat them just right, they…
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How to Plant Tomatoes
Tomatoes are often the very first vegetable most gardeners try to grow, and who can blame them—there’s nothing like the taste of a freshly grown,…
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The Container Garden Guide
Containers, urns, pots and hanging baskets are a lot of fun to put together and they can add a lot of pizzazz to your garden.…
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How to Photograph Plants for Identification
Whether you’ve just moved into a new garden where everything’s a mystery, or see something unfamiliar sprouting in a garden you’ve had for years, a…
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How to Divide a Bleeding Heart
Although you might mistake the title of this post for an 80’s rock ballad, I’m referring to a plant with the common name of “Bleeding…
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Plant Ties Like My Grandpa Used to Make
My grandparents lived through the depression, and, like most people of that era, were into “recycling” and “reusing” multiple decades before those terms were trendy.…
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Garden Gloves: the good, the bad and the weird
I confess that I do not always wear gloves when I’m digging in the garden, especially when I’m doing something like planting annuals in a…
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Caring for Potted Hydrangeas
Walk into any big box hardware store, grocery store, or florist right now and you’ll likely run smack into a huge display of stunning pink…
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Two Recommended Tools to Sharpen Secateurs
It is infinitely more enjoyable, and better for your plants, to use sharp secateurs than dull ones. I’ve written elsewhere about how to choose a…
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The best plant labels for vegetables
I’ve been on the hunt for a good way to label the plants in my vegetable garden, specifically, the many varieties of tomatoes. I grow…
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Plant profile: Witchhazel
Witchhazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) is the very first thing to bloom in my garden. I knew this shrub had a reputation as an early bloomer…
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Plant profile: Tuberous Begonias
Tuberous begonias are super plants for containers and hanging baskets. They have large, luscious blooms in colours ranging from white and pale pink to brilliant…
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What to look for in a good pair of secateurs
A good pair of secateurs is an indispensable tool for a gardener. I can’t think of anything else that I use in the garden more…
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What we can learn from greenhouse tomato growers
Last fall, while visiting The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, I came across a very neat exhibit–it was a 38 foot mobile “greenhouse education…
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A city gardener’s nightmare
One of the “features” of our front yard is that it has a bright yellow fire hydrant at the northwest corner. When I first bought…
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Plant profile: Night Blooming Primrose
Night blooming primrose (latin: Oenothera flava) is a really fun plant to have in your garden, as the flowers open right before your eyes! Individual…
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Garden quotes and sayings
Gardens and the act of gardening have inspired writers and artists for centuries. Here is a collection of some of the best garden quotes and…
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Visit to a miniature village in Niagara
This past weekend we took a drive to the Niagara Parks Commission’s Floral Showhouse. We wanted to see the poinsettia display in the greenhouse and…
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How to figure out your zone
Has a gardening friend or nursery salesperson ever asked you if you “know your zone?” It’s not a pick-up line (well, it’s usually not a…
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Get tree sap off your hands with two ingredients from your kitchen
The one down side from making your own Christmas wreath out of fresh greenery, or doing any holiday decorating with pine and other sap oozing…
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Storing Tubers Over The Winter
I wrote previously about how to dig up tender tubers–the roots of dahlias, cannas, and begonias–to store them over the winter. I know that a…
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Preventing Snow & Ice Damage to Cedars
When winter storms come and pile on heavy snow and ice, it can spell disaster for some trees, especially evergreens, which have needles that hold…
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Fuss less in the fall
Every year at this time articles about “putting your garden to bed” seem to pop up like dandelions. Worried new gardeners stop me to ask…
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Making and Maintaining MOSAICANADA150
The MOSAICANADA150 exhibit held in Gatineau, Quebec this summer was a stunning combination of gardening and sculpture. I focused on the sculptural aspect in my…
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A Visit to MOSAICANADA150
I’ve been looking forward to the Mosaiculture exhibit in Gatineau, Quebec since January. After a busy summer, I finally got to see it, just a…
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Monarch butterflies love this fall blooming tree
Earlier this year I heard many, many stories of people raising monarch butterflies by hand, in order to help shore up their declining numbers. Well,…
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What’s happening in my fall garden?
When I mentioned to a friend that someone was coming over to see my garden last weekend she was surprised and said “What’s going on…
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Frost protection
When you live in a climate with real winter, frost is a fact of life. But when frost comes too early, a gardener has to…
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A Visit to Chanticleer
I’ve been hearing great things about Chanticleer garden in Pennsylvania for several years. I’ve also attended inspiring talks in Toronto from visiting Chanticleer staff and…
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Tomato problems. But are they really a problem?
In an ideal world, our plants would never have a blemish and would produce bumper crops continuously. I do my best to practice good…
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How to save your coleus for next year
I’ve written before about how much I love coleus and how I’ve had a hard time finding my favourite variety at any of my local…
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Rain barrels and why gardeners should have one
I think everyone who has a garden would benefit from having a rain barrel–I have four in my yard (three catching rain off the house…
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A Visit to Whistling Gardens
Three years ago I drove an hour and a half out of Toronto, to Brantford, to see a garden. I’d heard that a gardener with…
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Do you know the dry spots in your garden?
Rain doesn’t fall the same everywhere. I’m not just talking about the difference in rainfall between one side of town and another, I’m talking…
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