It’s an oddly shaped, purple-blue berry that is native to northern Russia, northern Japan and parts of Canada, but now also grows wild from Alberta to Newfoundland and in northeastern Europe. It’s touted as having high levels of vitamin C and antioxidants, and is more popular in many other parts of the world because of its distinctive flavour. Meet the blue honeysuckle … [Read more...] about Meet the haskaps
Blooming where we’re planted
Much of North America is still deep into the winter of its gardening discontent. Here in the Maritimes, we’ve been buried in so much snow, we can’t even claim to have a garden of winter interest, because pretty much everything interesting is under snow drifts and plowed banks and more snow and a little ice to keep it all challenging. The snow is so deep in my garden I can’t … [Read more...] about Blooming where we’re planted
Forcing bulbs and dreaming of spring
Did you get all your bulbs planted this autumn before the weather turned cold? If you didn’t, don’t panic — I have been known to plant bulbs in a mild spell on Christmas Eve and on New Year’s Day, although this year I managed to get all of mine planted by mid-November — almost unheard of! If you don’t expect to see mild weather or bare ground before spring, and still have some … [Read more...] about Forcing bulbs and dreaming of spring
In praise of older garden books
Like most gardening addicts, I have a deep and abiding love — some might call it an obsession — for garden and plant books. I have so many bookcases full of books in my home, my décor style could be called Garden Book Eclectic. True, there are other books on some shelves — Canadian literature and science fiction, for example — but mostly there are books on everything from … [Read more...] about In praise of older garden books
In praise of Verbena bonariensis
The late, great British gardener and writer Christopher Lloyd is in part responsible for my deep love of South American vervain (Verbena bonariensis). It was Lloyd’s book Colour for Adventurous Gardeners (Firefly, 2001) that introduced me to this plant, also commonly called tall verbena. Lloyd had it generously planted throughout the gardens at his home, Great Dixter, and his … [Read more...] about In praise of Verbena bonariensis
