Its a snowy day here in Ontario so what better to do than some garden daydreaming 🙂  My next few blogs will be about some of the famous and not so famous gardens I have had the good fortune to visit so far!  Today’s garden is the JardĂn JaponĂ©s in Santiago Chile.  Santiago is not noted for its public gardens, but this is a lovely … Continue reading Gardens around the world – Santiago
An early winter’s day Continue reading Winter
May you all  have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!! Happy gardening, poetry writing and following whatever your heart’s passion may be! http://www.gardengraces.ca Continue reading Merry Christmas
Every Christmas season, people worry about poisonous plants, pets and toddlers and rightly so.  A popular myth is that poinsettias are poisonous, probably due to their bright red colour.  In reality, they are not really toxic; the milky sap in the leaves can cause skin irritation, drooling and sometimes vomiting if your babies decide to chew on them, but rarely anything more serious.   A gorgeous … Continue reading Are Poinsettias Poisonous?
I walked out into my garden today and discovered my witchhazel in full bloom! Hamamelis virginiana or the common witchhazel is a lovely North American native shrub hardy to zone 3. Â Yellow fragrant flowers appear in the fall, often as late as December as mine has done happily. Â Normally the flowers are obscured by the yellow fall leaves but most of them have fallen off … Continue reading Surprise Christmas Blooms
As I have seen cars with Christmas trees lashed to their roof around town, take a moment to watch this short video:Â Â Â why you should water your live Christmas tree You don’t want your holidays ending in ashes. Â It only takes about 30 seconds!! Continue reading Christmas tree inferno
Look, I have a cat in my cupboard. What she seeks in there I know not. I peer in and she stares back, Eyes glint copper and emerald. The soft thud of wooden doors Tells me she crept into the Dark recesses of her secret lair. Oft she slips out again silently, But on occasion- The shrill clatter and clang of steel pots Startle me … Continue reading Cat in my cupboard
Now that Halloween is over I finally started my fall garden cleanup, even a professional gardener has lapses and time seems to fly ever faster…sigh. Â Fall cleanup can be daunting if you are doing it alone like me…I often wish I had an extra set of arms and a prehensile tail or a garden robot! Â However, since none of those exist yet, meet my new … Continue reading The Solo Gardener: Tips for making fall cleanup a little easier
The early frosts here in Southern Ontario have caught most of us by surprise and sadly we now have to clean up the mushy remains of summer’s blooms. Â It is also time to clean up the garden in general. Â There are two camps to garden cleaning, one is to cut down and tidy up everything and the other is to leave everything to die back … Continue reading Fall Cleanup
This past summer we have seen a number of red and black bugs flying about but recently there’s been a downright invasion!  They are swarming any sunny wall and window and trying to get into our homes…  What are they these buggy beasties?  Well, they are known as boxelder bugs, quite natty looking with their red and black bodies and red wings.  They are members of the … Continue reading Alien Invasion…of the bug kind
Garden Graces 