Winter Aconite

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

Early season blooms have started to appear this week in tandem with some other solid signs that we’ve turned a corner away from winter and closer to the start of spring here in my neck of the woods. While most gardeners are raving about the snowdrops — and they are beautiful, no doubt — I was most delighted to see another, though less popular harbinger of the season, Eranthis hyemalis unfurling in the sun for the first time.

Gardeners often complain about the difficulty in establishing eranthis, but most of my experiences with this early bloom have been with plants that appeared mysteriously from nowhere and established themselves with no work at all.

Leave a comment

What’s on Your Windowsill? (Plus Giveaway)

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

A visit to Erika’s apartment a month back has inspired a new sense of excitement about my own windowsills. The morning after the tour, we experienced a rare winter treat here in Toronto: sunshine! While my windowsill has been transformed several times since, here’s what it looked like on that first morning of sun.

In the photo above you can see [left to right]: ‘French Lace’ scented geranium, Chilean oxalis bulbs that I recently planted, another oxalis that has gone dormant, variegated Cuban oregano (that thing does not stop growing. I have cut it back hard, several times), and the edge of a ‘Centennial’ kumquat tree.

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

This is the other windowsill in my office [left to right]: Microgreens freshly sown in a recycled salad container (behind), spineless blue agave (front), lithops, another dormant oxalis, donkey’s tail sedum (Sedum morganianum) (hanging).

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

And here’s what it looked like yesterday afternoon when the sun was shining once again [left to right]: Pelargonium ‘Fair Ellen’, yet unidentified echeveria I bought a few days ago, pelargonium ‘Mabel Grey’, another unidentified echeveria from the same purchase, sea onion (Ornithogalum caudatum).

What are you growing on your windowsill?

Please post a link to a photo or post on your blog about what’s on your windowsill. We can inspire one another and beat the winter is almost over blahs.

Next Friday, March 19 at 5pm EST I’ll randomly select two people from the comments below to win one of the following price packs:

prizes_mar2010.jpg

  1. One of our “I Heart Dirt” tees, six packs of organic vegetable and herb seeds from Cubit’s Organics, a package of assorted garden buttons and magnets (also designed and produced by us), and one of the few remaining Grow Great Grub book launch party door prizes that includes a specially made “Grow Great Grub” button and a pack of organic vegetable seeds by Urban Harvest.
  2. Six packs of organic vegetable and herb seeds from Cubit’s Organics, a package of assorted garden buttons and magnets (also designed and produced by us), and one of the few remaining Grow Great Grub book launch party door prizes that includes a specially made “Grow Great Grub” button and a pack of organic vegetable seeds by Urban Harvest.
Leave a comment

Witch Hazel

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

Until recently I was unaware that witch hazel is cold tolerant in my climate. Here’s the evidence: a large witch hazel tree in full bloom just this morning in my friend’s garden.

We’re experiencing a warm and sunny spell here in Toronto that is lifting our collective spirits. Suddenly things are in bloom as if it is spring. But it isn’t really quite spring and I keep reminding myself that while all signs point to it, we could have another blizzard ahead of us just yet.

March is a deceptively soft and cuddly lamb, for now.

More witch hazel:

Leave a comment

Ackee Tree

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

Ackee is a lychee-like fruit that is poisonous when raw and must be put through a series of processes to make it edible. Ackee and saltfish is Jamaica’s national meal. It is popular in many other parts of the Caribbean but seems to be overlooked in Dominica. On the other hand, saltish seasoned with hot peppers and onion is very popular in Dominica and often eaten with breakfast.

I had never seen an ackee tree up close and didn’t realize how high on my list of experiences it was until I spotted this one in the Kalinago Territory on Dominica’s East Coast. Beautiful, don’t you think?

More on ackee.

More on saltfish.

Leave a comment

Spiral Ginger (Costus)

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

Considering the wide breadth of plant photos I took through our month in the Caribbean, it comes as a surprise how often I keep reaching for images of ginger family plants to show here. Perhaps it is because there are just so many more than I ever imagined, or perhaps because the remainder of he winter has been gray and these flowers are bold and BRIGHT. Whatever the reason, here’s another one.

The spiral growth pattern of this one is unique and I believe we saw a variegated version of it as well, but try as I might, I was unable to find a photo in my files. Meanwhile, I only have about 30 more rolls of film to develop (about 360 images) from that trip alone! There is also a bag of film with rolls dating back to last August.

I suppose it could be in there somewhere.

Leave a comment