Mutant Veggies at the Fall Fair (2009)

Turnout in the mutant vegetable competition at The Royal Winter Fair was disappointingly lackluster this year. I don’t know if it was the poor weather this season, or a waning lack of interest in growing monstrous, overgrown produce, but it seems that the competition fell from an abundantly healthy display in years past to the

Echeveria leucotricha harmsii

At least that is what I believe it is, but I reserve the right to be mistaken. There are so many Echeveria out there in the world… it can get a little dizzying. If you think you know what it is, please tell us in the comments.

Unknown Cyclamen

Unfortunately, I did not record the name of this particular plant when I took its picture. Beautiful foliage, don’t you think? More Cyclamen: Dozens of Cyclamen Cyclamen hederifolium ‘Lysander’ ‘Laser Mix’

Yellow Tomatillo

I made this batch into a plain salsa and canned it for use later this winter. See also: Tomatillo Husks

Dozens of Cyclamen

Meanwhile, over at Barry’s garden…. acres of cyclamen, each plant unique, are continuing to unfurl from dormancy to charm us with their unusual leaf patterns and delicate flower stems. Yes, all of that fuzziness in the background are dozens of tiny pots of unusual cyclamen — all grown from seed! Barry explained that they are

Ceropegia Flower

I bought this strange, vining succulent, Ceropegia linearis ssp woodii, back in August at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I’ll have to take some pictures of the leaves as well — they are interesting in their own right. The plant has suffered a bit of legginess over the past few months as I’ve grown accustomed to

Extending the Harvest

This piece was originally published in The Globe & Mail over the weekend as a part of my series on kitchen gardening. Regarding using burlap and burlap sacks: Just to be clear, do keep them away from the crowns of your plants since they can get awfully heavy when wet. In fact, they are best

French Lace Scented Geranium

Earlier this year I told myself, No more geraniums, unless it is a nutmeg geranium since my favourite plant bit the dust over the winter. However, that instruction fell out the window when I found this pretty, lemon-scented Pelargonium crispum x ‘Variegated Prince Rupert’ aka ‘Variegatum’ on sale for $1.99. How could I not get