Hosta, pachysandra, ferns and sweet woodruff combine to form a tapestry of ground covers. In any garden, but especially a woodland or shade garden, ground covers need to be a vital part of the design plan. Without them, the forest floor either looks too bare or it begins to form its own ground cover based on whatever weeds are dominant in the area. A thick ground cover not only shades and protects the soil of the garden floor, it creates a beautiful green backdrop for other, more showy plants, to shine. Make ground covers the star of the show But what if the ground covers themselves were the ..read more

Digital paintings of my best garden buddy Holly who needed a pacemaker installed more than three years ago. She was a very, very good girl Let me introduce you to my best friend, Holly. The dog with a heart so big she needed a pacemaker. Actually, make that two pacemakers. The first pacemaker’s battery began to run out after serving her well for almost 4 years, so she had to have a second one installed. We had to say goodbye to Holly Sunday, April 28th, 2024. It was one of the hardest things my wife and I ever had to do. Sixteen years as a loving part of our family, makes saying goodbye almos ..read more

Rock steps take visitors down into the former quarry at the Royal Botanical’s rock garden providing inspiration and ideas for gardeners. Three tips to inspire creativity in your home garden A light rain kept the the public away and left me alone in a spectacular sunken rock garden to explore its magnificent beauty and draw inspiration from the plants and garden design. The result was not only inspirational, at times it was almost spiritual. The spiritual component was, at least in part, due to the intense feelings I was experiencing from having to say goodbye to my 16-year-old dog, Holly, jus ..read more

These Cherry trees in blossom at a nearby public garden were taken in soft, overcast morning light with my Fujifim X10. I thought including the empty bench was an important element of the scene and helped to ground the image. Five tips to photograph the essence of these beautiful trees It’s early spring and the Cherry tree blossoms are emerging along with tourists looking to capture the ultimate selfie. I’m here in our local botanical garden with my tripod and a couple of cameras looking to document the cherry trees in all their beauty. The early morning light is at its best and most of the ..read more

A CCD, feature-rich point and shoot that captures beautiful garden images The Pentax I-10 might be a tiny camera, but its classical vintage styling and feature-packed offerings make it the perfect carry-around camera for beginner photographers looking for a capable camera while sporting a very real cool factor. Available in classic black and stylish white, the 14-year-old digital point-and-shoot camera from Pentax’s Optio line, boasts a built-in 5X, 28-140mm lens, along with a long list of shooting modes and interesting filter effects including a BW setting, toy camera, several portrait and ma ..read more

Our gardens need to welcome all critters big and small Let’s face it, rabbits, like deer, are a reality in the woodland garden. I’ve never had a “problem” with rabbits. Maybe it’s the fact that a garden in a natural state ensures that nothing really gets out of control. Sure, rabbits have dined on my plants and the bark of trees in winter, but I’ve never felt a need to do anything about them and, quite frankly, never would. I think the key to dealing with rabbits and deer and any other garden nibbler is to plant enough to satisfy the needs of both the gardener and the wildlife that uses our ga ..read more

It’s hard to resist a scene like this downed birch tree literally surrounded by thousands of trilliums along Trillium Trail. Memories of thousands of trilliums covering the forest floor Trilliums were one of the first ephemeral wildflowers that caught my attention on the forest floor. At the time, we lived near a Provincial Park that included an area known as the Trillium Trail. I spent many summer evenings strolling along Trillium Trail looking for the perfect composition among the hundreds of thousands of trilliums. As far as the eye could see were trilliums. I’ve not been back in a long ti ..read more

Try these tips to create stunning hanging baskets Planting a hanging basket is one of the more creative and satisfying gardening projects in spring. It can be as simple as planting a single, fast- growing plant like a Proven Winners’ Supertunia in a small hanging basket, or as complicated as adding a host of plants including numerous fillers, spillers and thrillers that combine to create a breathtaking hanging basket. In our primarily shaded woodland garden, six hanging baskets play a vital role in providing much-needed colour in the garden. In fact, the combination of hanging baskets and cont ..read more

Are birch trees good for wildlife? No matter how much I love dogwoods, it’s the birch trees that take centre stage in our woodland garden. Three large clumps of White Birch create the main focal point in the backyard, whether you’re outside on the patio or looking out the bay window from the kitchen/dining room. I decided to plant the trees quite close to the house directly in front of the windows so we could experience everything they bring to the garden winter, summer, spring and fall. The mini birch grove creates a secluded spot surrounding a dry river bed and small bubbling rock. For more ..read more

Simple scanner converts slides and negatives to digital If you’re like me and have boxes or binders full of old slides and negatives collecting dust in the basement, you might be thinking of the best way to turn them into digital images. A quick look on Amazon, Ebay or one of the many on-line photography sites turns up a host of options from flat-bed scanners that include slide and negative attachments, to small, stand-alone scanners that store the scanned images directly on to an SD card, eliminating the need for hooking into a computer to scan the images. This image, originally shot on slid ..read more