Gardening in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
Clematis texensis, the species vine, is native to Texas, specifically, the Edwards Plateau in the middle of the state. The ‘Gravetye Beauty’ hybrid was bred in France and introduced in 1914; here’s a smashing article about it if you’re interested, in which you might read that the adjective ‘smashing’ has also been used to describe […]
Keeled garlic, witch’s garlic, Allium carinatum, is the last of the alliums to bloom in my garden. Native to much of Europe, it’s quite unobtrusive when the flower atop it’s nearly two foot (60 cm) stem is seen in isolation. But when allowed to self seed, it can form a quite fabulous drift of mauve […]
Declaring that you have a favourite flower in your garden just may be a bit like admitting you have a favourite child. If said out loud there may just be silence in the room, perhaps a muted gasp or two, averted eyes, a nervous giggle, curious looks…. I mean, out of the dozens or perhaps […]
On Wednesday I posted a couple shots of the first flowers opening on the umbel of an Allium cristophii. What struck me was how large that individual flower was, and how it was like a beacon, there to guide the rest of the flowers in the inflorescence as they waited to open. Yesterday I was […]
Colonies of Canada Mayapple – Podophyllum peltatum – can be found in the woods across the eastern part of North America, from Ontario and Quebec down to north Texas. They spread both by seed and by underground rhizomes, and I’m lucky enough to have a few small colonies on my property. The low, wide leaves […]
There’s a diminutive pink rose that you can spot this time of year at the side of country roads, where there’s a bit of shade from a tree line or woods. I’ve noticed it once or twice at the edges of my property as well, but just now and then…it hasn’t been spectacularly showy. But […]
You know those packets of free seeds you get sent sometimes by charities hoping you’ll reciprocate with a donation? Or from a breakfast cereal giveaway promoting itself as ‘green’ and wanting to spread ‘native’ wildflower seeds all around the country? The problem with the giveaways, of course, is that a plant may be native to […]
Much is said and written about maple tree leaves turning various shades of red, orange and yellow in the fall and I, being a proud Canadian, of course agree with how spectacular that looks. One of the best things about autumn in the Great White North. But I’ve come to appreciate two additional, smaller plants […]
This morning, it’s raining…YAAY!!! We’ve been without for about six or seven weeks so I’m really happy that trees and shrubs, in particular, will be able to drink up before frost arrives and the ground freezes, usually sometime this month. As you can imagine, without rain or supplemental watering most of the garden has been […]