When you’re tearing your hair out looking for something unique to check off another person on your gift list, always peruse Etsy. It’s my go-to at this time of year. Here are some of the things I’ve found for gardeners… and one or two I’m hoping someone will get me! Gardener's gift basket Who isn’t a sucker for a basket of things? This one is really good because it contains all things any gardener wants. A good, heavy-duty apron with pockets. A cool little vegan leather notebook. Plant ID markers. And you can get it customized with the name or your recipient! Outdoor art prints Thes ..read more

The Garden Tourism Awards are presented to organizations and individuals who have distinguished themselves in the development and promotion of garden experiences as tourism attractions and motivators. The awards are proudly organized by the Canadian Garden Council with recipients being selected by a jury and sponsored by Enterprise Canada in the International Garden Tourism Conference 2023. In the spirit of highlighting Canada’s most dynamic garden experiences, here are the 2023 winners of the ‘Top 10 Canadian Gardens Worth Travelling For’ Awards”. (in alphabetical ..read more

Pegasus Media, publisher of Canada’s Local Gardener magazine, is an Amazon associate and earns commission on qualifying purchases. Here are a few things on my wish list this Christmas. A better way to pick up leaves. I love raking leaves in the fall—for the first hour, anyhow. What I hate is trying to get them into yard waste bags. I think it’s time to get me a pair of these Releaf Leaf Scoops. Let my light shine. I’m okay with using my little light strips for starting a few seeds, but I’d like to try growing some legit cucumbers inside over the winter. Step one is to get the right light ..read more

Click above to pick the Best Gifts for Gardeners If you long for colour outdoors in the winter garden, don’t despair. Study your garden over the next few months from the comfort of a window seat and resolve to add some winter interest to the bare patches when the ground is warm and workable this spring. A shrub that produces berries will bring both colour and birds. Even the hardiest evergreen hollies can be a risk in an exposed location, but the native holly known as winterberry, which loses its leaves, produces big bunches of red berries. Viburnums and chokeberry are other berry-laden shrubs ..read more

Story & photos by Dorothy Dobbie In my garden, under the shade of a young green ash, a garden is taking shape. There is room here for hostas which are still young and tender. Not yet fully grown, their leaves will not yet overlap as they will one day when the garden matures. Hostas emerge late in the spring garden and before they do, I plan to have a stunning display of daffodils, blue grape hyacinth and clumps of early tulips, all of which will be pretty much finished by the time the leaves come out on the tree above. When that happens and shade creeps into the garden, the miracle tha ..read more

Coreopsis pleases everyone! People love it for its sunny, long-lasting blooms. Birds love it for its seeds and butterflies, and other pollinators enjoy its tasty nectar. Coreopsis is the state flower of both Mississippi and Florida. You will see it along many Florida roads and highways as Floridians use it as part of their beautification program.  It is hard to imagine a happier flower than coreopsis. These reliable, long-blooming, daisy-like plants produce blooms from early summer right through till fall. Not only are the flowers bright and cheery, but they will also invite many other de ..read more

By Tania Moffat Plants transform our living spaces indoors and out, but those that are invited into our homes do more for us than we do for them. The fact that they absorb the carbon dioxide we eliminate and produce, through photosynthesis, the oxygen we breathe in, make us well-suited roommates.  Much research has been done on the benefits of keeping houseplants. Studies show plants make you happy and improve your mood, give you a sense of well-being, reduce stress, anxiety and depression, enhance cognitive function and boost creativity. Plants enhance our quality of life. Common housep ..read more

Story & photos /Dorothy Dobbie When we think plants along with soft and fuzzy or velvety leaves, Lamb’s ear springs to mind, but these child charmers are not the only plants that put on a furry front. A number of succulents do the same and so do notorious weeds such as woolly mullein. Not to be outdone, the carpeting thyme, aptly named woolly thyme, is a mat of—well, woolly texture. There is even a velvety purple plant called purple velvet plant (Gynura aurantiaca) that will reward your craving for a sensual garden experience. Fuzzy plants are generally drought tolerant, their hairy leaves ..read more

    1. The bitter truth about rhubarb. Rhubarb lovers may lament it and disagree, but the truth is that rhubarb is not a fruit. Rhubarb is a vegetable – this, in spite of a 1947 ruling by a U.S. court that declared it a fruit in a dispute of import duties. 2. Speaking of bitter ... Rhubarb contains oxalic acid, which accounts for its bitterness. Oxalic acid is poison in the right quantities. Rhubarb leaves are considered very toxic, but you would have to eat 5 kg of the stuff to kill a 140-pound person. Oxalic acid will also scour an aluminum pot to shiny perfection meaning ..read more