Last year I ‘followed’ a tree, a rather pitiful corkscrew hazel, becoming less and less enamoured with it as each month passed. But I enjoyed the process of closely examining the tree and chronicling the changes month to month — and I enjoyed following other trees written about by other tree lovers from around the world. I…
I love quizzes, crossword puzzles and any kind of mind-testing game. For years, they have been a feature of our family’s New Year celebrations. So as the final blog post of 2014, why not join in the fun? I wish I had thought of the quiz idea myself but I am borrowing it — quite shamelessly…
Snow came early this year — our first snowfall was in the middle of November. The light snow added glamour to slightly tattered bergenia leaves. Sunlight shining through exposed the veins and highlighted the range of colours. The snow didn’t last, thank goodness. In fact, we had a few days of almost warm weather,…
Last week I wrote about reflections in the garden. I intended to continue the theme this week… and I will return to it. But this week I’m reflecting in a different way, looking back at where I’ve been, considering where I’m going to go. For the last few months I’ve been taking part in…
It’s been raining steadily for the last few days and most trees have lost their leaves. But not all. The linden tree at the end of the lawn was radiant one day last week, just before the rain began to fall. Colour remains, but you have to look more closely to find it. The hydrangea bushes…
Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving, a holiday that usually coincides with the best colour of the fall season. This year, colours hit their peak a week or so ago, and are still going strong. They were, and are, spectacular! Not so the colours of my poor little corkscrew hazel. I’m starting to feel sorry for the tree:…
Pruning shrubs has always been one of my favourite garden occupations. It’s satisfying to clear away the dead wood (literally) — and when the work is done, you can see what is there. It’s a practical activity as well an aesthetic one. My aim may be to shape a shrub so that it looks its…
Before and after photos are a great way of showing the effect of changes — if you have them. Which, in this case, I don’t. Last week the weather was wonderful, with warm days, bright blue skies and a touch of crispness in the air. This week, the sky is grey and the temperatures are…
It’s that time of month again, time to write about the tree I started following in March this year. My corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’) is looking about as tired as the rest of the garden — late August and early September are not prime times at Glen Villa. Something is eating the hazel…
A few posts ago, I wrote about the journey that water makes as it flows down the hill and into the lake. A few posts before that, I referred to the ‘haste makes waste’ pond that is just above the boathouse, the final spot on the water’s journey. Today I want to show how important…