Check out this lovely urban oasis in downtown Vancouver
It’s surprising how many people still don’t know about the peaceful Cloister Garden tucked away between towering Cathedral Place office block and Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Vancouver. It's a gem worth discovering.
This lovely, secluded enclosed space, with its formal architectural lines, neatly clipped boxwood hedging and simple flat expanse of...
PHILADELPHIA 2014
On February 27, 2014, I took a group to Philadelphia, primarily to see the famous flower and garden show held there every spring, but also to visit some of the city’s historic sites and art galleries as well as the exceptional Longwood Gardens.
Getting to Philadelphia from Vancouver is never that easy. You can fly via Toronto but there is...
ITALY CRUISE TOUR 2009
In 2009, when I was working for The Vancouver Sun as the garden columnist and New Homes editor, my publisher called me into his office and asked if I would like to take a group of people around gardens in Italy.
At Padua Botanical Garden
My response was...
Erikson’s garden is a treat to visit with world-class collections
Pam and Tom Erikson, of Erikson’s Daylily Gardens and Perennials, will host their 18th annual Open House on July 6 and 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Erikson’s Daylily Gardens and Perennials
The gardens will be in bloom with over 2,500 varieties of daylilies, 650 varieties of...
Now’s the perfect time to plant new bulbs for spring
What bulbs should you plant for a beautiful display next spring?
You'll find hundreds of varieties on offer at your local garden centre, but I found all the ones I need - all the ones I find perform best - are available, for much less, in nice packages at Costco.
I popped into my local store this week and picked...
Why not plug gaps with great plants you already have
If you're anything like me as a gardener, you have probably hugely over-planted your garden.
At one time, you might have thought - as I did - that you needed every lovely plant in the book. As a result, you bought too many, planted too many, planted too closely and overfilled the space available.
Now this does sound like a problem....
I’ve always had a soft spot for well-clipped boxwood
I've always been partial to clipped boxwood. I'm English, but that is not the reason. You will find beautiful trimmed boxwood in many Dutch, French and Belgian gardens as well as Japanese and Italians garden. They all make bold use of boxwood and use it to great effect in their exquisite gardens.
SOUTH AFRICA 2012
In October, 2012, we went for the first time to South Africa with an ambitious plan to take the Garden Route from Cape Town before moving on across the Little Karoo to Knysna and George and then on to Durban, Swaziland and Johannesburg. In addition, we had a stopover at Kruger National Park for a game-drive.
Forty people came with...
ENGLAND WEST COUNTRY TOUR 2010
In May, 2010, we did our first land-tour in England, starting out in London and going down to the West Country to see gardens in Somerset and Cornwall before heading back to London, via Gloucestershire and Oxford, for the finale - the Chelsea Flower Show.
This tour got off to a bit of a rocky start because a volcano erupted...
Do hostas look better with or without their flowers?
Do hostas look better with or without their flowers?
Many people don't like the flowers and cut them off the moment they appear on their long stalks.
Other love the flowers and would never think of cutting them when they are their peak.
It really comes down to a matter of taste. But the conflict of whether to cut or not to...
Gorgeous green walls: They do more than look beautiful
Green walls not only look fabulous, they can save energy as well as pump oxygen into the air and suck out pollutants.
The most impressive green wall I have ever seen was the “vertical garden” designed by Patrick Blanc at the Branly Museum in Paris.
Considered the world’s first great green wall, it was completed in 2004, and is still a...
2020 European river cruise: CANCELLED DUE TO C19
THIS TOUR HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS OF APRIL 10 DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Today I'm excited to launch our first European River Cruise Tour, which will be 10 days with an optional three days extension, starting in Prague on May 15 and ending in Vienna on May 25, with...
Wonder of germination: It’s all about the will to thrive and succeed
Germination is one of the great mysteries of life. Yes, we see it working. Yep, we have lots of science on the process.
But the reality of a seed springing to life, forcing its way out of the ground, showing a steely determination to succeed, an energy and will to live and grow and become something more than it...
Why planting bulbs with kids is always so rewarding
I've always enjoyed planting bulbs with my kids. Now I enjoy bulb planting with my grandkids. And Jake, 8, is always very enthusiastic.There is so much we can learn by planting spring flowering bulbs in October. For starters, it is a very optimistic act itself: you are literally planting for the future, with spring in mind, so it's hard to...
How my granddaughters did a pretty spring container
Emma and Julie start work on their container project
What to do with my granddaughters, Julie, 3, and Emma, 2, on a snowy day when it is really a little too slippery and messy to play outside: how about a fun gardening project.
We decided to make a...
How to make a grand entrance because first impressions matter
What kind of first impression does your garden make?
The entrance is an important first feature. Being the first thing visitors see, it sets the tone for what is to come.
Like all first impressions, an entrance can say a lot about who you are. In a glance, it give ups clues to the kind of style and detail likely...
MYANMAR TOUR 2016
On Feb 25, 2016, I was in Hong Kong with a group of people heading off on a tour to Myanmar (formerly Burma) and then to Singapore before returning to Vancouver via a last-days shopping trip in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, our hotel was on the Kowloon side, looking over to the downtown core.
We started with a casual stroll...
Goodbye The Vancouver Sun
April 21 was my last day at The Vancouver Sun, after 38 years, 26 spent writing gardening stories. My last column was in the paper April 22.
Today I'm thinking back over the 26 years of my career as a garden writer and remembering all the lovely gardens I have seen and fun times I've had interviewing talented gardeners.
HOW IT...
In his 80s, Umberto’s still one of Canada’s great greenthumbs
It’s always a pleasure to visit my pal Umberto Garbuio at his home in Burnaby Heights and to see how his beautiful garden is doing.
The white wrought-iron entrance gate beyond the row of clerodendron trees still has its quaint, swivel wooden sign saying “Hi”on one side and “Bye” on the other...
Love me tender: it’s the hottest new trend in clematis and exotic vines
People don't care anymore when they buy a clematis if it dies at the end of summer. They just want to have good flower impact on their patio, balcony or deck for a few months.
After, they don't care what happens to the vine.
This according to Rob Wein, one of the owners of Clearview Horticultural, the biggest grower of clematis...
