The semi-annual Journees des Plantes at Courson, just outside Paris, draws plant nerds from all over France, Europe and North America — including me! In May, 2009, three and a half days of pouring rain tested the mettle of both visitors and exhibitors alike. But muddy ruts a foot deep and tractors pulling cars out [...]
Niche marketing has reached new heights. Just in time for Easter, I’ve discovered a nursery that specializes in chocolate plants. Chocolate Flower Farm in Langley Washington features all things chocolate, from candles, soap and teas to annual and perennial plants and seeds. Oh my, and what temptations they have! I’m salivating over Nicotiana ‘Chocolate Smoke’ and [...]
4. Read a book. There’s nothing nicer than sitting by the fireplace, curled up with a good gardening book while snowflakes drift languidly outside. Bliss. Here’s what’s on my winter reading list:
Grounded in Toronto after a getaway trip to Florida, I’m already looking for another way to get me through the winter. So, here’s number two:
2. Spend your Christmas gift certificates. I was lucky enough to land two gift certificates to my favourite gardening emporia — Lee Valley Tools and Gardenimport. Several dog-eared pages mark my picks [...]
With fall in the air, all gardeners’ thoughts turn to autumn planters – right? Like opening the closet to examine the state of our fall wardrobes, planning a container of autumn plants signals the change of season from the fun, but toasty days of summer, to the energizingly crisp cool days of fall.
Each year it [...]
Fall is in the air and you probably think it’s time I started writing about fall bulbs. Well, although I promise to do it soon, I’m not quite ready.That’s because I’ve just been re-introduced to the herb garden, which reminded me that fall is also a time for harvesting and preserving culinary herbs such as [...]
How did your plants spend their summer vacation? Walk out into the garden and take a look around. Have the Siberian irises crowded out the phlox? Are the stems of your yarrow lazily flopping over its neighbours? Has the centre of the your silvery artemisia browned-out? Did you notice how much smaller the peony flowers [...]
For the last three years, I’ve been anxiously watching the progress (or lack thereof) of Acanthus hungaricus, a spectacular architectural perennial I fell in love with on a trip to Jordan, Ontario in the Niagara Region. For the first two summers, the plant was barely there. Last year, it seemed to leaf out into a [...]
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