Saturday I went mountain biking for a few hours. The course was full of rolling hills, so I expected a bit of stiffness yesterday after a couple of steep climbs. I woke up feeling absolutely great and headed into the garden for the day. After several hours of bending and pulling and clearing and pruning, this morning I can barely move! It just goes to show how good of a workout gardening can be.
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{ Author Archive - Tara Nolan }
This morning, I heard my husband inquire from the kitchen whether I had put a pile of dirt in the backyard. Huh? “Noooo,” I replied as I leapt up to take a look. There in the middle of my backyard, all the grass had been dug up in one place and was sitting in a pile. Damn! Everything was looking so lovely and green. From what I’ve read, I'm guessing this was the work of one or more raccoons looking for grubs… how do I stop future destruction?
If it isn't squirrels, it's raccoons! Big dramatic sigh.
I was in my yard every day this weekend, but my forsythia waited until Monday to explode with its yellow blossoms. No matter, I will still have time to enjoy it for another week or so!
I wish these blooms would last at least a month longer!
The unseasonably warm temperatures worked their magic in my garden last week. They made things happen that usually take a little longer. The best surprise was discovering perennials (or biennials) coming up that I thought were annuals. I didn't realize that my parsley, sage (no rosemary) and thyme would come back, but there they were, tiny little fragrant leaves poking through the soil. I was also pleasantly surprised to see my strawberry plant bursting forth.
Shop, look and learn. That about sums up my to-do list,because I’ll be taking it all in this week at Canada Blooms. Noticed how I put ‘shop’ first? Sigh, it’s a huge problem. But I find any market of interesting finds simply irresistible. Last year I wrote a blog post in anticipation of my first visit ever. This year, I had too much to say for a blog, so I put it in an article: What I’m excited to see at Canada Blooms 2010. Are you attending this week? What are your favourite parts of Canada Blooms?
Last night my sister and I headed to Lula Lounge here in Toronto for the Grow Great Grub book launch party. Once there we enjoyed some tasty vegan treats, planted some Black Zebra tomatoes at the seed-starting table and I finally got to meet author Gayla Trail. I also chatted with fellow gardening writer Mark Disero of gardentoronto.ca and my sister was quite chuffed to win one of the raffle prizes. By the way, after only reading a few pages of the book, I was inspired to try growing some microgreens on my windowsill. Will let you know how they turn out!
My sister Hilary planting seeds.
Can't wait to taste this new-to-me tomato... love the added touch of the You Grow Girl stamp on the seed cups.
My sister's prize with her copy of the book.
Yesterday I attended a PC Home Patio & BBQ preview where we got to see what’s in store for spring. Around the showroom were vignettes showcasing the patio furniture and accessories that will soon be making their way to a Loblaw-owned store near you. The comfy furniture and some of the juicy colour palettes really made me long for spring, especially the vibrant Muskoka chair shown below. Made of painted wood, this quintessential summer chair comes in blue, green and red (as pictured below), retails for only $99.99 and folds up for easy storage.
By Jennifer Murray
If you’ve always played it safe with a dozen red roses on Valentine’s Day, this year, try something a little different.
Genevieve Bismonte, head florist at Quince Flowers in Toronto, offers some easy ways to up the ante this year.
When picking a bouquet, think colour. “We always try to push for unusual colours, like oranges, or a green bouquet, something like that,” Bismonte says. If you’re not comfortable straying that far from the traditional colour palette, pink flowers make a sweet statement on Valentine’s Day.
If you love roses, Bismonte recommends getting away from tradition. “We have these awesome roses called red intuition and pink intuition; they’re almost like a variegated rose. They’re two-toned roses and they’re lovely.”
For traditionalists who just can’t bear to part with their classic red roses, it’s all in the name: Bismonte says you just can’t beat a ‘Sexy Red’ rose.
An arrangement from Quince Flowers
I came across this sweet idea last week on the Design*Sponge website. Since alot of people are watching their waistlines these days, it’s a nice alternative to chocolate if you want to bring some cupid karma to the office for your favourite work peeps. Of course you could always add a truffle or two to the mix so your co-workers could choose between sweet and sinful. Instructions can be found here.
I received the latest ‘In Our Own Words’ newsletter from Anthropologie this afternoon, which was aptly titled ‘From bottle to blossom’ and it brightened my day! It turns out if you cut around the screw top of a plastic bottle, you can get some pretty interesting flower shapes. This discovery led to Anthropologie incorporating the nifty little blooms into their spring window concepts. I just might have to make some. Here are some pics the company posted to their Flickr account!
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