Plant now to enjoy a bountiful harvest next summer The present global pandemic cloud we are living under has, for me at least, had a few silver linings and one such is the increase in people wanting to try their hand at growing their own food. Veggie gardening has exploded and to me that is […]
Perfect Time to Plant a Tree… or Shrub There is an old saying that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, but the second-best time to plant a tree is today. I would go one step further and say the best time to plant a tree is in the fall, and for that […]
A Chill in the Air Now that the weather has turned, there is a chill in the air and everyone is heading indoors. Personally I am getting reacquainted with my sweaters and trying to remember to put on socks each morning. It’s official, fall is coming. The joy of spring planting seems like such a distance memory and the idea of planting and enjoying fresh colourful […]
Worth the Wait I read recently that patience is a dying virtue. In our modern world everything is available almost instantaneously at the push of a button, from movies to music to toilet paper delivered to your door. According to expert sources we need to incorporate ways to foster patience into our daily life, we […]
Early Fall Colour, For the Love of Red, Yellow and Orange Colour is such a personal thing. I think of myself as a very blue/green person, but my son loves everything red and orange. The only time we can agree over colour is in the Fall. I throw out my preconceived notions of colour preference and bask in the glory of […]
The New Cozier, Healthier Normal I have a friend, who I probably shouldn’t name, because… well, she has a new man in her life. But the good news is her husband doesn’t seem to mind. It’s my fault because I was the one who introduced her, his name is Frank and he’s a fiddle-leaf fig. […]
Throwing Shade Shade, it has become a bad word. Throwing shade is a disparaging term in the common vernacular, but in the heat of summer I can’t think of anything better than finding an excuse to retreat into the shade. I am a shade person; I seek it out. When my friends are looking for a sunny spot […]
Fall and Winter Veggies – Starting Now! I have a degree in Agriculture and thus far have been completely unable to grow watermelon radishes. It’s so embarrassing. Just in case you are not familiar with watermelon radishes they are a radish with a rosy pink centre surrounded by a thin outer layer of white and then hint of green. When you slice them, you can […]
Xeriscaping Xeriscaping? My friends give me a hard time because I use the Latin names for plants! I’ll likely be teased unmercifully for using the word Xeriscaping, which quite simply refers to landscaping or gardening practices that reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation. Despite the fact that we live in a Rainforest here on […]
Susan, Shasta and the Coneheads I know, it’s a bit silly and it sounds like the name of a 60s rock band… but it’s what pops into my head when I think of the glory of summer daisies. Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia sp.), Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) and my personal favourite the “not-just-purple” coneflowers (Echinacea sp.) really are a necessity in the […]
