General growing and maintenance guidelines. Your plants and how to care for them…
It’s not a particularly good photo, just a quick snap of some houseplants sitting on a table on my back patio. There’s bits of grit on the table that had been earthed by the squirrels, water rings on the metal table, and volunteer geraniums underneath the bay laurel tree — little messes that I might …
Some years ago, my friend Barry gave me a large jade (Crassula ovata), an extra that had become crowded in with another in the pot they shared. Through the years since, I had been caring for this large-trunked succulent much like I do many of my other tender(ish) succulents. They spend winter in the south-facing …
The smaller African amaryllis ‘Graffiti’ I mentioned last week has produced a second set of blooms. Only two of the three bulbs put out a second stem, and they’re not quite as colourful as the first set was, but as you can see they’re still pretty fabulous. More photos after the jump…
Just in time to bring some colour into a painfully cold and white world, the amaryllis ‘Rio Negro’ bulb that I potted up in late November is now in full bloom. As predicted, it reminds me of the Butterfly amaryllis aka Hippeastrum papillio. It presents the same thin red veining and a shaded green interior, …
The urge to run away to some far off destination is strong this winter, made worse by the particularly long and dark days of this past fall, and winter events like last week’s ice storm. To appease wanderlust I have been taking advantage of the holiday break to make trips around town to browse shops …
It’s already mid-December and I have finally got around to harvesting what remains of the ginger root (Zingiber officinale) that I grew in a container in my Zone 5(b-ish) garden this past summer. Yes, this spicy, tropical herb can be grown in a cold climate, and with minimal effort.
This year, as always, I have selected a few items that are useful and affordable, and a few others that are decorative and a little bit pricier. If they don’t catch your fancy, I’d also suggest checking out my gift guides from previous years. I don’t repeat items so there are plenty of ideas there …
Each Autumn, big, beautiful Amaryllis bulbs show up in stores alongside spring blooming bulbs. And every year I hesitate, full of guilt about the indulgence at a time when I have so many houseplants to shift indoors for the winter. However, once the snow is settled over the garden and the world has lost its …
Herbal bundles are tightly bound rolls of dried woody, resinous herbs, that are slowly burned as a way to purify and cleanse the air. The roots of burning an herbal bundle, or smudging, is in indigenous purification rites and ceremony that span the world globally. It is not a homogeneous practice, and since I am …
Since moving to a house with a basement three years ago, I have been experimenting with hanging whole tomato vines before the frost to ripen indoors. I’ve tried this technique in varying conditions: in a cold, dark basement; in the darker corners of an unheated porch; right up in the windows of the same south-facing …
Yesterday afternoon 20 gorgeous, and very large pumpkins/winter squash arrived on my doorstep courtesy of my friend Uli. She had gone out of her way to purchase many of them from a local farmer to use as Halloween decor, and a few others were given to her for free. Knowing that they would only rot …
Colourful fall leaves collected from the 7 small Japanese maple trees I am growing in my garden. The colder days and nights of fall have really brought the city’s Japanese maples (Acer) trees into full form. Lately, as I walk through Toronto neighbourhoods, I am blown away again and again by the vibrant reds, oranges, …