Year One of the LoMow Lawn Project Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized.(Allan M. Armitage - professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia) After five decades or more of mowing the lawns around each of the houses [...]
As luck would have it ... This Thanksgiving Monday it was cool and showery looking out of the window, as one does, I was struck by the combination of birch tree trunks and golden birch leaves forming a backdrop to a berry-rich rowan tree that has begun to lose it's leaves and thereby [...]
Thanksgiving Sunday 2019 A lot of summer is too hot while winters, delightfully cold as they are, are too long (they'd be fine if we could just skip the month of March). Meanwhile this part of the world is famed for its glorious autumn/fall colours which are just beginning to reach their peak [...]
This has been a busy couple of weeks, culminating today with the planting of a new community orchard in our little town of Baie-D'Urfé. This is NOT me ... Those of you who knew our garden in England 21+ years ago will remember that we had lots of fruit trees, bees [...]
Glowing at Twilight One of the pleasures of a garden like ours is that, especially at this time year when summer is sliding into autumn/fall, is sitting with a restorative drink and watching the seasonal flowers begin to positively "glow" as twilight takes over. It would be an unwanted cliché to suggest this [...]
About a week into September, days are a little cooler and the colours are moving towards warm yellows and reds ... some pictures for you to enjoy as text is in short supply this week.
Japanese Beetles in the Ascendency Recently we wrote about the welcome appearance this summer of the eggs of parasitic Tachnid flies on the bodies of Japanese Beetles in the garden and we have been looking forward to a decline in beetle numbers as a consequence. No such luck. For the past four years, [...]
The Golden Rod was alive with insects Tuesday morning in the warm sun - here are four that posed for their portraits. There were also a number of Hover Flies which never paused long enough to be immortalised. Clearly a Bumble Bee and I think most likely Bombus impatiens (Common Eastern Bumble Bee) [...]
A Garden Month (to 24 Aug 2019) Pictures follow Even back in late July some end-of-summery things were already being noticed such as a small group of Waxwings taking berries from the Dogwood bushes on a hot and windy day … the sort of day on which it is perfect for Japanese Beetles [...]
A little Sunday morning magicThis tiny bird appeared to accompany the Sunday morning cup of tea … the red flowers are Cuphea (Mexican cigar plant) and have proved to be the best attractor of Hummingbirds we have ever grown. They are not hardy, but plant some where you can nsee them next summer and [...]