Belinda Gallagher tells it like it is. And backed by an impressive career as a nursery-owner and most recently, as Head of Horticulture at the Royal Botanical Gardens, her words reflect her experience and pragmatism. Although I missed her lecture on January 27, 2011 at the Toronto Botanical Garden, my good friend (and note-taker extraordinaire) Lorraine Hunter was there. [...]
The first time I saw ‘Honorine Jobert’ was in the south of France — near Nice I think — when I was on vacation and just new to gardening. I was dazzled by an entire border of these tall, white-flowered perennials waving in the wind. When it came time to plant my small woodland garden, I [...]
You may prefer the creamy edges of Brunnera ‘Hadspen Cream’ or the gold-rimmed ‘King’s Ransom’ or even the silvery leaves of ‘Looking Glass’, but my heart will always be true to ‘Jack Frost’. It’s not just the snowy foliage (it reminds me of Frosted Flakes cereal — maybe it’s a nostalgia thing…), or those gorgeous forget-me-not [...]
Walking through my garden the other morning, it occured to me that I tend to hang onto plants whether they perform or not. In other areas of my life, I’m ruthless about getting rid of things I no longer use, wear, read, eat — well, you get the picture. So, in an effort to force [...]
If you haven’t been keeping up with my Tweets, you might well ask: Who on earth is Matthew Wilson and why the heck should I care about his star plant picks for small gardens? Well, firstly, he lives up to his nickname of Heathcliff of the Hedgerows (although the debate rages about whether he’s more [...]
Geared to city gardeners, Lorraine Johnson’s City Farmer: Adventures in Urban Food Growing will be available in April, 2010 — just in time to start sowing! Wanna know more? Read what Greystone publishers have to say about it.
What better way to welcome athletes and visitors to the Winter Olympics than with drifts of this gorgeous Vancouver Medallion hellebore? Thanks to the advance planning of the Garden Club of Vancouver and Heritage Perennials, 750 of these specially named hellebores (the cultivar name is ‘Candy Love’ — appropriate for upcoming Valentine’s Day, too) have been planted in [...]
Another entry in the Year of the Vegetable Gardening Book, Sonia Day’s Incredible Edibles: 43 Fun Things to Grow in the City is sure to be packed with Sonia’s earthy advice. Her practical, no-nonsense approach to gardening means the pages of her latest book are bound to offer great growing advice for city gardeners. [...]
11. Bottle trees Discovering new plants is a big part of why I attend conferences such as the 2009 Garden Writers Symposium in Raleigh, North Carolina. It can also be frustrating, especially if the plants aren’t hardy enough for my USDA Zone 5 garden in Toronto. None-the-less, I’m always captivated by shrubs, trees and [...]
7. Scuppernongs For a gal who grew up with a grape vine in her backyard you’d think I’d know a grape when I see one, but scuppernongs had me scuppered. The size of ping-pong balls, these juicy fruits were nestled into pint-sized boxes lined up on the open shelves of more than a few vendors [...]
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