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I missed Canada Blooms

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Can you believe that I missed the biggest Horticultural event in Canada?

The “Canada Blooms” garden show happens every year in Toronto’s Convention center. It’s so big that if you really want to see all of the different landscapes that the show creators have put together, and stop at every single booth you need at least two days to see the show. Not to mention the fact that you could also attend speeches by TV gardening show celebs, master gardeners, and book authors.


You know when the show was? It was last weekend – March 7th through the 11th.

I had been keeping my eye out for news of the show but I guess I got too busy and forgot about it just when I should have been paying closer attention.

If I’d managed to attend the show I would have brought my camera so I could show you just how large the show really is. I would have also been able to show you through photos some of the new trends in gardening that are expected to be big hits this year.

I bet I would have had a whole week of articles to write about the show.

Ok, well, if you are still reading this blog next February can you remind me to go to the show next year? Believe me, with the wealth of information that I’d get at the show it’d be in your best interest to remind me to attend so that I can pass all that great info on to you, my regular readers.






Tips on how to learn more about the plants growing in your garden

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I often receive questions that ask me to explain in detail how to care for specific perennials. While I am working on having a very large index of care information for specific plants it does take time to create this information.

Now, even though I grew up in a family that gardened, I still found myself somewhat bewildered when I moved into my current home and started a garden of my own. I was growing a number of new plants – perennial and annual that I’d never worked with in the past. I too, had tons of questions.

What did I do in order to brush up on my knowledge?

Well, I went searching on the internet to find information on specific plants and gardening techniques. This was a wonderful method of getting information and my list of gardening related bookmark is huge! Unfortunately I also came across information that contradicted other information that I’d found.

That’s when I began buying gardening books. I bought a few good general gardening books, one or two about perennials and annuals, and a few that discussed gardening in my particular area, or at least in my Country. That was one of the best moves that I could have made. Now I’ve got 10+ very helpful gardening books at hand whenever I need to look something up.

Practice, experimentation, talking to other gardeners, and joining garden forums such as the Garden Web also helped quite a bit.

I observed my plants carefully in the first year on my own, taking notes occasionally as to the various plants bloom time, how often it bloomed, when it first started to grow in the spring and so on. I learned a lot just by observing my plants and caring for them as best I could.

Of course nothing pleased me more than when my mother, visiting from our home town and staying with us for a week or so, remarked as she gazed at our garden, “It’s so nice to know that one of our children inherited my green thumb”. What higher compliment could one gardener give another?

If you are just starting your garden, or still in the process of learning about new plants you might want to pick up one or all of the following books:

Perennials for Dummies by Marcia Tatroe ISBN 0764550306;

Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials: 10th Anniversary Revised and Expanded Edition by Ellen Phillips and C. Colston Burrell ISBN: 0875965709;

The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques by Tracy Disabato-Aust, Steven M. Still ISBN: 0881924148.

Enjoy your garden!

Perennials that tolerate dry partly sunny conditions

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Looking for a perennial that’s fairly easy to care for, can grow in a dry area, partly sunny and that grows tall?

There are many plants that suit this description.

I find that the description “Part Sun” can be confusing. It’s very subjective as to what “Part Sun” is after all isn’t it? In my garden I have several areas that I could call part sun, but some are brighter than others, while some have more shade than sun. This means that when you are picking a plant that has a description of “part sun” in it’s care guidelines you might have to experiment a bit and see what does well and where.

In that vein – if the area that you’d like to plant your new perennial in has about six hours of sun that includes some noon hour sun, or if it’s sunny all afternoon you’d want to chose plants that take full sun. Some plants that fit this description would be the purple coneflower, caryopteris, hyssop or baptisia.

If the area only gets sun part of the morning, or early morning and late afternoon, or gets dappled sunlight throughout the day you’ll need to pick out a more shade tolerant plant.

Old fashioned bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis), large hostas, or Aruncus would work well in a shaded area.

All of the suggested plants should tolerate drier soil. However, you should pay attention to soil preparation prior to planting. Adding organic materials such as compost, or rotted leaves will help the soil stay moist longer. An organic mulch around the plants that is several inches deep, such as shredded cedar or orchid bark, will also help keep the soil moist.

Your local garden nursery or county extension should be able to suggest specific plants that should do well in your garden based on local conditions.

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