I came home today to my new Kitchen Patio garden and looked out hoping to find some birds on the feeder only to find our resident chipmunks chowing down on the new bird seed I just put in. Now don’t get me wrong, these guys are cute and relatively harmless. However I put up the… Read more »
More Garden Changes
While I am very happy with my overall garden plan, I am forever tweaking spots that, despite good planning, just don’t work. In 2006 I planned and planted my Kitchen Garden Patio. Part of the plan called for some Little Henry Sweetspire (Itea Virginica) to surround part of the Kitchen Patio. I was attracted by… Read more »
European Sawfly
I discovered another bug to contend with this year. Just as my mugho pine were putting on their new growth and I went out to clip back some of the candles I discovered these 1 inch long grey-green striped caterpillars with a small black head in masses throughout the pines. It was clear that they… Read more »
Hawthorn Grove Bursting
The Hawthorns are approaching full bloom, just in time for the long weekend! This is my favourite period in the back Woodland garden. The blooms only last about a week or so, but the fragrance is unbelievable. The hawthorns in this area were part of a scrub bush between two farms when our area was… Read more »
Frost Damage
Once again we experienced a week of cold and sometimes below freezing temperatures, heavy winds and rain in May. For the second year in a row, this cold snap came just as the late trees were budding (ginkgo, sassafras, flowering dogwood) and as many shrubs and evergreens were putting on new growth. There was a… Read more »
Another Cold May
I know it’s going to happen every year but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Every year we are teased with a couple of weeks of above seasonal weather in April to be followed, unfortunately, by a long cold snap in May. And this year was no exception. Once again, my Endless Summer… Read more »
Forsythia Signals Arrival of Eastern Tent Caterpillar
The forsythia have been in full bloom for about a week now, brightening up the spring garden. Sunny yellow blooms of the forsythia are not the only reason to have this shrub in the garden however. Forsythia can be used as an indicator plant for the eastern tent caterpillar. Indicator plants are often used to… Read more »
Insect Protection For Plant Starts
They say necessity is the mother of invention and this morning I discovered my own need. Yesterday I removed the greenhouse lid on my yellow pepper starts as I had 11 beautiful 1 inch plant seedlings. I took a look this morning and something had eaten the tops off all the new seedlings. Needless to… Read more »
Spring Is Here – It’s Time to Clean Up
April is finally here, a month all cold-climate gardeners look forward to despite all the work that is ahead. After a long cold winter, we are experiencing some unusually warm weather right now which, of course, makes me want to jump right out there and start my spring chores. However I’m trying to remember from… Read more »
My Version Of Earth Hour
I’ve heard a lot over the past two days about Earth Hour and how everyone should participate. Sorry, but I think Earth Hour is just plain stupid. All the hype shows everyone going to parties and burning candles right? Well, let’s take a look at how that helps the environment: Did they drive their fossil… Read more »