The Garden is the Gardener

A recent Grow Write Guild writing prompt asked you to write about loss, attachment, and letting go. The idea for the prompt came to me as a result of the volume of beloved plants that I lost this spring due to a particularly harsh winter. However, I suspect that there were other losses in the

Fame Flower: A Colourful and Tough Succulent that is Perfect in Pots

Colourful flowers that sway and jitter on wiry stems, Fame flower (Talinum calcycinum) is another example of a rough and tumble, easy-grow plant that is disguised as delicate and fragile. Rather, it is a hardy (zones 4ish-9) succulent that is native to the North American prairies. Related to the common edible weed purslane (Portulaca oleracea),

Barry’s Magical Cyclamen

Barry’s cyclamen have begun their yearly emergence from dormancy and his small, cold greenhouse is alive with them. My own few pots of Cylamen coum (gifts from Barry, of course) have also begun to emerge, although I have noticed that they are behind his. What you see in this photo isn’t even half of Barry’s

Barry’s Garden in January

No matter the season, there is always something of interest (many, many things of interest) going on in Barry’s garden and even though I know not to show up without a proper camera, I can’t deny that sometimes (most times) I am lazy and the camera stays at home. Of course, I always regret it

Herbaria (May 30, 2012)

Before I introduce this week’s plants, I just want to say how much I am enjoying this project. I have walked through the garden these last few Wed mornings with an eye to what I will add to the box and I can’t tell you how much joy I find in artfully assembling the collection.

Crocus ‘Spring Beauty’ + Assorted and Sundry

Yesterday I posted about the Cyclamen coum I was gifted by my friend Barry, and later that day I visited his cold greenhouse where his were in bloom along with many other botanical delights, including these Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus ‘Spring Beauty’ (aka snow crocus) that he grew in a pot. The dark purple underside

Cyclamen Coum

I can feel it in the air. Just today I noticed that a few more green bits had forced their way above the soil surface outside. Spring will be here soon and for some of you it has already arrived. In the meantime, these flowers have been helping me through. Their colourful, long lasting blooms

Garden News

My friend Barry brought these weekly gardening newspapers back from a recent trip to the UK (Wales and London). And look, each issue has a free packet of seeds affixed to the cover. Okay, so I would not sow any of the seeds that came with these three issues in my own garden, but still

My Mind is Blown at the Denver Botanic

This one is a little taste for my friend Barry who really wants to make it to see the alpine garden at the Denver Botanic Garden, someday. I have no idea, but WHAT? The aliens are here. This last shot is of the “Ponderosa Garden” near the entrance. Denver is incredible. I am loving it

Growing and Eating Cardoon

My final Globe and Mail article for the 2010 growing season was on growing and eating cardoon. Cardoon is lesser-known relative of the artichoke that is considered a delicacy in Mediterranean cuisine. Like artichokes it grows into a stately and somewhat dangerous thistle-like plant, but unlike artichokes you eat the stems, not the flower buds.