From Milan to the beautiful lakeside Swiss town of Lugano
Before leaving Milan, we made a quick stop so I could give everyone on the Islands and Lake Tour a close up view of the Bosco Verticale, the amazing green-garden tower high-rise designed by...
Magical time in Milan before start of Italy garden adventure
MILAN - I’ve come to Italy once again, this time to lead a 14-day Islands and Lakes Garden Tour, starting in Lugano and moving to the beautiful lakes just north of Milan before moving...
I see a plain fence and I wanted it painted black
My friend Rob Cannings and his wife, Joan, have a fabulous garden in Victoria. They have been working on it for many years.
It is special not just because of the wonderful variety of plants...
Protected: How to use your garden to give kids wonderful memories
How do you get kids excited about gardens and gardening?
I’ve written about this many times before and I always seem to come back to the same old ideas.
Planting bulbs is good, mainly because it...
The breathtaking beauty of the spring garden in all its glory
One of the joys of spring, especially on a warm, sunny, late April evening, is to sit quietly in the garden and watch the sun slowly go down as it sends glorious shafts of...
Why I blame Antonio Banderas for the way I am thinking
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...
Rejoice! My favourite tool was lost and now it is found
I love my garden tools. But there is one I love more than all the rest - my beautiful, multi-functional, never tarnishing, never deteriorating, never diminishing six-in-one hand-trowel.
I love, love, love it. And...
New and exciting plants in my garden this spring
One of the new plants I have added to my garden this year is Euonymus japonica ‘Paloma Blanca’ which sometime goes by the name White Candles.
I have used it to create a short, formal...
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...
Why barrenwort is no longer one of my most loved plants
In the early 1990s, I suffered, as did most other young gardeners who were starting out on their first major gardening project, from a serious case of plant lust: I felt I just had...
Six great vines for spring planting
Here’s a quick look at six of the best vines to plant in your garden this spring. These will get visitors to look up. Raising their head will give them a positive feeling and...
New garden tours coming up and in the works for 2019
What new and upcoming garden tours do I have planned for the remainder of 2018 and into 2019?
In May, I will return to Italy for the ninth time to lead a very special Islands...
Untold stories from my India trip
Here are a few untold stories from my recent India Tour, stories that for one reason or another just didn’t fit into posts I published each day.
Head injury
The first and most important untold story...
It’s so nice to be back in Canada
It’s very nice to go travelling - to Paris, London and Rome - but it’s so much nicer to come home.
So sang Frank Sinatra. And it’s true. When you live in Canada, it's very...
10 top favourite moments from our India Tour
After three weeks in India, we're heading home to Vancouver today, carrying gifts for everyone, especially grandchildren, who will be waiting eagerly for our arrival.
It is always a little like Christmas Day when we...
Into Kerala’s backwaters and the Arabian Sea
We had the most relaxing time walking the warm and beautiful hillsides of tea plants in and around Munnar.
Being high up the Western Ghats, the air was sweet and clean and scented by jasmine...
From Udaipur to Munnar and the beautiful tea hills of southern India
We left Udaipur and flew back to Delhi for one night before catching an early morning flight to Kochi in southern India.
The moment we arrived, we were aware of the change in temperature and...
Time in Udaipur, Venice of the East, white city of lakes and palaces
We left Jaipur to catch an early morning flight to Udaipur, also known as the ‘Venice of the East’ because it is a city on five lakes.
However, our flight was delayed and we ended...
Into Jaipur to see pink architecture and elephants
Apparently, the word “pur” on the end of any Indian town or city name means place.
So, Bharatpur, I assume means, the place of Bharat and Jaipur, means the place of Jai.
From Bharatpur, we headed...
From the chaos of Agra to the serenity of the Taj Mahal
Our journey from Delhi to Agra was uneventful, but for our awareness of the poor air quality. The thick white mist sat like a morning fog, obscuring most of the countryside until we were...
