Into Chandigarh’s weird and wonderful gardens
Chandigarh, which is also known as the “beautiful city”, was one of the first planned cities after India got its independence from Britain in 1947.
The city’s planners opted for a grid system with each...
Into gardens of New Delhi and on to Chandigarh
We came to India for many reasons. Most of us wanted to get a more intimate, personal, first-hand experience of the country rather than relying on what we had read or been told by...
Exciting sightseeing tour around New Delhi
Our first day of touring Delhi was filled with a dazzling spectrum of sights and sounds from impressive historic buildings to the perpetual honking of city traffic to the hauntingly hypnotic tones of snake...
First days in Delhi after 14-hour flight from Vancouver
Our flight from Vancouver to Delhi could not have gone more smoothly. It was long - 14 hours, Delhi being 13 1/2 hours ahead of us on the West Coast - but there is...
Exercise your right to an easy morning work out
I know exercise is important. These days I'm content to walk the dog or go for a swim or a bike ride. That's about it.
My days of jogging and playing soccer are over. Not...
Japan 2018 Tour: Join us on this wonderful adventure
My next garden tour will be an exclusive 13-day adventure to Japan to see spectacular fall foliage colour, visit picturesque temple sites, famous and historic locations as well as enjoy seasonal festivals and other...
We’re making big plans for a sensational sunflower patch
My son, Joel, has been an enthusiastic gardener for a few years now. He has a love for echinops and eryngium, shasta daisies, Austin roses and hydrangeas.
When he was a kid, he wowed us...
Clever way to create an elegant privacy screen
Pleaching is a clever technique that involves twining together the branches of a row of closely planted trees to create a stylish, formal hedge-on-stilts.
It’s not something you see here in Canada or even in the...
Call it quirky or eccentric, but this all looks like fun to me
Quirkiness is defined as something “peculiar” or “unexpected” although I have always tended to interpret it as harmless, mostly humorous, eccentricity.
Growing up in England, I found people were invariably labelled "eccentric" for being...
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...
Do you have a plant sale coming up? Let me know.
Is your garden club having a plant sale this spring? Tell me about it and I am more than happy to provide a free forum here for your listing.
The idea came to do this...
Three’s company: Fibonacci knew all along it would add up
Who knows why things always seem to look better when they are arranged in threes.
I always tell people it has to do with Fibonacci numbers. Fibonacci was the 12th century Italian mathematician who figured...
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”...
How we’ve been preparing for our upcoming trip to India
In a few weeks, I will be going to India to lead a 14-day tour of mogul gardens as well as many of the iconic sites and other highlights of northern India followed by...
2018: What a glorious time to be alive despite the darkness
What did Darwin, Dickens, Monet, Bronte and Van Gogh all have in common?
Well, they all had the chance to listen to the music of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven and see a play by Shakespeare...
Fall foliage tour to Japan to be launched in January
In January, I will be announcing details of the long-awaited fall-foliage tour to Japan.
This will probably be a 12 day trip to Japan in November to see the fabulous fall foliage colours in major...
How to put the focus on all that is beautiful in your garden
Clipping a hole in a hedge to frame a view is one of the easiest ways to add drama and interest to a garden.
English writer Vita Sackville West had a gift for creating these...
Why getting on the right path can make all the difference
At its most basic, a path is simply a route from one place to another, sometimes the shortest distance, sometimes taking you on a more scenic journey.
But a path in a garden is also...
Serenity of green-on-green landscaping
Green-on-green is a style of planting that aims to create an elegant landscape by putting together a variety of plants with different shades and textures of green leaves.
An example would be a low boxwood...
The transforming power of arches, pergolas and tunnels
Arches, pergolas and tunnels create exciting transitions in a garden, inviting you to step into an opening that promises to transport you to a new space and new experience.
These attractive, structural features also serve...
