Barbara's Garden Chronicles

Bye Bye Oakville -- Hello Welland!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 18:26:00 +0000

It's been over a year that I've posted anything. And, while I wish I could say that I've been eating bonbons and learning a new exotic language, I can't. In a nutshell, think coconut here, rather than peanut -- we renovated our Oakville home, put stuff in storage, put it on the market, bought a new home, sold old home, moved aged father-in-law twice, said goodbye to dear Auntie Margaret before her time, and were responsible for taking care of four homes in two provinces - although unlike the Kardashians, nobody appeared early in the morning to do our hair and nails. I am delighted to say, repeating my friend Susan's mantra, "It's all working out."

I'll talk more about my new quarter-acre garden in the wet clay of Welland later, but now, with the help of a new friend I've met on my morning walk, here are some types of flowers you might like to try in order to make your late summer and early fall garden simply gorgeous. I took these photos on Monday at the trial gardens of William Dam Seeds.

A great little patch of Pansy 'Morning Dew' (pay no heed to the weeds - the summer help has all gone back to school!)

This cool Centauria 'Silverstone' is a trial plant and hopefully will do well enough to be included in future seed lists.

Silene pendula 'Sibella Carmine'

I could just get down on the ground and give these bright happy flowers a hug: Zinnia 'Holi Scarlet F1'. Seems that I'm not alone, it is a 2019 AAS Flower Winner.

Pentas is a great late season performer. This one is 'Graffiti Flirty Pink'.

Old fashioned and fabulous Marigold 'Alumia Vanilla Cream'.

The butterflies were mad for this Scabiosa mix.

Daucas 'Dara'. Fancy Queen Anne's Lace.

I always was annoyed at how long it took Cosmos to bloom, but when they look like this, I'd be willing to forgive.

Another longish from seed to bloom is Lisianthus - this is a trial called 'Arena Purple'.

This patch was being grown for a wedding.

Verbena bonariensis

Here's a happy long-stemmed variety of Marigold called 'Garland Orange'.

And to finish for today, a Painted Lady who just couldn't resist the Scabiosa either.

It's nice to be back with my blogging buddies!

It's been a while...

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 14:35:00 +0000

As you may have guessed, it's been one of those years where habits, work and hobbies are thrown out the window in order to dedicate as much time as possible to aged parents who are far from home. Kevin's step-mother went into decline late last year and passed away in February. Then, as is the case with many elderly people who lose their cherished spouse, his father went into a free-fall. So, every so many weeks we've been packing up the car and driving 7 hours to Quebec to do all that we can in a space of time that never seems sufficient. While the hospital staff and villagers have been kind and helpful, it's been difficult negotiating the health care system that is primarily French when our language skills are so sadly lacking.

So no chronicles this summer. But one thing I did do, when I was at home was force myself to have breakfast in the garden. There's something remarkably soothing about sitting outside in the early morning light. I took a few pictures every other day, so that I'd be able to share some of the beautiful plants and flowers that helped calm me at the start of the day and have a record of what happened in the garden over this remarkable summer.

I've gathered a passel of snapshots to show you now what my happy place looked like this summer. And, over the next few months as life moves into a more predictable pattern, I'm looking forward to being able to catch up with all my blogging buddies.

A Sneak Peak at the 31st Annual Toronto Botanical Gardens Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Mon, 28 May 2018 15:00:00 +0000

There are many fine garden tours in the G.T.A., but this one is my all time favourite! Yet again, the Master Gardener volunteers have convinced a group of exceptionally talented and generous homeowners to share their gardens with the public in support of the Toronto Botanical Gardens. This year Mark's Choice has taken a lead sponsorship role to the newly christened "Mark's Choice Through the Garden Gate".

The headquarters of this year's tour is at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. So many people have enjoyed the TBG tours in the past, but believe it or not, have never been to the Gardens. Well, this year, that will all change. New or returning visitors will be amazed at what has been achieved in such a small 4-acre garden: There are learning gardens, vegetables, woody plants, bulbs, perennials, annuals, tropicals, containers and more. Even more exciting news, this little garden is now the jumping off point for the newly approved 35 acre garden!

So between, the TBG gardens and Mark's Choice Through the Garden Gate, you will have a fabulous floriferous time.

Here are just a few of the gardens you'll see:

Who needs grass when there are so many good plants out there? This garden on Chelford Road has lots of natives and stylish specimens in a lush natural setting. Here are a few that were performing when we visited. No doubt there will be something special for you to see in June:

Halesia carolina

My first Syringa lacianata (cutleaf lilac)

What to do with that ghastly area where nothing will grow? Here's a great idea:

Pay no heed to that vehicular backdrop....but feast your eyes on the peony!

From the natural to the tamed - looks like Paul Zammit has been working overtime on beautiful containers:

What an absolutely lovely sentiment:

More of the back garden:

A very cool original home - always find it remarkable to see just how large those evergreens can grow in over 40 years!

Here's a beautiful Brian Cliff garden I visited last August again last week. Layered planting at its best. Gorgeous at every point in the season.

Last August:

Now:

And then:

The back garden last year:

I really like the Galium odorata with the river stone - it really is sweet (bad horticultural pun, guilty as charged)!

And then, there are those gardens that would require bank robbery and teams of men with clippers for me to ever have -- never going to happen, but so much fun to visit.

There are lots of fancy woody plants:

This old architectural element is made from a new material. The rebar is covered in different varieties of Clematis. Please keep your fingers crossed that on the day of the tour, you'll be at face level with lots of blooming blossoms.

Yet another cool specimen:

And one last photo of the grounds of the TBG that I snapped on the way to the car. The ride was slow, as it always is, but fortunately I had lots of great memories of my day in the gardens of Windfields Estate.

For more information on this great event, please visit Mark's Choice Through the Garden Gate! Hope to see you there. #MCTTGG18

Canada Blooms At the Movies - Popcorn Included!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 16:17:00 +0000

Like everyone else in Ontario I am suffering from a massive Vitamin D deficiency. It has been a miserably dark January and February. In spite of this lack of light, greenhouse growers and the wonderful folks at Landscape Ontario have done a brilliant job delighting us with displays of flowers and greenery at this year's Canada Blooms - co-located with the Home Show.

The theme is "Let's Go to the Movies!" introduced by this large bag of popcorn that magically transforms into a cascade of tiny white/yellow roses:

Supersized popcorn-styled containers are dotted throughout.

Aside from the greenery, there are lots of photo-ops with a superhero or two...

So much fun to see Darth Vader sweeping in for his busy photo-sessions.

Would you say this is a Comedy, Crime, or Science Fiction? Look closely to see.....kale spray-painted gold....

One of my favourites this year was the Highway of Heroes Display. This wonderful charity's goal is to plant 2 million trees along the 401 in honour of the 117,000 Canadian soldiers killed in combat since our confederation in 1867. There were beautiful bulbs, pretty trees in leaf, good perennials and excellent construction techniques.

How's this for fence as artwork?

I can hardly wait to see my shade plants in bloom:

For those of you who want to grow what you see, the labelling is excellent.

It's only when you get inside this little conservatory that you can really understand it's charm:

Oh for an unlimited bank account, this could all be mine!

The flower and plant vendors are top-notch. Here's my friend Peter Wood figuring out which one of these treasures he wants to take home.

So much to see in this particular display:

One of the main messages at this year's show is that gardening is for everybody. Some of the most avid gardeners cover their balconies with gorgeous displays. Not only is this very attractive, but look at how many ideas you've got here:

1. Mirrors and artwork on the walls.
2. A growing wall
3. Overhead lights for sparkle
4. Tropicals that can keep you company inside over the winter
5. Candles for soft light
6. Trendy gold accents

I had a girlfriend who's balcony looked like this - not sure how you'd get to the wine, but it would certainly be an aromatic endeavour as your posterior brushed the basil.

Serious growing walls with really serious grow lights:

I think this one was my favourite. Great floor pattern. Simple lattice. A good chair and three beautiful strongly coloured containers.

So there! You think your balcony is tooooooo small, well the gauntlet is dropped. You can make a garden anywhere.

How's this for having everything! I'd like to try the sedum in the floor the next time I do a balcony design.

This is an Inconvenient Garden - a borrowed movie theme from an Inconvenient Truth. Hmmmm.

I thought this was a very cool smaller garden. Good colours and also quite doable in many tiny spaces.

And who could resist The Star Trek Garden? You've got Windex to either drink or polish the place and photos of the Starship Commanders.*
*Phillips Family History Note: William Shatner, second from the right, was declared by my Grandmother Phillips in her 80th year to be "The Answer to a Maiden's Prayers!"

Always appreciated when the floral displays are right at the edge so they can be enjoyed on both sides.

Spoiled for choice at Grow Ontario.

And if all this wasn't enough, you really must see the floral competitions. So very beautiful:

I think this is just about the coolest idea and I've set my mind to percolate in order to figure out where and when I can use it. It doesn't have to be this colour, maybe something for Christmas along a fence, or on my covered deck in Easter colours.....

And now to leave you with two photos of colour - the second has Salpiglossis - one of my Grandma Stokes favourite garden flowers:

Just One Month Until Canada Blooms!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 19:47:00 +0000

Thank goodness for that promise of blossoms in our future. Canada Blooms is just a short month away starting March 9th and continuing until the 18th.

I can only imagine how the greenhouses around Ontario are looking with so many bulbs and plants being convinced to perform out of season.

Here's a little look back at Bart's and my forcing efforts:

Bart with my Amaryllis display on December 12th:

Obviously he's an excellent gardener - this is what they looked like at Christmas. (Bart finds that if he starts his bulbs mid-November, they make an excellent display over the holidays.) The variety is Double Record purchased from Tradewinds.

And, being such large bulbs, the blooms continued through January.

But now it's February. The highlights of the month so far have been continuous cold and snow; working around camera problems; gathering and sorting paper for tax preparation; a self-imposed austerity campaign; and a 3-month gym renewal.

Bart has decided he doesn't like his winter coat after all and stands in the kitchen refusing to join us on a walk. Notice how he won't even look at me.....

Fear not Bart. While there's no chocolate, or Canada Blooms in your future, I'm thinking that we should be able to retire that coat for the season in the not too distant future. What can I do to bring you out of your February doldrums? Perhaps it's time to whisper those magic words in your ear, "The chipmunks are back. Go get 'em!"

No Summer is Complete Without a Visit to Buffalo

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:00:00 +0000

Kevin and I have been going to the Buffalo Garden Walk for about five years now. This year, knowing that we'd be visiting many of the gardens at the Garden Writers Association Conference, we skipped our annual visit. For those of you who may not know about the Walk, on the last weekend of July there is a free self-guided garden tour of over 400 private gardens. If you love poking around other folks' gardens and enjoy talking to the gardeners who created these little bits of paradise, this is THE event of the summer season. Around 60,000 visitors from around the world, scatter around the city to take in as many gardens as they can. They choose a neighbourhood or two, or three or four, park the car, or their bikes and wander through the open gardens that are marked with bright yellow signs.

For any of you who have been on a garden tour, you know there's a lot of work involved in making your garden look fabulous. And these kind Buffalonians, who had barely recovered from herds trouping through their gardens the week before, who should have been wearing their bathrobes and drinking gin and tonics, beer, wine, name your poison, on the back porch recovering from the onslaught, were beyond kind to keep up that garden-tour-fine-polish so that we could experience their gardens at their very best.

Thank you so much to our Garden Hosts! Your gardens looked amazing and I so appreciated how much work you went to in order to have things looking so well for two consecutive weekends!

Now onto the gardens. Several of these I've visited before, but never in August. Who knew the first week of August was when the Allium changed colour?

Quiet colour and good shapes abound.

Old favourites and unusual bulbs throughout.

We were so lucky with the weather. A big dump the night before tossed this bed about, but you can get an idea of its happy colour.

The back patio is perfect for watching the garden grow.

Vegetable library complete with library steps.

Up top there were healthy veggie plants enjoying the hot sunshine.

All along the road there are wonderful surprises like this piece of artwork.

A sideways dahlia.

Mine were planted far too late and all I have are leaves. Fortunately the folks of Buffalo were kind enough to give me a taste of what I'm missing.

Ferns are fabulous. The gardener did a great job with the pairings.

Fellow Canadian Rob Howard in the garden.

Seed heads are often more interesting than the flowers.

Not only do the gardeners who are on the tour do a wonderful job, whole communities band together to create boulevard displays.

My Kevin and Kevin Gragg from Oklahoma State University, together representing almost 13 feet of male pulchritude.

What's better than a whole pile of gardens? Well, a whole pile, plus one more. Our Bus Captain Sharon Webber is a garden designer. She grabbed a couple of us -- along with the homeowner -- to show us what can be done in a tiny wee garden -- a tiny wee garden that had hosted 1400 people just the week before on the tour.

Aren't these little guys the best?!

And, no tour to Buffalo gardens would be complete without Jim Charlier's superb garden:

Many of the gardens in this 'hood are quite shady:

and beautifully cared for:

Not on the tour but note-worthy all the same:

I've been to this garden several times. It is always a delight. Always something new to see.

This year, the major new project has been Thurman, who was named for a Bill's player. He is in that naughty teenage stage - and is on his lead where he can be watched carefully and discouraged from eating the rest of the yummy veranda.

There are beautiful perennials at the front and down the side of the garden. And at the back, a great display of tender plants.

Talk about a candy store for gardeners and those who just like to have their eyeballs colour-tickled.

Count the coleus....savour the solenostemon...imagine all the pinching out of tips to produce this full collection.

This gives you an idea of just how packed with plants (and peeps) it is.

Bits of folly:

It didn't matter where you were, the view was grand:

More, not-on-the-tour planter boxes. Fabulous shapes, colours and varieties.

A perfectly floral/colour coordinated participant Andrea Whitely from Australia:

Not only are the gardens lovely, but hand-drawn i.d. tags. I definitely need to up my game.

You just never know where you're going to see something gorgeous. Rounding the corner I spied this this wonderful old window inside a large stone building:

This new well-done garden shows, you really don't need grass, nor a lot of flowers if that's your style.

So you can see that the Buffalo Style is found not only in the garden designs or the carefully composed floral selections, but in the neighbourhoods and in the gardeners who so kindly welcomed us. The best part is, if you mark your calendars for the last weekend of next July, and shuffle off to Buffalo, you too can soak up a little of this style and garden magic. And, it's absolutely free.

Summer Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 17:03:00 +0000

Kevin finished his large project of resetting the stones and adding 3 yards of pea gravel to the back garden. Everything is looking great. Kudos to him for all his hard work!

The birds are beyond delighted to have their bath back.

A dog-day cicada (Neotibicen canicularis) getting ready for flight on one of the dining chairs. Such a prehistoric looking creature.

I thought it might hide when the skies let loose -- but no. Just sat there and got soaked.

I was fortunate enough to get some samples from Proven Winners(R). This is one of my favourites. It is Rockin' (TM) Deep Purple Salvia and will be available next year in nurseries. It is an absolute hummingbird magnet! Hopefully, I'll get a shot of one feasting to show you. Just as a note, I've got two of these plants. The one in the pot is doing better than the one planted in the ground - faster to bloom and more vigorous. It's a big plant for a pot, about 80cm wide and over a meter high, so it's living up to its tag height of 30-40". Very airy in growth with the flowers held above the foliage. I would definitely grow it again.

A quick zip to the front yard. Usually have Eupatorium 'Gateway' in the mix with its pretty pink/maroony flowers. This year it's much smaller. One of the few perennials to have not done so well coming out of the winter and wet spring.

Every past year this species Hosta, H. montana macrophylla, looks worse for wear with heat and sun damage. This year, there's a bit of brown, a few bunny nibbles, but otherwise, it looks great.

Another Proven Winners 'Blue Chiffon' (R) Rose of Sharon. More purple than blue, don't you think? People walking down the street have exclaimed, "What a beautiful purple Rose of Sharon!" Who am I to set them straight?

Ipomopsis rubra such a lovely wildflower.

Now, speaking of blue, this little plant is called Blue Ginger - it looks a little like ginger, but I'm thinking more like the Tradescantia family it belongs to. Finally started to grow well. I got it as a tiny little slip from Hawaii. Its proper name is Dichorisandra thysiflora. I am so hopeful that the weather remains summer-like for a long enough period so I can see its blue flowers.

Platycodon in the back garden:

A very happy Brunnera.

Clean-up day upon return from Garden Writers Conference in Buffalo:

My Canada 150 back porch display:

A few of more of the Proven Winners samples. To the right the lovely Rockin' Salvia. To the left Golden Butterfly (TM) Argyanthemum frutescens and Campfire (R) Fireburst Improved Bidens. Both excellent, but if I were to grow them together again, I would use a filler plant between the mum and the bidens - perhaps a begonia of some sort, or even an interesting coleus. Toucan (TM) Coral Canna in the centre is a very vigorous plant. I need to do some thinking about what colour blossoms I would combine it with to make a better display.

Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister' is just wonderful, although a bit of a water hog.

I'd left a couple old begonias and an elephant ear in the pot. What a delightful surprise to see them spring to life.

The Aralia cordata (on the left) with its golf ball-style blooms on the verge of opening. And some fill-in colour from another Fuchsia planted pot.

I'll finish with the cicada-view. Still more to come: On the left, solidago (with the ferny tops) and at the lower right in the corner, my bright yellow Hibiscus. Fingers crossed it will decide: Enough with the leaves. Let's put on a show!

Russian Hackers Have Compromised My Computer!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 14:48:00 +0000

I was typing this long-overdue blogpost when suddenly, a dialogue box dropped down offering the possibility of adding accents to my letters. My keyboard froze and I was completed confounded in my ability to perform any sort of action.

Hmmmmm. Frozen keyboard. Hmmmmm. After a tantrum, worthy of a healthy, yet tired two-year-old, I left what I was doing and took Bart for his walk. Nothing better than a dog-walk, change of scenery and a good quiet think. What else besides the very dramatic and exciting possibility of Russian Hackers could possibly have caused this problem. Broken computer? Operator incompetence? What else, what else, what else? Yes, as you my clever reader has guessed - Mr. Duracell's batteries last longer, not forever. Two new batteries later, I'm back in action. I apologized to the dog for the delay in the walk, to the cat for my language, and to my husband for removing him from his morning paper so he could watch my apoplexy first hand. What on earth is the point of a meltdown if you don't have an audience. So all is well, and I begin again.

Happy Summer everyone! It has been a gorgeous summer for gardens, but the late and wet-times-ten-to the-power-of-four seems to have me in a state of perpetual scramble. If I had the time to weed, the weather conspired against me. And, with all the water, I had deluded myself into thinking it didn't look too bad: The plants were enormous and my lack of attention to detail wasn't all that evident...after all there was enough diversionary flowering material to delight the eye.

Fortunately I was shaken from my stupor by a visitor who was kind enough to point the extreme weed-volume after I mentioned I was going out later that day to weed. (something like...."Well there sure are a lot of them out there.") The folly of not having gardening gloves in multiple sizes to hand out to helpful folks. More weeding scheduled until the leaves fall I fear.

But, things do look good as I'll show you. Kevin has decided to add more pea gravel to the pathways and reset the large patio stones. A fierce task for someone as tall as he is, but yesterday he managed to somewhat coral the pea gravel from escaping onto our neighbour's mutual drive, lift the large pavers, pull the birdbath apart (poor little creatures looking for water yesterday), re-stack Bart's Jenga pile of fireplace wood (he throws his body and soul into the effort of pulling out pieces of logs in order to secure a chipmunk without having the woodpile come down on him), move all the planters into the planted area of the garden and pull out some offending weeds! He's moving not so quickly today.

So here's what the garden looks like at the moment. I took these snaps in the early evening after dinner:

You can see some of my usual suspects: The Aralia cordata getting bigger on the left, H. "Pineapple Upside-Down Cake" in yellow, my wonderful some-sort-of Hydrangea in a pot (centre)- year 4 - lives in the garage over the winter, and fading blooms of the Aruncus dioicus to the right. I was delighted to find Fuchsia gartenmeister on one of my nursery trolls and bought myself a mini-flat of it. It sits in the pot on the right.

If ever it was a year for hydrangea, it's this year (actually my last declaration of a Hydrangea year was 2008). A pink Easter hydrangea (Note: Hydrangea purchased to celebrate spring and Easter and then cruelly thrown out into the garden to deal with the elements) is poking through on the other side and just to the right corner is the carnival in a plant Hydrangea 'Lemon Wave'.

My pot in honour of Canada's 150 is tucked in at the bottom right. And, look at how good the ferns are this year!

Yes, I did have a glass of wine with dinner. Just tilt head slightly to the left.

I really like the little bits of almost-blue in the campanula and geranium.

Kevin pointed to the offending plant in the centre: "Now that's a weed!" Does he do that just so he's not involved in the weeding process? It's Acanthus sibericus.

Lemon Wave is producing both blue and pink flowers.

Even though our slugs are the size of baseball bats this year, they're not eating the Hosta.

And another Easter Hydrangea - a lovely pink lace cap - perfect in every way. When I tucked it in, I really didn't expect to see anything but sticks.

This is a replanted area where I'm trying to establish those plants I want and discourage those I don't care for. Alas, it will be a long tussle.

Here is Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice' who now dwarfs me. This named variety oak leaf hydrangea has had a checkered past in my garden. After this year where her leaves are the size of my forearm, her height well above my stretched arm and her flowers in abundance, I forgive her for everything.

All you need to do is give a plant what it wants - an easy winter and an abundance of rain. Or in my case, install a couple of new batteries. Isn't life grand?

Rain Gear, Puddles and Some of Toronto's Finest Gardens!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 20:49:00 +0000

Got to go to the media preview for the Toronto Botanical Gardens 30th anniversary tour: "Through the Garden Gate" coming up June 10th and 11th. There will be 30 lovely North Rosedale and Moore Park gardens for you to enjoy. And, if the 10 or so that I've seen are any indication, this tour is not to be missed.

Here's a little of what I saw that day and a few sunny day snaps that I took back in September. As you can see, these gardens are marvellous, no matter when you get to visit.

The architect of this fine home was Eden Smith, renown for his Arts & Crafts designs and many public buildings in Toronto including the Lawren Harris studio. He believed that a home should provide its best views into the garden. Look at the wall of windows and just imagine how gorgeous the views must be.

Everyone on the tour works so hard to make their gardens look spectacular. Coats of paint have been added since late last year.

There are lots of white and soft coloured flowers no matter the season.

This was our second stop. Its has a great no-grass front garden and splendid roof-top garden. There are several gardens with some really good ground covers on the tour this year. The secret is pick your plants well and plant them in abundance -- don't wait for the magic, MAKE it happen.

Sean James came up to the top of the porch to get a better view. Not only are there the usual suspects in the roof-top garden, they've planted iris as well!

I know there are those who aren't all that fond of chartreuse in the garden, but situated well it almost makes you think the sun is shining.

Such sweet little pansies.

If ever there was a spring to show off your formal boxwood garden -- it's this one: Not too much snow and cold over the winter; lots of rain, and no scorching sun as the new growth appeared. Here's my buddy Margaret Bennet-Alder, author of "The Toronto Gardener's Journal", who is turning 90 on the 19th of June.

The dear owner left her cushions out in the deluge so we could get the full effect -- and served us little treats and bubbles to wash it down with. You can get an idea just how much rain we got that day:

Even big kids like to play in the rain -- a little soft shoe splish splash with Sara Katz.

And a few sunny shots from last fall: A driveway that's more pattern than concrete. And, who wouldn't want to spend time in the back corner with friends?

A cozy surprise in a sheltered corner garden:

A plant collector, who sources his plants from around North America, starts many from seed and has established a boxwood hedge from cuttings!

A garden with a cobbled walkway circling the garden.

How's this for respecting what came first?! Lots of limbed old bushes, but as you climb the stairs, look at the stonework around the tree.....

With 30 gardens on the tour, you're going to have to put on your runners and scoot. While the tour is adding an extra hour, on both Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10:00 rather than 11:00, you'll be hard pressed to see it all. But no matter where you start, or end, you'll have a great day. Leave that electronic device at home and let the sights and sounds wash over you as you step "Through the Garden Gate".

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Wed, 24 May 2017 15:05:00 +0000

Finally spring. Finally spring-like weather. And finally, I've done enough work in the garden so that I'm not running through my mind how I might enter into some sort of witness protection program rather than 'fess up to the mess of my garden. Between work and the weather, clean-up has been a challenge. I often leave a lot of leaves in the beds over the winter to help preserve the tender perennials -- snow cover can be spotty. However, this year, I'm thinking I've got to be a little more industrious in the fall -- and perhaps say goodbye to a few of those sissy perennials. My schedule and the garden just aren't playing in the same key in spring. Having less to do would make things that much easier.

You may know that this area has been hit with substantial amounts of rain. Lake Ontario is up three feet at the moment. It's also been cold. This nice part of a cold wet spring is that the bushes are beautiful, tulips are lasting, grass is green, and we're getting good use of all our sweaters and light jackets.

Tomorrow I'm headed out to a preview of the Toronto Botanical Garden's annual Through the Garden Gate tour in North Rosedale & Moore Park. There will be 30 gardens to see June 10&11th. Tickets are on sale now. I'll get to see a sample of these lovely gardens in the pouring rain (if the weather forecast is right - and when it comes to rain, it usually is!). Boots, trench coat and wipes for my camera lens - should be a great catch-up with my garden buddies.

Mum and I got out to the Royal Botanical Gardens Rock Garden for Mother's Day. Such a pretty venue. It gets better each time I see it. Canada is celebrating its 150th anniversary - so there are lots of red and white tulips about.

Chartreuse anyone? When you don't have a lot of flowers, this is a very bright way to bring some sunshine to the garden:

There has been a bit of a grumble that the Canada 150 tulips (a red and white broken coloured tulip) have not come true to colour. In fact many of them are yellow, purple, or as my Aunt Carolyn said, "They're an odd beige colour at the base." So much for hardware store bargains. Anyway these look quite pretty combined with red and white tulips - wondered if they are the same type or a fancier variety.

Back at home I pulled a few bits of spring from the garden to enjoy.

The garden at it's 50% presentable stage.

Discovery time. This Epimedium was not cleaned up (the leaves stay green during the winter - then turn brown and ugly just as the new leaves and flowers come up), i.e. I did not get out there and take off the dead. Well, guess what, it's never looked so good. The dead folds back quite nicely on its own and the new leaves cover it all up. Lesson learned. Epimedium plants do not need to be "cleaned up".

Mertensia virginica.

Cercis canadensis volunteer from a very clever bird.

Many of our little pathways down by the Lake have been closed because of the height of the water.

The rhodos have been wonderful this year.

When I look at this I want to go out and get a can of paint, and start painting random rooms.

My lovely Exocorda 'Snow Day'. Planted in 2010, run over by a car a few years later, and doing beautifully this year.

Here are some lovely pink plants from the same garden on our morning walk - really nice combinations:

Another garden by the corner.....This was the year to have blooming bushes and tulips:

Only an Italian designer would match car upholstery and brake doodads. Zowie.

Back to reality. Some pretty pink tulips in my own garden:

The Akebia vine.

And for the first time ever - black spot on the Akebia vine. There's also a black fungal wilt in the Cornus alternafolia that I've never seen before too. Nothing like cold and wet to bring these fungal diseases out.

My work for this afternoon:

And a very pretty Proven Winners rose called Rosa at Last. No note with it -- just arrived on Mother's Day - so lucky me and thank you to Proven Winners!

So it's time to get out there and plant. Look forward to sharing my TBG photos with you very soon!

Playing Catch Up

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 12:56:00 +0000

January/February/March - swoosh. My life for the first three months of the year was: Chronic migraine/cold, flu, dastardly cough/income tax preparation. But now it's April, so say goodbye to the foolishness that was the first quarter. My garden, the weather, and life all seem to be moving in concert -- Hooray for Spring!

I've borrowed other gardens for many of these shots. Thank you to those gardeners who share their blossoms with the neighbours:

A beautiful patch of "Leaf Drops" a.k.a. Gallants nivalis

Who knew moss could be so beautiful?

"Rock Drops"

Winter aconite - Eranthis hyemalis. My 10 bulbs are now down to 2. The main difference is that this neighbour's bed is mulched and left alone - perhaps I need to move mine to an area of neglect rather than to a tended spot by the front door?

April in Oakville wouldn't be complete without a bit of snow. There when we awoke, gone by 10:00 a.m.

Carmen has three of these wonderful Hellebores. She and I both noticed that that different varieties really differed on performance this year.

I adore little bulbs....

Back to my own garden - pre-cleanup. I leave the leaves in the back garden so that Bart can scoot around without completely destroying things. I will clear out the worst of the scramble, but leave most of the needles and some of the leaves as this area has mainly woodlanders that seem to appreciate a bit of decay.

So nice when something you like starts to spread!

A grocery store primula pretending it likes it in my garden! How's that for almost 2 blossoms.

OK. I know, ghastly photo. But I have very high hopes for this little woody Purple Pillar. As you may know, in this part of the world Rose of Sharon is especially late to leaf out, but these stems are healthy with lots of buds -- well ahead of others I have in the garden. Last year the flowers on this new tiny plant were exquisite, so I'm hopeful that all will be well and I will fall in love all over again with its flowers that look exactly like the tag.

I'm not sure what these little white flowers are, but they are pretty.

See what I mean about the Hellebores? This one had always had done well - but this year it's awful.

And this one: R.I.P.

Hercules is an inside cat, but every now and again, Kevin props him up next to something green and insists I take his picture. I'm thinking he's thinking, "This is a travesty. How do I blow this popsicle stand?"

My neighbour's beautiful magnolia. Will be inhaling the perfume while I work on my garden today.

Forsythia - the opposite of subtle.

An old stand of tulips in the front garden.

Leucothoe really lovely - some years - for a short period of time. This year is one of those years, that you think - this is really pretty, I should have more of this.

To the Mother Ship - the Royal Botanical Gardens - now that's a Forsythia!

Look how it turns my hair red! The powers of this brassy bush:

There were a fair number of people on Easter Monday checking out the Rock Garden. The children were working on breaking their limbs in the unfilled waterways having a grand time. Lots of people in chairs or with walkers. So lovely for them and their families to be able to see a whole garden from the sloped pathways together.

The gardens are more daff heavy than tulip now.

This weekend should be great for the cherry trees.

Outside the parking lot there were a few old girls blooming away.

Aren't the blossoms lovely?

And that brings us up-to-date more or less. So it's bye-bye from the RBG from us, and out into the garden for me! And another hearty cheer: "Hooray for Spring!"

Between the Frozen Raindrops

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 19:23:00 +0000

We've gotten off very easily so far this winter. While freezing rain is predicted, at the moment the eerie fingernail clatter of frozen pellets against the window has yet to start. And, who knows, perhaps it won't. January swished by with warm weather and lots of rain rather than snow. The driving has been easy - no shovelling, car cleaning, or other winter irritants. However, I will now exercise my Canadian right of weather-complaining and apologize in advance - it was unbelievably dark. Very little sunshine and without the snow to reflect the existing light, awfully gloomy.

We got a dusting of snow this w/e - just look at the difference it makes. What a great walk down to the Lake:

Just so you can see how easy winter has been so far - this photo was taken in November:

Same spot at the beginning of February:

I really had to go on a hunt to find something that looks a little cold and icy.

The second week of January marks one of the biggest trade shows in North America - Landscape Ontario's Congress 2017. There are acres of trucks, and rocks, and fences, and everything to do with the landscape trade. In years past, I've travelled hours to get there and home in horrific storms. This year I travelled for close to an hour, but only because Stephanie Morris and I were happily gabbing away and completely missed several turns.

Got there just in the nick of time to make my GWA meeting and then met up with Stephanie to do the floor of the trade show. In the New Products section, a little lawn-mowing robot (the little naughty kid in me always wants to pick them up and make a run for it when I see them at work in the neighbourhood):

A resin chair that looks like it already has a wee bit of mildew that I think takes the "make it looks just like real" a bit too far:

Paving products. I'm always up for more grass. Hopefully this sort of prefab product will make grassy lawn/drives a little more affordable.

They are getting better and better at wall mounted "containers":

I like the fact that the potted plants fit in so nicely,

and so easy to water - just unplug and fill as shown by this display at Sheridan Nurseries.

What gal wouldn't want a real utility vehicle?! No doubt Stephanie will have this one on her wish list.

Here's something to look for this spring at your local nursery and Home Depot:

Medallion Plants has teamed with the Canadian Wildlife Federation to grow and sell a pollinator collection. Each kit contains 4 plants that have alluring qualities for different types of wildlife....
Monarch: Asclepias tuberosa x2, Salvia sp., Echinacea purpurea
Butterfly Kit: Asclepias tuberosa x2, Coreopsis verticilata, Liatris spicata
Hummingbird Kit: Agastache foeniculum, Aquilegia canadensis, Lobelia cardinalis, Penstemon
Bees Kit: Gaillardia sp., Lavandula angustifolia, Monarda dydima, Perovskia atriplicifolia
Song Bird Kit: Andropogon gerardii, Echinacea sp., Helianthus, Rudbeckia hirta

Each kit will be about $12-15 (including tax) with $1.00 directed to support the Canadian Wildlife Federation. I like the fact that most of these plants should be perennial to us and that they've thought about providing plants that set seed for food. The kits are brightly coloured with good instructions. And, there's a website for more information.

All the usual suspects were there as well - look at the crush at Kubota:

How much Mary Kay do you have to sell to get one of these?

The following week was the IDS (International Design Show):

I want these for my next garden design. The poor designer was horrified when I asked if they could be used outside, "They'd get dirty!!!!" I think they'd be cool. Disappearing during the day, and glowing in the garden at night. Perhaps I can coax someone to make an outside model.

You can sort of see the wire that is inside the clear plastic product:

So much more creativity in interior products at the moment.

Even fancy too-cool-for-school designers can't resist crayoning. Premier Paint's booth. This is the man with the colouring devices:

With Canada Blooms just a month away, seed catalogues on my coffee table and a bit more light bookending my days, I'm starting to look forward to this upcoming gardening season. I want to do something to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday - probably a couple of containers with red and white flowers. What would be your choice for a good Canadian-red flower?

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 15:18:00 +0000

As you've most likely guessed, I've taken a blog break. Every time I sat down with the intention of blogging, I just didn't have the spark. So this year, I am going to start as I mean to continue - a little more communication with my blogging buddies, and a few more changes to my garden that I hope to show and tell you about in the months ahead.

So without further delay, here are a few of the things I did during my silence:

The Royal Winter Fair. Now that's a pumpkin! There was a family holding a dear little baby, and Joan and I were so hoping they'd ignore the "do not touch sign" and gently put him down in the wonderful scoopy depression. Alas no. Good parents who read and follow sign instructions.

Aren't these birds darling? Sadly not for sale. They are real and pigging out on the delicious dried material at Sheridan Nurseries.

And from the magical shady section of my garden - a puff ball to end all puff balls.

This hand fits a size 7 glove...

There were escarpment walks.

And discoveries. I took this photo from my living room window. I did not know that birds adored Hosta seeds. This one is H. 'Empress Wu'.

Bart in his favourite costume and my $.99 pumpkin. The white ones were deeply discounted the day of.

Every other year the Eastern White has a huge crop of cones:

After the warm summer, the colours were a bit subdued. But those trees that were bright, were stunning:

You really need to plant this in quantity to look really good.

Solidago with my little J. Maple:

The light is excellent for photos at this time of year:

Reminder to all of us to exfoliate during the winter:

Beside the Lake.

A newer garden with some older plants. These Hamamelis are not the showiest - the early spring blooming varieties are much better. But what a wonderful thing to find in a garden in late fall.

Then the dark and cold moved in:

So Bart and I decided we'd stay here for the winter.....

Kevin decided to trip over the Blue Line playing hockey and try out our new hospital. He made a good recovery due in good part to the good care he received.

But as all Christian women know, December is not a time for couch surfing. There are gigantic ornaments to blow up. There is the Christian woman's fat and sugar exchange. There is tree decorating. This is the tree that Kevin hunted, killed and brought home for me. It is from Ikea. It cost $20. You buy it blind. You pay your money - you get a giant green furry thing wrapped in heavy twine. The plastic bag at the base is $2.50 extra and goes to charity.

It's at this point that the man of the house leaves the little woman to do the next part.

And, I wonder why I'm tired. Anyway done and sparkly. My godmother's angel on top - care of the man of the house and we're ready for more cooking, baking, wrapping and entertaining.

I'm curious to harvest these to see if there's any flavour. I know that frost is good....

Looks so pretty when it's all sticky.

We had visitors: Ray on his crutches post-new-hip.

A lovely new baby Fiona with her mum Michaela visiting from Switzerland.

Bart didn't stray too far from the fire.

And the cat as claimed the tree as his own.

So between shortbread and naps I think that brings you up to-date with just about everything.

May you and your family have an excellent 2017! A very happy new year to you all.

Putting this Hot and Dry Summer to Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 15:59:00 +0000

There's a fine line between a chronicle and whining. I must have abandoned more posts than I wrote this summer - my writing drought mirroring the weather. Yes, I know I am a mere amateur in the professional world of hot and dry experienced by my southern gardener friends, but this year it has been fierce. The only good thing about the summer was the lack of maintenance the garden needed: the lawn was dormant; the weeds stunted; no need for dead-heading the annuals - those seeds that germinated and became plants, never bloomed. The only exception was the pots that needed to be watered often and for greater periods of time.

Fortunately the winds and weather patterns have shifted over North America - there are cooler temperatures and weekly water in the forecast. I thought it might be a great idea to give you a little taste of the summer and, like a less-than-perfect meal, put it behind me and get on with all the garden maintenance I need to do now that life has returned to the garden.

Rather than my own garden, let's take a look at the happenings at my mother ship, the Royal Botanical Gardens. On August 8th, when the temperature finally dipped below 32C (90F) - Kevin and I headed over to the Cherry Hill Trail. The trail, that is often wet in spots was cracked and dry. Look at these water lilies - normally these pads would be floating on the water. On this day they simply stood naked above the muck. (Several weeks later, they had all collapsed into a black mess.)

Although, I suppose it might have been a little easier fishing for some of the birds.

And there were more places to sun for the turtles.

While it wasn't as obvious that the water was low here....

Take a look at this:

To compare, here's a photograph I took exactly a year ago. Obviously this area dries out somewhat in August, but this is really extreme.

What is doing well is the new Rock Garden. There are big masses of low maintenance plants meant to withstand hot and dry - perfect for this year. The mass plantings designed by Janet Rosenberg are doing what they're supposed to be doing - thriving.

The water features all had to be re-built as well - this was the first time I saw some of the fancy tropical water lilies blooming.

Best of all, every time I visited this summer, the parking lot seemed fuller - just had to capture these folks and their pretty daughters using the hibiscus as temporary hair ornamentation:

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend an event put together by the Ontario Invasive Plant Council and the Royal Botanical Gardens. The OIPC are the folks who put together the terrific Grow Me Instead Guides with Landscape Ontario.

It was an event primarily for landscape professionals/growers to learn more and exchange ideas about invasive plants for the horticulture industry.

The Royal Botanical Garden because of the size of its collection and acres of undeveloped land can be the canary in the coal mine when it comes new invasive species. There are various factors including the change in weather and loss of species (what moves in when the Ash trees leave?). So off we set to the edge of the Magnolia collection to see first-hand a potential new invasive. We were given a presentation and shown thickets of Magnolia kobus establishing themselves both by seed and by underground roots.

Here was a fun discovery, our guide Jon Peter from the RBG showing a native Apios strangling an invasive....

Aren't these cool flowers - great scent too.

After our hike around Cootes Paradise we all sat down for lunch. Can you say lunch-bag-let-down? I suspect they've seen the size of my hips - my lunch: one fork, one straw, one peach (fabulous this year), one bag of apple chips and one granola bar. Dear Anne Marie Van Nest shared her peach with me.

Proof positive it has been the year for plants that like it hot and dry - a parking-lot display garden outside the RBG.

I'll be going outside shortly to start to work on my garden (and hopefully plant some red and white tulips in honour of Canada's 150th birthday!). I will make my notes and take some pictures. I need to see what's done well, and what's been a bust. Nothing better than having my own laboratory right outside my door.

I'll leave you with one last look of a typical summer evening this year in downtown Oakville. I'll keep this photo in mind when the snow begins to fly.

Our 5th Annual Shuffle Off to Buffalo!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 18:31:00 +0000

The last weekend of July is the Buffalo Garden Walk. It's our tradition to go down for an overnight so that we can see as many gardens as possible. This year, being a special birthday, we decided to go early and stay an extra night in order to do a couple more/different things. Mum was kind enough to come out to spoil Bart and Hercules.

We booked a tour of Graycliff - the Martin summer home on Lake Erie - about 25 minutes or so out of Buffalo and a very easy drive. We've both read a lot about Frank Lloyd Wright and seen photos of his homes, but never been inside one.

You aren't permitted to take photos of the interior, so you'll just have to take my word for it that the two-hour tour was great. Carol, our docent, did a superb job explaining the history of the building; the acquisition by the conservancy and the restoration. The home looks very large on the outside, and yet inside it seems small - certainly by today's standards of "rich people's homes" - the rooms were tiny - bedrooms big enough for a bed, closet and washroom; kitchen utilitarian, small, but with the mod-coms of the day. Even in spaces where there were higher ceilings, it still felt small. It left me wanting to see more of his buildings. The views, as Mrs. Martin had insisted were fantastic from every room.

The garden certainly didn't interfere with the structure or make it any less impressive. It's a place you visit to see the building and hear about it, not luxuriate in a garden. These are cut and come Zinnias that were planted to the far left of the home for colour inside and outside the home.

The water feature from the front of the building looking into the property.

Cameras came out on the upper bedroom floor:

Ah, the whims of the wealthy - a window in a fireplace!

The fireplace had to be completely rebuilt - note the numbers to aid putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

When F.L.W. was in the slammer - Mr. Martin used the opportunity to go to Bethlehem Steel and order this less-than-elegant-although-effective platform down to the beach. The walkway that spanned the gap has been removed.

The Brothers who owned the building had bricked this area up for a chapel - part of the restoration brought it back to its 1929 glory.

On the way back we stopped off at the Public House - it was written up in the local paper and given a great rating - the outside is a little biker-bar-ish and without a recommendation, we might have continued on. When we got inside to put our name down for a table there was a 45 minute wait - fortunately 6 grumpy people stormed off declaring that no restaurant was worth that kind of a wait, and so presto! our wait was less than 10 minutes.

And when we did get in - this was our view. Not bad. Food was very good - and an excellent selection of craft beer. Nothing like an afternoon sitting up a'top a cliff overlooking a Great Lake.

Back into Buffalo on Saturday we did an abbreviated Garden Walk starting up around Soldiers Circle.

Our first garden involved tiptoeing down a pathway with Kevin saying, "Are you sure this place is on the tour?" Of course it was - had a discussion with the gardener about the drought and the struggle to have plants look good for this weekend. It looked great.

Melton Manor was a walk-around garden. What a fantastic old building (1905) and what a great garden:

Who wouldn't want to live here?

Again, for anyone who has yet to go on the walk, not only are the tour gardens great, you'll see plenty pretty gardens and lovely homes along the route.

How's this for a dedicated flower-basket waterer!

Lisianthus - such a pretty plant

And for those of you who prefer pink. Here you go:

The dahlias were against the neighbour's home, but Kevin wasn't going to move until I took a photo of them.

Pretty from every angle.

Kevin wanted to know if there was a apparatus that was suspended over this full garden to weed - I'm thinking, if you plant it this full, you need never weed ever again.

Trim and matching red flowers - excellent.

Those on the tour have the option of showcasing their front, their side, or their back garden - or sometimes all three. This was a back-garden:

You're still not there....

And voila, this tidy garden:

It's not everyone who is brave enough to really have a butterfly garden with Milkweed.....but this intrepid gardener says it's all about the butterflies

and the rain garden:

We had a great chat about her garden, and she gave us a heads up about another garden on Bird Street that wasn't on the tour (they sell plants - verboten for tour gardens) and well worth the look.

Here's this remarkable garden - obviously a couple with the collecting gene:

Good colour echo:

Looks like you could use these for house-cleaning.

Lovely and stinky:

I used to grow Tithonia. Am thinking now with all the trees I've lost, perhaps I should look at growing it again.

Selfie with Kevin in the garden:

Kevin fiddled with his phone for a bit, and I went back to see the part of the garden I'd missed:

It certainly is a summer for anything that likes it hot and dry:

Clever thing to do with a smoke bush - when they're not smoking, they can be rather dull, but if you cut off their arms, look at how the new appendages show off.

A few more bits before I joined Kevin out on the street:

And a Frank Lloyd Wright home that it would appear, someone actually lives in. I covet that planter.

Lots of colour and care involved in this little paradise:

No room for a vegetable garden you say....this one is on top of their garage:

This is the back garden:

Blooming right on cue.

This is the part of the garden that leads down to the back garden:

Another couple of shots of the front garden:

This gardener has a bright sunny front garden and deep shade section in the back - I asked if I might take her photo in her favourite part of the garden:

Appreciated for its beauty by gardeners, visitors and neighbourhood pussy cats:

We visited one more garden before we headed over to see Jim's new shed, and of course Jim, from Art of Gardening. These were just random delightful gardens on the way...

How could I not have my photo taken with the buffalo?

So it was back to the car, grab a sandwich at the Co-op and over to Jim's house. It was looking fabulous as you would expect it to:

and of course, the shed:

We had a great couple of days and saw lots of fabulous Buffalo gardens and gardeners. I'm clearing the calendar for next year. Whether we spend two full days just touring gardens, or a hit and run like we did this year, this is one event not to be missed.

A Visit to the Mother Ship - The New RBG Rock Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 15:45:00 +0000

Most times I prefer to be right - in this particular case I am absolutely delighted to be wrong. My first impressions of the new Rock Garden have completely changed.

Like every other member of the RBG, we had been waiting to see the new rock garden. It had been closed for 3 long years. Kevin and I got in on the May long weekend. To say I was excited was an understatement.

This garden used to be a smack-in-the-face bulbalicious colour pallooza. So I was anticipating a crush of bulbs in a new gorgeous design. However, no such luck.

There were some bulbs in the entry beds down to the garden - almost like a memorial to what the garden once was.

Bulbs were planted sparingly, but effectively.

Instead of bulbs we saw masses of plants. Plant one times 10 to the power of 6. (A curse on you Mr. Oudolf.)

There were some old favourites, like this Cercis canadensis 'Alba':

And, the colour chartreuse looms large - Dicentra 'Gold Heart'.

Down into the belly of the beast....this was it. No wonder we haven't been allowed in for 3 years...it's taken this long for the plants to start to look like they may want to grow.

Nice new centre and a garden of green goosebumps.

Excellent new steps - lovely new railing.

We noticed that they've really put a lot of thought into accessibility - anyone in a wheelchair or walker can see most of the garden. Although there are parts where grandma may want to race her grandchildren - the incline can be a bit steep.

Lovely wide pathways. Not too much to look at. So, that's how we ended our first visit to the garden.

However, last week I took some buddies for a picnic over at Hendrie Garden and asked them if they wanted to see (and have an opinion) on what $20MM of our taxpayer (and generous donor contribution) dollars has bought us. Well, we did and we loved it.

There are large swaths of plants, plus combinations of interesting little plants (that are labeled) to delight you along your way.

And good vistas.

Cornus kousa 'Wolf Eyes' - a combination of simply too much, and yet, just perfect.

You can see how things are still a bit dotty. Obviously, next year will be even better.

Everyone had their camera out capturing the combinations.

One of the rebuilt water features.

Something for everyone:

I had tried to grow this from seed. It spent all its time lying on its side like it had spent the night drinking. When E. pallida does what it should, it looks very cool.

I'll be quiet for a few pictures so you can concentrate on the plants:

Cercis canadensis 'Hearts of Gold' - more chartreuse, than gold, but still lovely.

Like the use of dead ends. It makes you circle back and see the garden from the other side.

Bart and Kevin enjoying the shade.

And here we are on our way out. As you can see, Bart was ready to climb back up the stairs and stay for another round. Frankly I would have too, if I'd had the time. I'll be back with more friends in tow to show them my new favourite thing.

What a wonderful way to spend a few hours on a summer day.

A Little Life Speed-Bump Yields A New Project

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 14:52:00 +0000

Such a nuisance. I completely dismissed this paying attention nonsense to the amount of time spent working away in the garden to the detriment of my back. Spent a week of recovery doing just as I should - week two much improved - started working in the garden trying to catch up to 14 days of chores - week three - doctor, physio, etc. etc., and week four I've graduated with the wise words of my lovely Physiotherapist, "Don't work too hard." I shall have several signs made to plant in whichever bed is looking most appalling.

"Please forgive our appearance,

Barbara must not work too hard."

So while I'm not working too hard, I thought that it was the perfect time to start a project I've been milling about since I heard Roy Diblik, "The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden" speak at Canada Blooms. I was transfixed when I heard him speak about how he established perennial gardens in public spaces that not only looked beautiful, but required minimal maintenance. I've got two large beds that I've never been all that happy with - one I started when I first arrived at this house is a textbook of what not to plant in the shade-sad shade bed. The other island bed is comprised of a collection of sample/test plants in various sizes and shapes that from time to time delight me, but more often than not, look like a chunky blob of something dug up from somewhere else and plunked in my garden.

After hearing Roy speak, and seeing how strong the theme of environmental gardening is at the moment, I thought it might be interesting (and hopefully a good read for you) if I studied several Timber Press books on the topic to assist in the design my new garden beds. And, if it all worked out, I'd improve my garden, give the creatures a nicer home, and reduce the amount of time I spend on my maniacal spring spruce-up.

So thanks to the lovely people at Timber, I now have in my possession the books of my gurus Roy Diblick, Douglas Tallamy, "Bringing Nature Home - How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants" and Larry Weaner's "Garden Revolution - How our landscapes can be a source of environmental change." I've also added "Gardening for Butterflies" by the Xerces Society, because who doesn't want to garden for the peacocks of the bug world?

So over the next few months I'll be sharing what I'm learning and how I'll be incorporating these ideas into these two less-than-satisfactory gardens. Whether I'll get them planted this year or next, I'm not sure, but I'm looking forward to sharing this transformation.

And, of course, what would a posting be without a few more photos in my very, very dry garden - no rain since May 30th - every North American storm has been completely rung out by the time it reached the shores of Lake Ontario. I water sparingly, just to keep things alive. Here's what is/has been doing well:

Calycanthus florida

It has been a terrific year for anything oniony - my chives, prettier than they are tasty.

It's always interesting to discover when a plant finds "it's happy place" - I'm not entirely certain I'm on board with Anemone nemorosa being so happy.

Not even afraid of Anthyrium 'Ghost'!

Hosta leaves, lovely lovely leaves.

Spring colours are so pretty.

The best year ever for the Kolkwitzia.

The children are taking on the parent's reign of terror - a Red Tailed Hawk youngster.

It looks as if I'll be filling up the JBBOD very soon (Japanese Beetle Bucket of Death)

If you could bottle the scent of these, I'd wear it.

H. 'Empress Wu' asserting herself. From time to time, it would appear the size on the tag is really the size of the plant. I'll ask her where she'd like to move in the new plan.

Dependable Aruncus dioicus.

The latest bit of nastiness to find my garden (click to see all the little white spots) - wooly larch adelgid (Adelges tsugae). Going to do my best to get some of them out with a blast of the hose. If they really set in, these foreign invaders will kill the tree in 4 years or so. With any luck I'll be able to postpone this pretty tree's demise.

So I'm off to a day of hose-play, reading and not working too hard. I cannot imagine a lovelier summer day!

Sneak Peak of the Toronto Botanical Garden Through the Garden Gate

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Wed, 25 May 2016 13:58:00 +0000

40 garden communicators got a sneak peak of this year's Through the Garden Gate tour. We got to see 7 of the 18 beautiful gardens that will be featured June 11th and 12th in The Kingsway. This charitable event, in support of the Toronto Botanical Gardens, is in its 29th year and continues to be one of my favourites. Everyone who participates puts on their very best: There are gardens designed by Toronto's best landscape architects and tended by staff. There are collector's gardens with cool plants and excellent labelling. There's marvellous artwork. There are gardens that may have been designed and built by professionals, but now are taken care of by owners. There are even gardens where they've installed a whole new lawn. How's that for hospitality? I'd say that puts us right up there with The Queen.

So here's a taster of what you'll see on the tour:

Isn't this a fun idea!

Count the garden communicators on their devices, 1, 2, 3......

Old-fashioned and wonderfully perfumed containers.

Truly the secret to a beautiful container in Toronto - a watering system:

Small yard, nicely done.

A very pleasant front yard.

A back yard - this was the garage - it is set up for fun and entertainment.

It's very unusual to have a house so far set back in this 'hood. It is right on the back lot line.

And John and Kathy Chris' collector's garden:

I had never seen one of these in the flesh. Isn't it pretty?

Sara Katz (on the bike) & Terrence Eta (below) - garden star and tour leader - talked about Petals and Pedals. Yet another way you can enjoy this great tour.

Just to let you know - this was merely for the camera - if you participate - you will be riding along side Terrence, not being transported by him!

And then, my favourite category, "If my husband loved me, and he robbed a bank, this is the garden I might have." The zowie-wowie gardens:

This play area hangs over the Humber River Valley:

The rock garden seen from below - quite magnificent:

And another garden down the street using the Humber River Valley as a backdrop:

Same garden, more elegance....

A very cool pool:

And, then it was all over for the day.

One last look, and a thought - wouldn't this be the best place for a croquet party!

I was so lucky to have the chance to visit these fine gardens - and you can be to, if you decide to meet me "Through the Garden Gate" June 11th & 12th 2016! Hope to see you then. #TTGG16

Wildflower Wednesday in the Land of Ice and Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:47:00 +0000

Ah yes, spring! Where the robins wear toques* and skates. (*A tight knit hat that skiers wear. Canadian pronunciation rhymes with "look". Say it with me: "Look, that robin is wearing a toque!") This is a shot of my bird bath this a.m.

But in spite of the very slow spring and the foolish cold, there are enough bits of life in both my garden and on the Cherry Hill Trail of the Royal Botanical Gardens to warrant participation in Gail's most excellent Wild Flower Wednesday.

Carex grayi blooming under and through the leaves in a section of garden I've yet to tackle. So many of the Carex family stay green over the winter. This particular one has very cool seed heads produced mid-summer.

Sanguinaria canadensis Bloodroot one of the first of my spring ephemerals to bloom.

Podophyllum peltatum or Mayapple - one of the coolest looking natives. It definitely needs room to spread, but in the perfect spot, it's fun to see how it progresses and shape-shifts.

Trillium grandiflorum, our provincial flower. Hopefully I'll see some blossoms this weekend when it warms up a bit.

Dicentra culcullaria and not-yet-in bloom Mertensia virginica.

Asarum canadense just waiting for warmth. Notice how so many of the woodlanders' leaves look like capes.

And the most valuable Prunerus vertus 'Garant'....will let you know how they work after an unintended stay in the garden for a couple of nights.

Now to the flowers on the trail. As you can see, they're not obvious yet:

If you walk too quickly, you'll sail by these little treasures. Look at the closest tree - draw a line toward you between 5 and 6 and you'll find....

Anemone hepatica

In damper sections there are these pretty yellow flowers:

The early stages of Symplocarpus foetidus Skunk Cabbage.

One of many.

In addition to the flowers and beginning of spring, there were little snakes looking for warmth.

And bandits sleeping off the night before.

So I'll leave you with one of the last pictures from the trail, and a little tease of what's to come in the months ahead:

when the flowers and greenery will be everywhere!

It Has Been a Very Silly Month

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 13:21:00 +0000

We have had more snow this month than we did in January and February. I know, more than next to nothing isn't much. But enough already. I'm tired of building snowmen.

On our morning walk two Sundays ago, heard this hideous honking racket. Looking up I found these two bad-boys, honking up a storm, looking for action.

For the folks who live below, I can't imagine they're getting much sleep these days.

Back at home, the Hamamelis is earning its stars:

Last Saturday we had an ice and snow squall. Coming back from Aurora after dinner, the road signs were completely blanked out from the sticky mess. But in the dark you could see how magical the trees looked. It was a little disappointing that the wind picked up overnight and knocked the white off - but you can see, still very pretty.

The Hydrangea looking lovely frosted.

Couldn't have staged this one if I'd tried.

Clematis seeds at their cuddly-buddly best. This is one of the few vines that is showing new buds.

More snow, and yet the Hamamelis still looks great!

It's at times like this when I'm glad, I didn't get around to doing an early spring-cutback.

Bart looking none-too-impressed with the weather or his outfit.

You really have to be wise when you look for things that are very early. Who knew the question you had to ask was, "Will it grow tall enough so I can still see it after it snows?"

Ice, snow and bits of colour.

It may be snowy, it may be cold, but the Lake is still beautiful.

And beneath the bits of snow, you can see in spots that some greening-up action is going on.

But then we got another dump of snow. Found Mr. Robin out in the garden. Used my telephoto to capture him. Well, almost.

Too high, better a little lower. Thank goodness I'm not licensed to carry a weapon.

Third time's the charm. A good breath hold, press down with right hand lightly, press up with left to steady the camera and Bob's your uncle. One confounded robin wondering what on earth is going on.

So from my snowy world to yours....hope it's warming up in your garden, and that April shakes its silliness very, very soon.

p.s. Just because I can - here are the latest photographs of the only performing plant in my garden:

Spring is a Calendar Concept, Not Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 14:03:00 +0000

The freezing rain started early this a.m. and continues to fall. The trees are making odd hollow clacking sounds as the branches brush up against each other. Much better than sickening crack, crunch and crash when there's just too much weight to carry. Lucky for us, the power is still on, the house is warm and I'm thinking it's going to be time for another pot of coffee very soon.

There have been abundant signs of spring: We've had some very spring-like weather; visited Canada Blooms; and this weekend is Easter. Everything pointed to the fact that spring was here today except for the weather that is very wintery.

Under the category of "I am old enough and have gardened long enough to know better", I picked up this wonderful Hellebore Pink Frost at Canada Blooms. (Problems again with iPhoto and Blogger - apologies for having to turn neck sideways.) Isn't it beautiful?

Now that's a good plant! It looks equally as lovely in its professional photo as it does sitting on my deck in my photo.

At least it did. Yes, like a fool I left it out on one of those -10C nights. And the next morning, oh my, not so good. Brought it in. Tied it up gently, trying to convince it to revive itself, and fortunately for me, about 75% of it seems to be fine. I have apologized and promised to keep it in a choice spot on the kitchen counter until Spring on the calendar matches the weather completely.

Ice photos are so much prettier with good light. Unfortunately it looks as if we're going straight from freezing rain to rain and then clouds and more rain. So no sparkles here, just little bits of ice chicklettes on the Chasmanthium.

And on the mini-evergreen.

And of course on the Hamamelis. Thank goodness for just this wee bit of colour.

Fortunately this Japanese Maple is well tucked away.

I bet this Hellebore is wondering why only the new Hellebore get to go inside....

Heuchera 'Vienna'

My Akebia vine:

For all of you caught in the path of the storm, may your trees stay strong, and may we be celebrating spring on both the calendar and garden very, very soon!

The Flowers are Back at Canada Blooms

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 20:23:00 +0000

Even though it has been an easy winter, everyone I've spoken to feels a little bereft of colour. The sky has been dull. We've missed the gorgeous reflective quality and brightness that snow adds to this long season. So I was especially hopeful that this year's Blooms, now 20 years old, would provide that flower tonic I was craving.

This is the fourth year the Home Show and Canada Blooms have been combined. I still remember the horror we all felt when we learned that Blooms would be co-locating with the Home Show. "It will be ruined!" While it is different, it hasn't been ruined. In fact, I think they made the leap over the improvement line this year, giving me what I wanted to see - lots of flowers.

This arch welcomes you to Blooms. This year, Helen Battersby (our excellent tour guide!) pointed out the Home Show placed outdoor vendors along the corridor to Blooms, putting you in the correct frame of mind.

Here's a closer shot. Great nose candy.

The growers set up displays along the aisle:

This is the new Gerbera Garvinia Sweet. It did very well in the Guelph Trial Gardens. Liked to be picked. Great cut flowers that just keep on coming from June to September.

If you go to Blooms, I would encourage you to start on the left and visit the floral displays of the Toronto Garden Club.

This Teddy Bear's picnic was darling and a big crowd favourite.

Gussied up dresses.

Miniatures. Oh the patience these people have. I liked this one, the judge not so much.

This was the winner.

As beautiful as many of the designs were, I'm always interested in something like this, that someone with a little weenie balcony might do. This way you get some flowers and still have room for a table and chairs.

This looked like it had been growing for quite some time. Everyone wanted to plant their head against the wall to check out the mechanics and figure out how much it must have weighed.

And, you know how we all liked to be asked our opinion...the fact the judges have taken courses and worked for years....we all think we know better, and here's the box to let them know who the winner should have been.

Lovely and creamy.

This fun arrangement was made up flowers light and bubbles. Christine De Beer told me she had to replace not only the tired flowers, but the battery every morning.

Just shows you don't have to spend a bundle to make a pretty display.

Random flowers:

The city of Toronto had a small but packed cork garden that was fun:

I spoke with Julie Moore about this garden. What a challenge - how do you create a garden around a sports car? She said that her concept was to present the yin and yang of a garden - the fast exciting pace of the car and the serene spot where lovers might spend an afternoon. Hearts of thyme:

When asked where she'd prefer to have her picture taken - no car for her - although you notice she does have a bedazzled hat that blends perfectly - she said, I'll sit where the lovers would sit.

The car costs a bomb, and the umbrella is in the $15K range (Cdn).

Garden #41 was influenced by a Winners find. Enjoyed the design here. As an aside, Helen told us that those evergreens are just Christmas trees - no root systems - they've just been poked into the ground.

Just shows you don't have to be fine carpenter to do a design.

Jennifer Connell has declared the lighting "5 minutes to midnight". Why do they turn the lights off?

Hand held this is what this display looks like - the second shows what it looks like with a flash.

I think this one by James Thompson was my favourite. It was called Natural Flow:

Wouldn't it be nice to have someone deliver and install such a big chunk of rock:

Here's a Secret Garden Party:

Why is the piano drooling? Now this wasn't for me, but for everyone else who came along, they loved it.

This is the Plywood Pavilion:

Yes, my thoughts exactly.

Now, here's something to think about. Cool design. Doesn't cost a lot. Good for a small space. And, nice that they added some pretty flowers. Called Garden Celebration:

Some of the best bits were the smaller displays:

There are those who come to the shows just to shop, and they won't be disappointed. Lots of good floral vendors. And of course the Toronto Botanical Garden.

And the crowd once the show opened:

Tiny little doorway gardens:

More random flowers:

A very pretty garden Carnival of Colour by Vandermeer Nursery and Earth Art Landscapes with some unusual plant material.

Some of the big firms went small this year. Parklane is the company that requires someone in the household to successfully rob a bank in order to hire them. Their work is perfection. This year they did a little demonstration piece. A rain garden. The concept was illustrated along the edges, and at the end there was a model home where you could watch the designer, before your very eyes, install various types of rain gardens.

Very cool.

So, final words on the show. Definitely better. More flowers. Lots of good speakers. Good design. You can definitely learn something new. And in my books, that's the #1 reason to go. Well, actually, the flowers are #1, learning something is #2, and if you are lucky like I am to have so many friends to visit with while I'm there, I'd say I'd accomplished a hat trick of marvellous things. So all in all, it was a terrific show. If it continues to be as rainy as they forecast, what could be better than spending an afternoon looking at flowers? Grab a buddy and go!

The First Bug on the Window Declares That Spring is Just Around the Corner

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 16:38:00 +0000

As you probably know, this has been an exceptionally mild winter in this part of Ontario. However, on the 24th of February, the storm gods once again frowned on my "It's so Darn Cold, Let's Have a Soup Party!" for my garden writer buddies. Lorraine Flanigan from the Toronto Botanical Gardens has now nicknamed me The Snow Queen - after two consecutive years of the having my party coincide with the worst possible weather.

In spite of the snow and ice, those who were able to make it had a great time. Here's Mary Fran McQuade, Tara Nolan, Margaret Bennet-Alder and Ken Brown - with Bart on the floor.

Around the table waiting for our soup - clockwise Bruce and Juleigh Zimmerman, Mary Fran, Jennifer Connell, me, Lorraine Flanigan, Lorraine Hunter, Margaret, Tara and Ken.

Harold Connell joined us later with his and Jennifer's new puppy (the dog that puts the "3" in Three Dogs in a Garden). We are flashing Tara's promotional postcard for her new book: Raised Bed Revolution - that will be released in May. Yay Tara!

Getting some puppy time before everyone heads out. Must say Piper and Bart got along famously. Was so pleased that the last of the Amaryllis held out for my party. It's resting at the moment. I'll put it out in the garden and fertilize it throughout the summer, for next winter's display.

Several days later, all was calm and bright. Here's my neighbour Heather's lovely Galanthus.

My own Hamamelis was beginning to show some colour:

However, it didn't stay calm for long. March 1st blew in like a lion and we were hit with a blast of snow - about 15cm or so. But by the next day, all the bluster was gone. We were left with winter wonderland perfection.

On our morning walk we were surprised to find some ice formations left over from the storm.

Unfortunately the pathway and streets were completely ice-covered in sections too, cutting our walk several blocks shorter.

Less than a week later this is all that's left of the snow.

Through my favourite morning window - look at my Hamamelis now.

It's about 4C - 38F. Kevin said, "That's one cool plant - pun intended!"

As I've said before, how can you not like a plant that looks just like yellow desiccated coconut?

When the light shines on it, the scent is everywhere.

Wondering if the fly on the window was drawn in by the scent? If it was, there will be lots more of them as our weather hits double digits this week - perhaps as high as 14C (57F).

I'll be at Canada Blooms on Friday and Saturday checking things out, getting myself primed for spring and fortified for the odd bit of winter that is probably on the horizon. After all, my Grandma Stokes always said, "March can be the snowiest month." Between parties, book keeping and brochures, I've been scanning old slides. Here's Grandma in an old photo I found pushing my cousin Rick around between weeding duties.

And one more old photo to round out today's post - found this one of Mum, Grandpa Stokes and myself - don't we look like we are posing for a catalogue? I've definitely got to raise the bar when I start this year's gardening. Who knew I had this tradition of gardening glamour to uphold?

Coldish, Crimes and Creatures

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 17:04:00 +0000

Fetching the paper on the front stoop this a.m. was a real little slap in the face - 20.5C (-4F) (a.k.a. Canadian Sweater Weather). My old windows are joyfully frosted and the sun is shining brightly. Fingers crossed that my old car will oblige me and spring to life when I turn the key.

It has been a warm winter. I don't miss the snow, but miss the reflected light. Sometimes there just hasn't been enough chocolate to compensate. My blogging buddy Kathy Purdy in New York State - it's been colder there - said it's has been like living through the longest November.

I haven't been ordering as many seeds this year. I remember one of our old Hort Club members who used to grow peonies from seed at age 84 - truly not of the "I will no longer buy green bananas" club. But I'm thinking I want to speed up the process and purchase plants this year.

That being said.....here are a few things I'll be trying that I won't see "doing anything" until at least 2018:

They are living on the back porch in the lovely cold.

My indoor gardening has been limited to Amaryllis - truly one of the most rewarding bulbs. I had lost some gorgeous bulbs a few years ago - they stayed in the garage on a very cold night - and although the garage is attached to the house - it's not heated. Alas, bulb-mush. So I'm starting again with these and hope to increase the bulb size and flower numbers over the next few years.

As the flowers start to fade, I cut the stocks and put the flowers on the kitchen table - so very pretty.

The white blossoms are now done. The red and white are blooming right on cue for Valentine's Day.

Alas, it's Crime Time folks. While there are those in the 'hood with spectacular arrangements - there are those who are guilty of the most heinous winter-crime.....

Yes folks, it's time to reveal this year's Burlap Crimes!

Just to refresh your memory. Burlap has no known abilities to keep anyone or anything warm. For example: You would not put a child in a burlap coat and throw it out in the cold. It can be used as a shield to keep road salt away from expensive plant, but the burlap must never touch the plants. Yet every year, more and more landscape firms have found a source of income, enrobing shrubbery in burlap.

I am certain when the landscape architect presented their drawings, they pointed to these dark green items in the drawing called evergreens. I am almost certain he or she gazed into the eyes of the homeowner saying something like, "Even in winter your garden will have colour, and provide a home for songbirds." Then the maintenance crew comes in and says, "You must have spent a lot of money on those (and yes they did!), they better be protected for the winter." And this is how, the petty crime of Burlapping has been elevated to a felony.

Sometimes the evergreens are wrapped individually as if waiting for the kidnappers to arrive to throw them into the trunk of a car. Lean into the screen and hear their little screams.

And, I'm afraid the larger the evergreen, the bigger the crime. At 18 feet high - this is probably the biggest Burlap Crime I have ever seen. Let's hope none of these trees has gas.

Double Burlap Crime. Burkas for Boxwood.

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking I should go back there tomorrow and set these little guys free. I'm going to take a picture this summer to show you what a cool design this is. They have planted little round evergreens of various sizes in a bed of ground cover. However, all the cool factor has been taken away and all that is left are little trolls in need of some serious Vitamin D.

Moving along past the crime segment of this post, have a look at how pretty the Carex is looking in my winter garden.

Carex 'Ice Dance'

Carex 'Donald Trump'...only kidding C. humilis

Carex muskingumensis

Bart in the sunshine a week or so ago - it was +16C (60F) this day.

Last week we took a walk on the Cherry Hill Trail at the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was just around the freezing mark on Sunday. We started on a frozen trail and found ourselves slip sliding away in the mud as we reached the far side where the sun had been working away on the soil. You can imagine our boots and the car. What a mess. However, what's a little mud, when you get to see this:

The girls were being watched over by a large male, who was spending his morning disrupting the quiet by honking at all the boys who were coming too close.

The ice is very thin. You could hear it crack and spalunk when the girls feet fell through the ice.

We saw a fox, but I wasn't quick enough to get a shot. But I did spy this little guy in the centre of the shot.

Here's a better look at Mr. Muskrat and his unusual tail.

That's it for now. I do hope that you have something lovely planned for the coming week, that there's at least a little chocolate involved and that you make sure to get outside and enjoy this bright sunny winter weather. Until next time.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbarapc) — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 18:19:00 +0000

Tinsel, sparkle and greenery have all been stowed. I've done a desk dig and found that I do indeed have a nice flat surface under all the piles. And, I'm still enjoying (although I know it is still early) one of the nicest, most benevolent winters I can ever remember.

Crab Apples Down by the Lake

Yesterday on our walk, the sun was shining, there was no snow, and the temperature was about -5C (23F).

Another Wonderful Sweater-Free Day

Bart has only had two embarrassing sweater days and my old car was frozen shut for just one day after it's marvellous detail-cleaning by my wonderful husband.

Who Knew that Roses Bloomed in December in Oakville?

Listening to the CBC this a.m. - the host and her culture counter-part were talking about culture-resolutions around the nation. e.g., For every new book - read one that is 10 years old; look to shorter essays by established writers; go back and find all those books with book marks and finish them. That last bit was laughter inducing. Even at this early stage in 2016, the year simply is not going to be long enough for me to join in that activity.

Winter Interest Without the Snow

I really haven't made any earth-shattering resolutions, nor have I established a yearly theme. But I am looking forward to many things this year, starting in January with Landscape Ontario's Congress - a meet up with my garden writer buddies - and then the following week, the IDS show, where I'll see all sorts of cutting edge design and consider how the new and marvellous inside will translate to outside.

More Winter Interest

I'm considering recipes for my Soup Party in February - although if this continues, it may not be the "It's too cold, Let's have a soup party".... To, "It really hasn't been miserable so far, but let's have a soup party anyway".... March brings Canada Blooms, and then before you know it, winter's back will be officially broken - the design and planting season just around the corner - my little light table will be full and I'll be derriere to the sky looking at my garden willing those little green shoots to present themselves.

Agastache & Solidago in the Morning Garden

With my first quarter full of expectations and fuelled by shortbread avoirdupois, I am in excellent shape to tackle this new year, and hope that you too have many happy and exciting things on your horizon for 2016!

Barbara's Garden Chronicles

Bye Bye Oakville -- Hello Welland!

It's been a while...

A Sneak Peak at the 31st Annual Toronto Botanical Gardens Tour

Canada Blooms At the Movies - Popcorn Included!

Just One Month Until Canada Blooms!

No Summer is Complete Without a Visit to Buffalo

Summer Progress

Russian Hackers Have Compromised My Computer!

Rain Gear, Puddles and Some of Toronto's Finest Gardens!

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

Playing Catch Up

Between the Frozen Raindrops

Happy New Year!

Putting this Hot and Dry Summer to Bed

Our 5th Annual Shuffle Off to Buffalo!

A Visit to the Mother Ship - The New RBG Rock Garden

A Little Life Speed-Bump Yields A New Project

Sneak Peak of the Toronto Botanical Garden Through the Garden Gate

Wildflower Wednesday in the Land of Ice and Snow

It Has Been a Very Silly Month

Spring is a Calendar Concept, Not Reality

The Flowers are Back at Canada Blooms

The First Bug on the Window Declares That Spring is Just Around the Corner

Coldish, Crimes and Creatures

Yes folks, it's time to reveal this year's Burlap Crimes!

Happy New Year!

Crab Apples Down by the Lake

Another Wonderful Sweater-Free Day

Who Knew that Roses Bloomed in December in Oakville?

Winter Interest Without the Snow

More Winter Interest

Agastache & Solidago in the Morning Garden

From My Morning Walk to You - Happy 2016!