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A Breakfast of African Trees

For a week I’ve been out of the loop — no internet, no email, no phone. (It’s been frustratingly wonderful.) Instead of posting blogs, I’ve been touring game parks in southern Africa, seeing amazing animals and even more amazing trees and shrubs. Here’s a sample of some of the vegetation — a tasty buffet, as…

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Following my Tree

I was hoping that on this, my second ‘follow a tree’ post, the Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’ would have shed its winter coat.  After all, the first week of April is over. But that hasn’t happened. Along with all the individuals I met up with, wandering around Montreal last week, (and wrote about here) his…

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Season’s Wrappings

In a cold climate, even the trees wear coats. A few days ago, on the 15th day of spring, this elderly woman was putting a brave face on it. Is it just me, or do others see a resemblance to Gertrude Jekyll? These little guys, though, looked so dejected I wanted to give them a…

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How (not) to design a border

A few years ago, a huge tree blew down. The tree was at the edge of the lower garden, by what we call the dragon gate —  a construction of vertical and horizontal pieces of painted wood that matches architectural elements on our house. The tree and the dragon gate marked the start of a…

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It’s spring? You could fool me.

I woke this morning to a beautiful winter’s day. The sky was blue, the sun was glinting on the newly fallen snow. Gorgeous. A glorious winter day, on the third day of spring. Except that it is meant to be spring. The vernal equinox has come and gone. Officially we are now three days into…

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