Back to the good life on Rome’s Via Veneto
We arrived in Rome a couple of days ahead of the start of our Italy-Croatia Tour and checked into the elegant Grand Hotel Palace on the Via Veneto, a street famous...
Back to Italy for my 10th time to see Umbria plus Dalmatian coast
This week, I plan to return to Italy, this time to lead a 15-day tour to Umbria and on to Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia.
It will...
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...
We’re living in Camelot and my garden loves it
It feels like we are living in Camelot and my garden loves it.
The weather this summer could not have been more perfect. Sunny and bright during...
Two great plants for terrific summer colour
Two plants I am making bold use of this summer for striking colour are Cleome ‘Señorita Rosalita’ and Browallia ‘Illumination Blue.’
I've used both in emphatic plantings...
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.
Collecting seed: It’s child’s play and an easy way to get dozens of free...
Grandson Jake, 7, collecting Welsh poppy seeds
Seed-collecting is a wonderful way to get more plants for your garden for free and the best way to make...
What was missing at Chelsea this year . . . spectacular potatoes!
At the Chelsea Flower Show last month, I spent quite a bit of time searching for something rather unusual - a fabulous potato exhibit I saw there in the Grand Pavilion...
From Cambridge to London and the Chelsea Show
In London, we based ourselves at The Bailey’s Hotel in South Kensington, opposite Gloucester Road Tube Station and down the road from Kensington Gardens.
Vegetable display at...
Fab day from Pensthorpe to Sandringham to Cambridge
For our last day in Norfolk, we started out with a visit to Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, a 700-acre woodland, bird sanctuary and gardens, outside Fakenham.
Pensthorpe Nature...
Cruising the Norfolk Broads and into Bressingham Garden
The Broads is one of Norfolk’s most popular destinations - a network of waterways through which people love to explore on boats, tying up at night next to a pub or...
From Helmingham Hall to East Ruston Old Vicarage
In Bury St. Edmunds on a Sunday morning, the cathedral bells ring out. It is a beautiful sound. And it is the perfect fit for a stroll in the ruins of...
From Bury St. Edmunds to Beth Chatto’s lovely garden
We thought Bury St. Edmunds was such a quaint town that we decided to delay our departure to visit Lavenham and Beth Chatto’s garden to give us more time to explore...
France to England: Long Melford and Kentwell
We were having far too much fun for me to write daily bulletins on our France-England adventure, but now I can recap some of the highlights of the England leg.
First week of our fab tour to France and England
Paris is a perpetual pleasure. We arrived in the City of Light a week ago and immediately began immersing ourselves in its many delights.
For the first...
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,...
Wonderful gift for Surrey’s Darts Hill Garden
Francisca Darts was a passionate plants-person who spent a lifetime building a beautiful garden called Darts Hill on 168th Street just outside White Rock, B.C.
In 1994,...
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...
Six new Clean ‘n’ Easy roses in my sunny April garden
Six years ago, I wrote with enthusiasm about Clean ’n’ Easy roses, saying how marvellous they are because of their vigorous growth, resistance to disease, impressive flower production, and the fact...
Beaty Museum is full of treasures and wonders
Some years ago, I was invited to see the Beaty Museum of Biodiversity on the University of B.C. campus. I never got there, but I always regretted not making more of...
