The Volunteer Daylily

We call them ditch lilies here, a disparaging double entendre that eludes to their place in the proper garden plant hierarchy as well as their preferred wild landscape. It came into my garden uninvited, an opportunist that hitched a ride in some little pot of earth alongside another plant, probably something gifted or bought at

Remembering Summer: A Bee’s Butt

I found this photo today while searching through folders of summer images on my computer and felt compelled to post it. This was a common sight in my garden last summer, especially over the weeks that liatris was in bloom. It’s a pollinator magnet and I’ll never have another garden in this climate without at

My Year in Gardening: 2015

Year Start to End Despite a very long and cold winter that had many of us bemoaning life in the northeast, the first six months weren’t so bad. In February I celebrated 15 years publishing this website. It still shocks me to think that so much time has passed. I organized my massive seed collection

My Month in the Caribbean (Dominica: Day 9)

Lizards. What impressed me most about the little cottage we stayed in was the population of lizards that lived on the property. I noticed them immediately. Upon arrival, I ran up the stairs that lead to the highest cottage (the one we were staying in) and was startled by lizards of all sizes and colours

My Month in the Caribbean (Dominica: Day 8)

There is of little interest botanically to write about today, as December 14 was all about walking into town to see about procuring a copy of my grandmother’s birth certificate. After a brief side trip to check out the library, we headed to the government courthouse where I was disappointed to find out that my

My Month in the Caribbean (Dominica: Day 6)

December 12, 2009. We woke up in Roseau, the capital city of Dominica, on market day. No matter where I am in the world, I am always drawn to markets. Food markets, flea markets, farmers’ markets, foraging, gardens… I prefer to do my shopping outdoors. Markets are also where the people go. They have a

My Month in the Caribbean (Dominica: Day 5)

December 11, 2009. We landed on the east side of Dominica, our luggage, camera gear, and a pillow in tow, and travelled about 2 hours by cab through the interior to Roseau, home away from home for the next three weeks. I was not prepared for how mountainous the island is, nor how lush. I

My Month in the Caribbean (Barbados: Day Four)

December 10, 2009. Growing up, I heard many stories about Barbados’Animal Flower Cave. While there were many other places that I wanted to see on the island, we only had one full day left so the Animal Flower Cave it was. We were staying on the south side of the island and the cave is

Gayla in Bridgetown

My Month in the Caribbean (Barbados: Day Three)

I don’t like being a tourist. I like to see new places, but I’m not especially comfortable in the role of The Tourist. Or perhaps it is that I have been witness to the crass and vulgar behaviour of one too many Tourists on vacation and my discomfort lies in what feels like an unfair

My Month in the Caribbean (Barbados: Day Two)

Day two of the trip had us heading away from the grounds of the hotel after a morning spent sitting by the ocean. I was worried there wouldn’t be much to cover for day two since my second post of the trip was about our experience eating golden apples, followed by a day two wrap-up

Gayla with Giant Tillandisa

Looking Back at a Month in the Caribbean

Six years ago today, Davin and I embarked on a month-long trip that took us to 3 Caribbean islands. This trip was a really big deal for me as my maternal side is from the Caribbean, and until then I had never been, save a few weeklong trips to Cuba. At that time I had

The Gardener is Sick

Approximately five months ago, I wrote this piece about the manic, messy, madness of the springtime garden. As I said at the time, every spring is like that, and given a choice, I would have it no other way. Winter stretches here in Toronto, and sometimes it is longer, colder, and more deprived of greenery