Country Gardener

Speaking at Dream Garden conference

January 9, 2011

I have been going through photographs and slides of our garden in its early days for a talk I’m giving next Sunday. It’s amazing looking through these pictures – one forgets how much work went into creating the garden. Now, 12 years later, it looks like it’s always been here. As for the talk, I [...]

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Merry Christmas, Happy Winter

December 24, 2010

Wishing you all the best of the season — Merry Christmas, and the enjoyable break from gardening that winter affords us northerners. I’m very fond of winter. One of my favorite poetical quotations is this one from T.S. Eliot: “Winter kept us warm”. Here’s another poet on that thought: Winter is the time for comfort, [...]

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The 2010 gardening season that was

December 8, 2010

The 2010 gardening season was another surprise for me. It was the third wet growing season in a row after almost a decade of dry summers. The Ontario precipitation map below tells the story.That little area on the map showing “extremely high” precipitation at the tip of Lake Ontario is where we are located. The [...]

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Pictures from the south of France

November 11, 2010

I know that this is a bit off-topic, but since inquiring minds want to know – I’m talking to you, Jim – here are some photographs of where I stayed while visiting the South of France in September. In Provence, I stayed with my sister- and brother-in-law, who live in London, England. They had rented [...]

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Back in business with October photos

November 10, 2010

In September, I took a short holiday to France, and then – without really meaning to – I took a very long holiday from updating this blog. Let’s just say, I’ve had a lot going on. But now I’m back, and the first order of business is to share some of my favorite photographs of [...]

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Seasonal treats – corn and tomatoes

September 5, 2010

Isn’t this time of the year just the best for eaters and cooks? I love it when all our local produce is fresh and available at all the farmers’ markets. Such marvelous plenty — and all of it at peak flavor. Here are a couple of my favorite late summer recipes. South-west corn salad The [...]

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Our terrific garden helpers

August 25, 2010

Without this team of helpers, I’d never have got through the summer — there’s so much to do here — mowing, weeding, watering, weeding, mulching, pruning, edging — did I mention weeding? Honestly, without help, I’d go crazy: from April to November the workload is steady. (Have I ever mentioned how relaxing I find November? [...]

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The country garden video tour – late summer

August 18, 2010

This quick country garden video tour of our property exists courtesy of my friend Mark Disero, who brought over his Flip HD video camera yesterday, and showed me how to use it. Within hours we had edited the video together on my computer, and here it is on YouTube. Pocket video cameras are upping the [...]

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Down on daylilies looking dreadful

August 16, 2010

For several years now my daylilies have looked terrible. It’s the leaves — they get streak, a fungus disease, which causes the foliage to start to die back even as the plants begin to bloom. I’m not big on fighting disease in the garden. I have too much on my plate to fuss about individual [...]

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It’s colorful here: mid-August bloom day

August 15, 2010

Here’s a sampling of what’s in bloom in mid-August for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. The garden is ablaze with late-season perennials in flower alongside a variety of ornamental grasses. It’s that late summer, almost autumnal garden look, which I love best because it suits the prairie-style openness and size of our property so well. As [...]