Now that some of you are house bound, either out of necessity or choice, take some time to look at the world directly around you. We are inundated with world news yet wonders abound in the microcosm of our home and garden. Spring is peeping above the ground and poised to spring so to speak even here in Ontario. Snowdrops are in full bloom and … Continue reading The World around Us
Fall has peeked in here in southern Ontario for the moment. Hay fever is in full swing and people still think the lovely and garden worthy goldenrod is to blame. It’s no wonder, goldenrod is flamboyant with its rich golden spikes of pollen rich blooms and the first thing people see and blame for their seasonal misery. Except…goldenrod does not cause allergies. It is pollinated … Continue reading Dispelling the Myth
Colour preference is intensely personal for everyone. What one person loves another loathes. If you’re an artist or designer, you will be familiar with the colour wheel and the theory behind complimentary and adjacent colours and how to combine them to create pleasing patterns. In the end what really matters is that you love what you are looking at every day. In the garden, colours … Continue reading Colour Combos
Well this has been a strange spring. We are in the last day of June and I still have paeonies blooming together with roses, a first for me! Normally the paeonies come first with their ephemeral but glorious blooms then I get to enjoy the first wave of roses before the japanese beetles hit! Now I have both but no beetles (fingers and toes crossed) … Continue reading In the Garden this Week
Back in mid April (how time flies…) I went to England to see the glorious woodland bluebells and a sample of the stunning gardens that dot the fair isle. The first few days I spent in London in the up and coming area of Southwark. As I wandered the streets, I noticed the sheer number of green spaces crammed in tiny corners, small garden areas, … Continue reading Urban Landscapes
A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the palace and gardens of Versailles. The palace itself is a baroque wonder but sadly jammed with people most of the time now. The gardens are another matter, built on a grand scale by André Le Notre to showcase the Sun King’s power and ambition. André, a gardener and landscape architect was first commissioned … Continue reading Garden of Versailles
For all you fellow Canadians, if your red geraniums still look good but white petunias have faded, add some white mums and white pumpkins to your planters for an easy patriotic fall arrangement. Happy Thanksgiving to all in Canada!! 🙂 http://www.gardengraces.ca Continue reading Quick container makeover
Here we are in the third day of fall in southern Ontario and it’s a steamy 31 deg celsius (88 F). I have watered more in the last week than all of the summer! Annuals are blooming madly and the butterflies are still hanging about. A swallowtail on my lantana However, it is fall and time to plant bulbs, trim back dead summer leaves and … Continue reading Fertilizing 101. part 3: fertilizers for the fall
Daylilies are the workhorses of the plant world. Dependable, tough, low maintenance, generally well behaved and the latest varieties are anything but dull! They have come a long way from the old orange daylilies that you see growing along the roadside and marking out the outlines of long gone homesteads, yet have retained that long lived tenacity from their orange ancestor. Now you can get … Continue reading Dashing and Dependable Daylilies
Colour and colour combinations are a very personal choice and when clients ask me to do what “I think looks good” because they don’t know, I make sure to get a feel of the colours they like. I look at their interior colour schemes, deep jewel like tones or pale neutrals and carry that out into the garden. Make sure the colours harmonize or alternatively … Continue reading Summer Colour Combos
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