Plexiglas Planter

Okay so the succulents are half-dead and it’s actually a corny window display for a glasses store but this shallow Plexiglas planter box found while walking through Portland, Oregon is at heart a good idea. Shallow-rooted succulents like hens and chicks would do well in a container like this — the store owner just didn’t

Gluttonous Book Purchases

…Of which there are many when it comes to gardening since I can so easily convince myself they are for “work” rather than enjoyment. Nope. No enjoyment here. Purely for work. Incredibly necessary for The Very Important Work. Clockwise from top: Herbs: Partners in Life: Healing, Gardening, and Cooking with Wild Plants by Adele G.

Windowsill Cozy

Here’s the follow-up to last week’s Toasty Pot Coaster project. This windowsill warmer is easily crocheted much like coaster using double crochets and shell stitches as a decorative edge. Start by measuring the width and depth of your windowsill. Make chains until the width matches the width of your sill. Double crochet into each chain,

Rooting Begonias

Guest post by Amy Urquhart This morning on my blog I wrote about how we’re getting crowded out of our dining room by the sheer number of plants in there, so it seems only natural that the next thing I did this morning while drinking my coffee, and in my housecoat, no less, is root

Toasty Pot Coaster

Like many apartments mine boasts poorly insulated windows and baseboard electric heating. Yep, it’s a keeper. With the weather being in the high My Ass is About to Fall Offs I’ve been scheming ingenious ways to keep the plants that are stuck enduring their fate on the cold windowsill warm and alive through these dark

Red Mulch

It’s really far too early to start getting supplies or thinking about tomatoes but with the weather outside being in the minus kill-me-nows I can’t help but start peaking at the Lee Valley catalog. I’ve already decided that I’m going to sacrifice a couple of my tomato plants to “research” and give red plastic mulch

I’m on the Stereo, Stereo-o

I’m going to be interviewed live on “The Artist’s Lifestyle” talking about You Grow Girl, gardening, and the art. When: Tuesday, Jan 30. 5:30-6:00pm What: 93.3 FM CFMU To listen online: Go to the website and click on “webcast” [left sidebar].

Grow This: Paphiopedilum Orchid

Living room gardeners needn’t be limited to corner-store variety orchids. Paphiopedilum, aka ‘slipper’ orchids (not to be confused with the cold hardy North American Lady’s Slipper) are an exotic tropical that produce a stunning, solo blossom sometime between late fall and spring. Each bloom lasts as long as 2-3 months and many varieties have dramatic,

Veggie Garden Ribbon

It’s a tad pricey at $13.00 for 2 yards but this fancy-pants woven ribbon from the Cooper Hewitt shop would make fantastic trim on your garden apron. Or maybe use just snip a little piece for a bookmark in your gardening journal. And well… it’s not just ribbon, it’s ART! via Julie Jackson

The Great Nightshade Confusion

I recently discovered that what I have been identifying as ‘Deadly Nightshade’ since childhood is actually ‘Bittersweet Nightshade’ or ‘Woody Nightshade’ (Solanum dulcamara). I can see where the mistake could be made in terms of similarities in their foliage but both the flowers and berries are completely different. Deadly Nightshade’s Latin name is Atropa belladonna.

Affordable Gifts For Gardeners (To Buy)

I’m not one to go nuts with the gardening products since a lot of required gardening materials are either one-time buys (like good shears), tools and containers that can be purchased used, or items that can be fashioned from recycled materials (i.e. plastic water bottles) — I am the queen of the plastic water bottle.

Warm Winter Wear Drive Update

Last week I took 4 boxes of gorgeous, warm, handmade, winter items (and one You Grow Girl book) to The Redwood Women’s Shelter here in Toronto. These boxes were the result of this year’s You Grow Girl Warm Winter Wear Drive. I tied each item with a pretty string of yarn and added a gift