Grow

General growing and maintenance guidelines. Your plants and how to care for them…

Sinningia iarae

I showed a photo of this plant when the leaves are fully emerged in the post about Erika’s unusual house plants. This is what it looks like when the tuber is just beginning to come out of dormancy. At this stage the plant brings to mind a flattened potato crossed with an African violet that …

Pretty Little Daffodils

My friend Barry is growing these sweet and simple daffodils (Narcissus cantabricus) in his greenhouse and they’re currently in bloom. I enjoy daffodils in a general way, much like I enjoy most flowers. However, I tend to be underwhelmed by their arrival as they come late when spring has already been around for a spell. …

Caladium in the Lawn

You know, I’ve never much cared for caladium. They’ve always been a “whatever” plant in my book, a humdrum bit of foliage most often seen crammed into decorative baskets and seasonal greenhouse exhibits. Who cares? (Perhaps many of you. In which case, I’m a monster and a tasteless fool. Sorry.) In all honesty, my eyes …

Fresh Coffee Bean

On our last day of the trip, our friend David in St. Lucia picked some red, ripe coffee beans (aka cherries) off of the Arabica bush, one for each of us, and instructed us to bite through the thick skin with our teeth. Next, he said, remove the beans and put them in your mouth, …

Garden Tour: Erika’s Small Apartment of Small Plants

Yesterday afternoon I was invited into the apartment of a fellow Parkdale resident to check out her collection of fascinating and unusual plants. The visit brought the plant junky in me out in full force. I went home conspiring to get my hands on a few of those amazing plants myself and then spent the …

Worm Food

Sometimes, when I’m feeling too lazy to hand chop, I give dinner’s assorted vegetable scraps a quick whiz in the food processor before feeding the gruel to the worms in my kitchen wormery. I liken it to cutting the food on your kids’ plate into sizes that are manageable for their little mouths. I imagine …

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