Opening your garden to the public takes courage. What will people think? Will they like what they see or notice only the shortcomings? Last year, after we had opened Glen Villa Art Garden to the public, I was relieved. People praised the sense of peace and tranquillity they felt in the garden. They appreciated the…
Last night I had the privilege of speaking to a group of fellow gardeners in Saint Lambert, Quebec. The talk was sponsored jointly by the horticultural society and the Friends of the Saint Lambert Library. Thanks to both groups and to the organizers, Suzanne Lebeau and Clare Gallant for a wonderful event! Speaking to a…
The Open Garden Days are coming soon and you are invited! I’m pleased to announce the Open Garden Day dates for 2023: Saturday, June 17 Saturday, July 15 Saturday, August 12 Tickets sales will begin in early April. All tickets must be booked in advance. Spaces for morning and afternoon tours are…
I rarely share links with other websites, whether garden related or not. But this morning, I read an article that I found truly thought-provoking. It is called “Head (and eyes) in the clouds” and appears on the Substack blog, Why It Works. Written by Chris Young, landscape designer and consultant and former editor of The…
Recently, I spent a very enjoyable hour speaking online with Heather Andrews, the Thoughtful Gardener. Her emphasis is on helping gardeners to create sustainable gardens that attract wildlife, support pollinators and increase vegetable yield using native plants. You can find her at Garden Thoughtfully. The website is well worth a look — she shares lots…
The Open Garden Day at Glen Villa Art Garden on June 25 was a huge success. People from the area and from far afield admired the garden, the art and the experience. A huge thank you goes out to the volunteers who worked at the registration desk, introducing the Massawippi Foundation, answering questions and explaining…
Last week I was in Austin, Texas to give one of my favourite talks, about using art in a garden. I was there as part of a series called Garden Spark, arranged by writer and gardener extraordinaire, Pam Penick. (You can find her regular blogs at www.penick.net/digging) The talk was held outdoors at Barton Springs…
Memorials are not typically found in private gardens. Occasionally you see a marker for a well-loved pet, like the one below that I came across at Glen Villa Art Garden, my garden in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. Stones like Goldie’s make a sorrowful statement about the past, but they also are aimed at the future, at…
Do you know when the phrase ‘tree hugger’ was coined? I didn’t, so I looked it up. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first known use of the term dates from 1965. Other words coined that year: jet lag, mini dress, pop art, teach-in, doo-wop and time traveller. Reading these words, I felt like a time traveller…
Last week was very unusual — after a summer of isolation, living inside a family-only bubble, two groups of visitors came to tour Glen Villa. One group came from NIP Paysage, a landscape architecture firm in Montreal whose name reflects its approach to every project it undertakes. To understand, you need to know that NIP is the…