Gardensavvy

While the season of Magnolia bloom is fleeting, the buildup in the months before is one of the great pleasures of the changing seasons.   … Read More

Sun in the winter garden can be magical. The effect on ornamental grasses is particularly punchy, as this clump of Miscanthus sinensis shows.   … Read More

While there is still snow in the forecast for Toronto, some plants are getting into the spring spirit already. I spotted this witchhazel earlier this week, in mid-february.   … Read More

Another ornamental grass that can still look stunning in February sunlight is Calamagrostis arundinacea var. brachytricha.   … Read More

Ligularia is a surprise contributor to the winter garden. I have read people advocating removing the brassy-yellow daisy-like blooms, which has always seemed a little extreme to me. They are not elegant by any stretch of the imagination, but such censorship seems likely to close off garden possibilities — the possibiliy that something unexpected might strike … Continue reading “Ligularia’s many seasons”

Hellebores and ivys can look terrific through most of winter, as here. This vignette depends on the contrasting leaf sizes and shapes balanced by the similarities of colouring.   … Read More

In Toronto, late January and ealry February often bring on garden blues, especially when warm, snowless weather reveals the debris of the previous growing season before the new season is even on the horizon. In England, this is the time of hellebores, witchhazel, primulas and other harbingers of spring. No such luck here.   … Read More