The Red Admirals Are Here

The people friendly Red Admiral butterfly is back in Ontario.  I’ve seen quite a few in the garden since early April but several were out today, I guess enjoying the return to good weather as was I.  Red Admiral caterpillars feed on nettles, and while I don’t have any in my garden I know they… Read more »

Growing Celery in Ontario

Always eager to try something new, I decided to try growing our own celery this year. I thought it would be nice to see if we could have our own fresh celery to add to potato salads during the summer and to my Neapolitan Tomato Sauce at the end of the season. Celery has a… Read more »

Snake In The Garden

It’s getting a little bit crowded in the neighbourhood. While planting potatoes in the back vegetable garden today my husband spotted a rather lazy garter snake. Despite making noise the snake didn’t move so of course my husband had to investigate. What he found thrilled my two sons — a garter snake in the middle… Read more »

More Daffodils, Less Tulips

Once again the rabbits enjoyed the tulips in my garden more than I did. In the past I’ve tried repellent and this year did drop a wire planter over a couple patches but with almost two acres to garden I don’t have the time, or the energy, to run around and cover everything up for… Read more »

Protecting Seedlings From The Elements and Chipmunks

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks. The early arrival of spring in our area pushed many plants ahead at least three weeks pulling forward my spring pruning schedule. Then the cold weather returned which meant watching the weather network nightly to check for the need to cover plants seeded early in the… Read more »

More Easy Frost and Pest Protection Covers

I like things to be as easy as possible when I garden and I’m always on the lookout for easier, and quicker, ways to do things. Right now high on my priority list is looking for better ways to protect the vegetable garden from frost and pests. I recently came across these supports for a… Read more »

Time To Take Cover

We are about to pay the piper. You just had to expect that the summer like weather wouldn’t stay and that we were likely in for a return to more normal temperatures and sure enough, here they come. Tonight they are forecasting a low of -3C and by Monday night -5C. The freezing temperatures are… Read more »

Happy First Day Of Spring

Happy first day of spring everyone. It’s finally arrived, that favourite day for gardeners although this year it seems a bit moot as the temperatures are more summer like. Buds are swelling early, the grass is turning green. For once I don’t have to listen to the media cheering the arrival of spring in envy.… Read more »

Canada Blooms: Four Hours … One Idea

I just came back from this year’s Canada Blooms garden show in Toronto. It had been quite a few years since I last attended this show and I was looking forward to the day browsing for some new garden ideas. Already billed as Canada’s largest flower and garden festival, this year’s event was combined with… Read more »

Learning To Prune Fruit Trees

Today was a perfect day to prune my crab apple trees. I have to admit that this was a task that needed to be done, but that I wasn’t looking forward to. I believe I’ve fairly well mastered the art of pruning shrubs. After all, it’s pretty hard to ruin a shrub. Most will survive… Read more »