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The old saying, “good things come in small packages,” is especially true for the spring bulb garden. Although large Dutch tulips and yellow daffodils certainly have their place in the garden, spring-blooming miniatures–called minor bulbs in the nursery trade–add pizzazz. Most are prolific bloomers, with some, like snow drops and snow crocuses, among the first to flower in the spring. […]
Many people rely on crocus, tulips and daffodil bulbs to give spring colour, but several other spring bloomers are available to grow. Most are relatively low growing and will tolerate various conditions offered to them, thereby allowing all gardeners to give them a try. Pulmonaria – commonly called “Lungwort” and named for the spotted leaves that were thought to help […]
Now is the time to get your garden ready for fall, and instead of dreading the task, think about the glorious spring blooms to be had. Garden centres are supplied with spring-flowering bulbs of daffodils, hyacinths, narcissus, tulips,and crocus, but let’s not stop there. Unusual bulbs that can brighten any area of the garden can be purchased as well, some […]
There are people who voluntarily spend most of their lives indoors, shut away from sunlight, fresh air and anything greener than the occasional potted plant. Those people probably do not feel the rhythm of the seasons, but I do. In the fall, as the days shorten, I find myself turning inward. By the winter solstice, it is hard to get […]
The days are getting noticeably longer, so I am reasonably optimistic about the prospect of spring weather arriving sometime soon. So optimistic that I believe that there may actually be a morning within the next couple of weeks when the weatherman does not predict “chance of rain mixed with snow, possibly heavy by nightfall.” When the season finally turns, I […]
I am lucky. Gardening has always been a slightly guilty pleasure for me. I used to think that it was because I never had enough time in the garden. Now I am positive that I would feel the same way even if I had all the time in the world. As a little more light and a bit more warmth […]
This is the time of year when garden pundits tell their disciples to bring in branches of forsythia, pussy willow or flowering quince for indoor bloom. A minority of those disciples will follow orders; the rest (and I am one of them) will wish they had actually planted some of those spring flowering shrubs last year or the year before […]
Lately, I have been reminded of the classic German chorale melody that organists know as “Schmuecke Dich”. Johann Crueger composed it in 1649, and in some Christian hymnals the first line of the hymn sung to the old melody is “Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness.” When I go outside to do a spring clean up in my garden beds […]
Cottage Gardens The cottage garden tradition is one that is peculiarly English in character. The old-world charm of the cottager’s plot owed little or nothing to any of the major developments in garden design or landscape architecture. The English cottage garden just ‘happened’ and its chief attraction lies in the effect of ordered chaos that it produces. Like the wild […]
In May gardening begins in earnest. April weather is too uncertain for many vegetables to be planted in the open and even early May cannot be trusted far. By the end of the month, however, practically the first planting of everything we wish to include in our program is in the ground. Tomato plants must be guarded carefully against frost, […]