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Chizhik-Pyzhik, where've you been? I’ve been drinking vodka on the Fontanka - Russian folk song When you go on a canal cruise in St. Petersburg, they usually take you down the Fontanka River alongside the Summer Garden.  And they teach you this little rhyme, related to the yellow feathers of the siskin bird that matched the colours of the uniform of the students...

We came to St. Petersburg for a few days rest and relaxation after the bustle of the Italy Islands and Lakes Tour, which we think was a big success. Everyone one told me that I should be wary of petty thieves in Russia, especially St. Petersburg. I scoffed a little. I said I had been to Napoli, for goodness sake. If I...

Twenty years ago, I picked up a book by Penelope Hobhouse and read about a fantastic garden called Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore. I remember looking at the beautiful pictures of this garden, and saying to Loraine, “Wow, how I would love one day to stand there.” Who knew that just a few years later, my dream would come true and...

I’ve been thinking about my death a lot this week. I blame it on Antonio Banderas. I read an interview with him in the Guardian about his work on Picasso in which he said, “I don’t want to live like I’m already dead. I’m just going to live it, and if I die, I die.” Antonio’s words stuck in my mind....

Don’t you just love seeing heavenly beams of sunlight. I started taking photos of them when I was in South Africa recently and have not stopped snapping shots whenever I see them. The beams always remind me of evocative Turner skies or the swirling spiritual skies of El Greco. But I also always think of these wonderful words by Housman...

It’s been a few months since I stopped working at the Vancouver Sun after 38 years - although it was closer to 50 years in journalism as I started in newspapers in 1968 in England - but I still get asked the same question all the time: How do you like retirement? My answer is somewhat complicated. First, I have...

You might think I am making excuses, but I'm pretty sure all the problems I have with my garden today can be traced back to the fact that I wasn’t here to do work when it needed to be done in spring. I was away in the UK all of May and the first part of June and when I...

If you've been with us on a garden tour, you'll be interested to know that we have a Grand Garden Tour Reunion Gala planned for Sept. 2. It will be held at the Shadbolt Centre in Burnaby from 4 to 11 p.m. and will include a lavish banquet, live jazz, three-hours of entertainment plus various surprises. This is an opportunity for...

On our last day in Dublin before we head into southern Ireland, we went out to see the gardens at Killruddery and Powerscourt. We will be returning to Dublin before we head off to London for the Chelsea Flower Show. Killruddery House has been the home to the Brabazon family since 1618 and the gardens have been preserved in their...

We came to Ireland to see gardens and to experience Irish hospitality and culture. And today we did all of these things when we visited two of Dublin’s loveliest private gardens, one owned by Mark and Olive Wilkinson and the other by Patricia and Michael Maguire. We arrived at the Wilkinson’s garden at Tyrrelstown first thing in the morning and...

From Portmeirion, we travelled across the Llyn peninsula to Caernarfon to see the castle and wander the town. But first, we popped into what is one of the meccas for lovers of rare and unusual hardy plants, shrubs and trees - Crug Farm, a speciality nursery, owned and run by Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones. Bleddyn started out as a beef farmer...

  Moving tender plants Moving such tender plants as pelargoniums, aeonium, fuchsia and cold-sensitive sedums out of their protected winter quarters into the garden for summer. Birthday bounty This lovely wateringcan from Ikea was my grandson Jake's gift to me on my birthday on April 25. Funny enough, it is also my brother, Raymond's birthday. Dog's tooth violet Purple aeonium Abutilon It's been a fun first week This was...

We make a big fuss over cherry blossoms in Vancouver. But we ought to be making just as much fuss about magnolias since they are just as magnificent. Some years ago, I planted a beautiful Yellow Bird magnolia in front of my house. After a harsh winter, I thought it had died but up from nowhere sprang a whole new tree. What I didn't expect...

Alchemilla mollis Alchemilla mollis (Lady’s mantle) All the great cottage gardens of England have this old-fashioned favorite. It is loved for the way it displays raindrops like diamonds on its rough, hairy leaves. It is also valued for the lime green color and frothy texture of its effervescent sprays of flowers, which first appear in June and last for several weeks....

In 1997, Daphne Gray-Grant, an executive working for Pacific Press, came to me and asked if I had considered writing a book. I had been writing garden stories for The Vancouver Sun for about six years at that time and had built up quite a solid readership. At the time I told Daphne that I didn't know enough to...

In May, 2013, we returned to Rome for another Italian tour, only this time out of Rome and down to the Amalfi Coast and then farther south to Sicily. This turned out to be one of the most fun tours, partly because we ended up with an exceptional guide, Max, a former TV soap star, who was always very...