Welcome to the GVAG Blog

I took this photo about ten days ago, on a bright winter day after a fresh snowfall. More snow is falling now.

Garden Plans: I’m Dreaming Again

Now that winter has dumped several feet of snow on a garden that was almost snow-free, I’m back by the fire, metaphorically at least, dreaming of the seasons ahead.     I’m dreaming about a trail that will lead around the property. I’m considering the route it will follow and what I will call it. I know the purpose…

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Experimenting Landscapes: A Book Review

Experimenting Landscapes: Testing the Limits of the Garden is the newest book about the International Garden Festival at Métis, Québec. Full of helpful insights from  the author Emily Waugh, the book presents photos and essays analyzing some of the Festival’s experimental gardens. Focusing on a selection of gardens from the last ten years, the book suggests five categories or…

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All photos courtesy of Suresh Perara.

North

North is a direction, an idea, an experience. North as designed by the architects Suresh Perara and Julie Charbonneau of the Montreal firm PER.CH is a triumph. Using familiar materials, PER.CH turns the idea of north on its head. Literally. Thirty-nine fir trees hang upside down from a metal framework, their soft green triangles pointing down to…

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The angle of this photo tells you how hard I was working at leaning back and doing nothing.

Thinking about Gardens

After a short but enjoyable holiday in Florida, I’m back in Quebec. Moving from one weather system to another that is radically different strains the body and provokes obvious questions. Why leave ocean breezes for frozen lakes, or blue skies and green palm trees for white snow and grey skies?     It is cold here.…

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I lifted from this photo from an on-line article in the English newspaper, The Telegraph. The cut-line that ran with the photo reads "This year, look out for cacti, price wars and carrot yoghrt," says Matthew Appleby.

Do You Care about Garden Trends?

Do you pay attention to garden trends or do you think they are a pile of baloney? Every year about this time, I read an article telling me what’s in and what’s out. Hot new plants are described. I read that there’s a colour I can’t live without, or that shrubs are making a comeback. (When did they…

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