September 29, 2009
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Barry’s Garden Open House

I have written here several times about fellow Toronto, Parkdale resident, Barry Parker and his exceptional backyard garden since meeting him this past spring, but I have never shown any wide view pictures. Well, as luck would have it, Barry is hosting a garden open house this coming weekend — those of you who live locally will have the opportunity to see his beautiful garden in person. So for the rest of you who can’t make it, I’ve got off my butt and compiled a series of photos showing some of the seasons in Barry’s garden as I have experienced them on my visits since the spring. First, the details: When: Sunday October 4th from 1.00 to 4.00 p.m. Where:… More

May 25, 2012
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Recently in My Garden + Assorted and Sundry

It’s that time of year where so much is going on in the garden, I can’t keep up. I LOVE it! Clockwise from Top Left: 1. Two types of mint, pink snapdragons, and a geranium in pots. I set these pots on a metal table at the back of the garden, in front of the ramshackle shed. The geranium was not happy there and has since been moved. 2. My friend Barry bought me two of these video blue metal pails a few years ago. I love the colour and always try to plant them up with complimentary plants. This one is currently holding yellow violas and pansies. 3. My lunch on holiday Monday. The salad is from the garden.… More

April 30, 2013
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Grow Write Guild: A Spring Day

Click here to see larger. It’s been interesting to see how differently people react to the Grow Write Guild prompts. Some people say they’re too easy; others too hard. I’m behind schedule with my responses and was very tempted to throw in a super easy one for number 4, but I promised myself from the start that I would not write prompts to suit my own needs. Falling behind is not the end of the world. That said, I do have a simple one in mind for the near future. It just didn’t feel like the right time to pull it out. I didn’t find number 3 particularly difficult to do. I’m late because I was feeling lazy and didn’t… More

April 14, 2010
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Keeping Track of Plantings

This is one of those ideas I wish I’d thought of but didn’t. Who can remember all of the different plants and varieties one is growing at any one time? Especially when the plants are all so similar like those in this sempervivum trough. My über gardening pal Barry is behind this very smart method of keeping track of plant varieties that can work for pots or whole gardens. The other day I asked about a plant in one of his pots but he could not remember the name. He disappeared inside for a second and returned with a binder full of plastic-covered photos, each one marked with the names of plants and varieties, just like this one. Okay, possibly… More

May 9, 2009
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The Annual, All That Money I Spent at the Parkdale Horticultural Society Plant Sale, 2009 Edition

The title says it all. Although, taking the Street Garden out of the picture this year significantly reduced the opportunity to spend more. I could completely disregard most flowers, bushes, or bedding plants, focusing instead of edibles and a few hardy, drought tolerant plants for the fire escape. Bringing a set number of dollars and sticking to it was another well-placed strategy — no last-minute run was made to the closest ATM machine. The sale seemed a little less hectic this year. Maybe I was just really on top of things because of that cup of drip coffee I was given in the line-up on the way in (I never drink coffee in the morning and drip has a lot… More