Monday January 18th is fast approaching, and I’m wondering how many people know the significance of that date. It’s called Blue Monday and is considered to be the most depressing day of the year. Hmmm…. I’m of mixed feelings about this. While it’s important to acknowledge mental health and shine a light on it, do […]
Let’s face it, winter in the garden can be a bit, well…blah. So, thank goodness for Christmas, it’s the perfect excuse to go a little crazy and “zhuzh” up your tired and now empty planters. It’s time to make a winter accent planter and all you need is a pot of soil, some evergreens, a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Growing and Caring for Hydrangeas “You gotta love a hydrangea.” A stalwart of the garden, they can be found everywhere. Perhaps it’s their “vintage charm,” evocative of an English country garden. Or perhaps it’s because they are just so dead easy to grow and reward you yearly with flowers that can range from big, bold and colourful, to […]
Grow big in small spaces I have a degree in Agriculture and a paved yard… the irony is not lost on me. I live an urban life and so my wide-open spaces are parks and my tiny little paved patio is my garden. But within my garden I have two apple trees, a blueberry bush, a cluster […]
Although they are commonplace in our gardens now it was only three decades ago that ornamental grasses first started to appear on garden centre shelves. One of the very first varieties was Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum,’ also known as Purple Fountain Grass. I distinctly remember receiving the first pots of these from a nursery in California […]
