Canada Thistle
People tend to learn Canada thistle by touch. One brush against a prickly leaf and suddenly it has a permanent place in memory. It is familiar enough that most of us assume the name explains it. It does not. Canada thistle is neither Canadian nor an ordinary weed. The plant you see above ground is […]
Tomatoes ripening
A tomato can sit on the vine for days, full sized and beautifully green, while a gardener begins to suspect betrayal. It is not a lack of sunshine. It is not necessarily a lack of fertilizer. A red tomato becomes red through a remarkably particular set of chemical changes, and hot weather can put those […]
Watering during a heat wave
A heat wave does not create one new watering rule for every garden. It makes ordinary routines less reliable. Heat can arrive as hot, dry, windy weather, as hot and humid weather with still air. Soil type, plant age, plant type, rainfall, wind and how hot the root zone becomes all change the answer. Rather […]
Nigella
Nigella has a way of appearing just when the garden needs it most. While everything else is still low and tentative, it rises in a haze of fine foliage, then threads itself through the border with soft blue flowers that seem to float in place. It doesn’t demand attention or perfect conditions. It simply grows, […]
Onions
Onions (Allium cepa) are one of the earliest vegetables gardeners plant each spring. They grow happily in cool weather and reward early attention with full, flavourful bulbs later in the season. Most gardeners grow them from small bulbs called sets, but onions can also be grown from seed or young seedlings. Each method follows a […]
Mosquito repelling plants
Every summer, garden centres promote pots of citronella grass, lavender, mint and scented geraniums as natural mosquito repellents. The idea is appealing. Arrange a few fragrant plants around the deck and mosquitoes will supposedly stay away. Unfortunately, plants do not work that way. Some contain chemicals that can repel mosquitoes when extracted, concentrated and properly […]