native plants… Sumac Wonderful 17 Jan 202116 Jan 2021 We don’t always appreciate the beauty that we find in our own backyards. When I was growing up, there was a group of bushes in a neglected corner at the…
Animals… G the Dog Leads the Way 10 Jan 202111 Jan 2021 This week I offer my latest painting. Gretel has been a muse for me in the past. When her pal JT posted the original photo that inspired this work, I…
Inspirations… Winter Walks 3 Jan 202111 Jan 2021 For many years we visited a timeshare in Horseshoe Valley, a twenty-minute drive from Orillia, ON. The resort will be closing in a week to be put up for sale.…
About Me… Soft Cover of Snow 27 Dec 202027 Dec 2020 The past nine months have felt like a marathon. A quick pivot to online work and uncertain times have also meant many months of separation and fatigue. As the garden…
Animals… Dog Walks with Mo 20 Dec 202020 Dec 2020 Since the lock down, it has been reported that many people have been acquiring pets. While empty shelters and loving homes is good news, I hope that these decisions have…
Poetry… Rain Today 13 Dec 202013 Dec 2020 During the storm, rain distorts reflections. It can muddy both puddle and pond. It may make us cold, wet and uncomfortable. While it continues to rain, I hope for better…
Inspirations… The Night Craves Light 6 Dec 202013 Dec 2020 There are more holiday lights in my area this year. I encouraged my own family to dust off the lights in the garage that didn't make it up last season.…
Garden Crops… Taking the Longview 29 Nov 202029 Nov 2020 The long view can keep gardeners going in uncertain times. If we focused only on instant gratification, we would replace our gardens with visits to the grocery store and pop…
art… Porthole Pictures 22 Nov 202022 Nov 2020 Although summer is all to short for my liking, a few years back we decided to leave the heat behind for a while. My mother never got to fulfill one…
Garden Crops… Challenging Thyme and Other Spices 15 Nov 202015 Nov 2020 I was recently reviewing my 2020 gardening resolutions. While some, like traveling to garden shows and gardening tours did not happen, I did manage to add some spice to life…
flowers… Sowing Poppies for Wally, John, Ben and Jean 11 Nov 202015 Nov 2020 Originally posted in November 2019, I share again. To the names, I add Ben, another brother of Wally and John, who I recently learned was also a veteran. We will…
flowers… Snapdragons and Resilience 8 Nov 20208 Nov 2020 For me snapdragon flowers have become the flower for 2020. On an unexpected warm spring-like day in November in Canada, they continue to inspire. In the fall of 2019, I…
Garden Crops… Drawing Apples 1 Nov 20202 Nov 2020 I am back to the drawing board and loving it. After two weeks in self-isolation due to travel regulations, I really missed creating art. Though I usually paint with acrylics,…
Garden Tour… Autumn Windows 25 Oct 202025 Oct 2020 The working title for this week’s blog was Fall from my Window, but under the present circumstances, I thought this might cause alarm. Although I have spent the last 10…
art… Calming Living Walls 18 Oct 202018 Oct 2020 Airports are not the most relaxing of places. People may experience the stress of cancellations, delays, missed connections and lost baggage. To this, add the complexities of a pandemic. Though…
flowers… Wedding Bouquets 11 Oct 202010 Oct 2020 In 2020, weddings look very different. This poem is dedicated to Aria and Bailey as they celebrate a new marriage, to Tara whose wedding attendant duties evolved and to family…
flowers… Thanksgiving for Rain 4 Oct 20204 Oct 2020 A dry summer meant a lot of time watering the garden. The other day, as I was putting on my sandals to water again, I heard and saw the rain.…
art… Cornflowers and the Spaces in Between 27 Sep 202027 Sep 2020 When I started painting three years ago, I started to see the world differently. Drawing and painting helped me see not just the entirety, but the elements. I noticed more…
Animals… Squirrel in the Garden 20 Sep 202020 Sep 2020 Although the surveillance video is grainy, I know I have seen the suspect before. They show up in my backyard early in the mornings and wreak havoc. Footprints, mangled leaves…
About Me… An Anniversary Poem 13 Sep 202013 Sep 2020 We had trips planned to celebrate a special anniversary this year. Life had other things in store for us and others. We celebrated with a trip to the Toronto Botanical…
About Me… Labour Days 6 Sep 20203 Jan 2021 Labour Day weekend is different this year. There is no late summer fair at the Canadian National Exhibition. For the first time in 149 years, there will be no Labour…
Garden Tour A Prickly Year 30 Aug 202030 Aug 2020 Back in March, I wrote Sometime Life Succulents. Sadly, I over watered my newest succulent plant and it turned to mush. That I suppose, is also symbolic of many plans…
art… A Painted Flower Box 23 Aug 202026 Sep 2020 A ship on the Alaskan coast was my original destination for today. A significant wedding anniversary is coming up and this was to be our celebration. That dream has been…
Garden Crops… What Can I Make with Zucchini? 16 Aug 202023 Aug 2020 Dad spent the first decade of his life on a farm north of Toronto. When he reignited his passion for growing food in a large garden in the backyard of…
flowers… Six on Saturday: My Top Six Garden Fixes 9 Aug 202010 Aug 2020 I enjoy reading gardening tweets and am often inspired by the beautiful images posted by plant lovers. On Saturdays, garden Twitter fans often post #sixonsaturday to highlight garden success. Yesterday,…
flowers… Timeshare Ending: Let Bygones be Begonias 2 Aug 202023 Aug 2020 A week ago, we checked out of the timeshare we had bought into two decades earlier. A few days later, we signed the forms to exit the perpetual lease that…
flowers… A Year of Unplanning 26 Jul 202027 Jul 2020 2020 has been a year of unplanning. Time away and a theatre production in March give way to a lock down. A cruise and engagement party for a loved one…
flowers… Rudbeckia Flowers 19 Jul 202018 Jul 2020 My children first spied Rudbeckia at Cullen Gardens and Miniature Village in Whitby. They thought that was a wonderful name for a flower since it combined their version of the…
flowers… Snapdragons for All 12 Jul 202012 Jul 2020 I have not planted snapdragons for four years but thanks to bees, I have a beautiful crop that is completely self-seeded. With hues ranging from ivory, pink, white to burgundy,…
Animals… A Canadian Scenic Safari 5 Jul 20205 Jul 2020 Whenever possible garden tours are incorporated into my vacation planning. I have experienced marvelous gardens on the campus of UBC in Vancouver, British Columbia; Flower Forest and Hunte’s Garden in…
art… Tips for Container Gardening 28 Jun 202028 Jun 2020 Like most other things this year, the garden workshops and tours I booked have been cancelled. While in person events are on hold, zoom has filled some of the void.…
flowers The Peony: Unforgettable Ephemeral Beauty — Emanuel Melo torontonian azorean writer 25 Jun 202027 Jun 2020 The Peony: Unforgettable Ephemeral Beauty Peonies visit the garden each June. They blossom for a short while, filling the garden with a quiet beauty that although understated, lasts in memory…
flowers… Sweet William 21 Jun 202022 Jun 2020 From its shape and colour, you may have guessed that Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) is part of the carnation family (Dianthus). Dianthus is derived from the Greek words dios (God)…
art… June Irises and Rainbows 14 Jun 202014 Jun 2020 Irises are at full bloom in Ontario. I have loved them since my mother first brought home a clump shared from Randy’s garden. As well as being a close family…
art… A Garden as Art 7 Jun 20205 Jul 2020 I have a had a twitter account for a long time but it lay dormant for many years. This past fall, I became active again and started following gardeners from…
art… Jack Pines 31 May 202031 May 2020 Under normal circumstances, we pay little heed to the tall jack pines that exist in the median between the sidewalk and the street. We see them as we drive by…
flowers… Four Ways to Save on your Garden This Season and Next 24 May 202023 May 2020 It seems that bears and people have something in common this year. After months of forced isolation, they are back out in nature with a force. The traffic reports last…
flowers… Trilliums 16 May 202017 May 2020 Last week, I featured a photo of a trillium flower taken by Janine Elliott in a local woodlot. This week, I decided to paint some trilliums. I also decided to…
Garden Crops… Seeds of Hope IV 10 May 202010 May 2020 Hope Challenged My most recent day working from my downtown offfice was Friday, March 13. Yes, Friday the 13th. I had heard the news about illness over the past couple…
flowers… Homemade Fertilizer 3 May 20203 May 2020 When we moved into our home ten years ago, the gardens in our townhouse complex were well tended. Every spring the landscaping company would drop off a load of compost…
flowers… The Daffodils Bloom 26 Apr 202026 Apr 2020 Spring and hope are not cancelled. The daffodils bloom. David died two years and a half years ago of lung cancer. He was a nurturer and landscaper and it showed.…
art… Nested Dolls 19 Apr 202019 Apr 2020 When we were young, we had a series of older ladies as babysitters. My father was a politician and my mother was his press secretary and a volunteer in the…
art… Daffodils and Rainbows 12 Apr 202010 Apr 2020 Change is not always easy and sometimes positivity needs to be carefully noted. Again the good arrives at unexpected times and I don't want it to pass unnoticed. As cold…
flowers… Seeds of Life and Hope III 5 Apr 20205 Apr 2020 There is a lot of information out there now about staying positive. That said, the reality is that sometimes even with the best of soil, water and conditions, some seeds…
art… Seeds of Life and Hope II 29 Mar 202029 Mar 2020 I am back at work. Rather than my office in downtown Toronto, my new location is my kitchen. My 3 hour a day commute has been replaced by 14 stairs…
Garden Tip… Sometimes Life Succulents 22 Mar 202022 Mar 2020 I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago. Life has changed a lot in that short period of time but after re-reading, I decided this post still has some…
flowers… Planting Seeds of Life and Hope 20 Mar 202021 Mar 2020 “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”Martin Luther (1483-1546), monk, priest, theology professor, composer, central figure in the…
flowers… Touring the Greenhouse Collections 8 Mar 202014 Mar 2020 environmental controls in the Desert Collection The University of Toronto Growth Facilities are open to the public during the week. The four main collection areas: Tropical, Palm, Temperate, and Desert,…
Garden Tour University Growth Facilities Then and Now 1 Mar 20201 Mar 2020 Bring our Children to Work Day has been ongoing at the University of Toronto for over 20 years. It gives children an opportunity to get insight into the work lives…
flowers… Barbados Revisited: Coconut Court, Flower Forest and Wildlife Reserve 23 Feb 202023 Feb 2020 Our most recent trip to Barbados was in July 2019. I was on leave in February when I spotted a great seat sale and a hotel bargain, so I convinced…
