Height: 50 cm (18 inches) Spread: 50 cm (18 inches) Bloom: yellow flowers early spring, very small Exposure: Full sun to part shade Foliage: small deep purple burgundy, reddish burgundy in fall Pluses: foliage colour, long season as foliage remains until late fall Barberries are a wonderful foliage plant that can provide great contrast in… Read more »
Acer rubrum – Red Maple
Common Names: Red Maple, Scarlet Maple, Curled Maple Zone: 3 to 9 Plant Type: Deciduous tree Height: up to 30m Bloom: red in April / May Habitat: full sun, prefers moist, slightly acidic soils Fall Colour: bright to dark red in fal Pluses: Ontario native, red fall colour, fast growing Acer rubrum is aptly named.… Read more »
Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’
Height: 1.0 m (3 feet) Spread: 1.0 m (3 feet) Bloom: deep rosy pink, funnel shaped Exposure: full sun Foliage: brownish purple Pluses: long bloom, foliage colour, no pests Weigela are an old-fashioned plant but newer varieties are showing up every year. ‘Wine and Roses’ is a medium-sized cultivar, reaching about three feet in height,… Read more »
Mulch Gardens With Fallen Leaves
Garden soil needs to be replenished with organic matter each year in order to maintain its fertility. In spring, we add compost made from the prior years garden and kitchen waste as well as composted horse manure from a friend. In fall we add leaves. Unfortunately for us most of our trees are not yet… Read more »
Fleeting Blooms of Summer
A walk around the garden today to enjoy what seems to be a rare sunny day this fall and I was thrilled to see some summer blooms still pushing forth. It’s almost like they are seeking their last hurrah before winter takes over. Enjoy, for soon we will be looking at a blanket of white.
Burnishing Yellow A Great Fall Colour
While red is a favourite foliage colour in fall brilliant burnished yellows can be easily as dramatic. Here is Clethra alnifolia ‘Sixteen Candles’. Sixteen Candles is a newer cultivar of the native summersweet shrub. A smaller selection, it reaches 3 to 5 feet tall. In summer, ‘Sixteen Candles’ is topped with aromatic, spiky, white blooms… Read more »
Is It April Yet?
So I’m a little anxious, can you blame me? I just finished expanding the size of our second vegetable garden and surrounding it with a new fence to keep the deer and rabbits out next season. It looks so inviting, just waiting to be planted. I did get started by planting my fall garlic crop… Read more »
Can You Eat Root Vegetables All Winter?
The garden season is winding down and I already miss walking out to the vegetable garden and picking some fresh summer produce for supper. A look through the grocery store today revealed poor, mostly old produce — definitely not what we are used to. Luckily for us we have a lot of root vegetables still… Read more »
Endless Summer Still Blooming
It is the last day of September and my Endless Summer Hydrangea are still producing new blooms. This year was a fantastic year for Endless Summer Hydrangea. I have several of these shrubs around the yard, some planted 5 years ago some just last year. They have bloomed sporadically at best most years and while… Read more »
Cinnamon-Swirl Bread
“A cinnamon-crunch streusel on the inside makes every bite tasty. I think next time I will try switching the oil for melted butter to give it a bit of a richer flavour.” INGREDIENTS 1 1/3 cups sugar 1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2… Read more »