Beginner Gardening Tips Blog

The shopping made me leave Canada Blooms—but only because my arms wouldn’t let me carry anything else! My first purchase was… jam! I’d tried this delicious Pears & Pansies jam that my mom bought at The Culinarium. The woman who makes these unexpected combinations, like mixing pears with pansies, had a booth, From These Roots. I had to try three more flavours. I bought Apricot HoneySuckle, Black Currant & Wild Violet and Mango Jalapeno.

Next a stunning bunch of violets caught my eye, so I grabbed one in bright crimson.

At Your Creations Hostas and Perennials, I was eyeing the hellebores when I saw these huge hibiscus rhizomes. Hibiscus is one of my favourite flowers, so, despite its tropical provenance, I’m going to try my luck at growing one this summer.

At Tropical Expressions, a bonsai retailer, I saw these small, spiky and hairy sprigs. They were in a basket—no dirt, no water. Called Tillandsia—or air plants—these little specimens are epiphytes, meaning they can be placed on any surface and will grow there without needing soil to take root. All they need is to be misted with water a couple of times a week—or so I was told. My little guy is currently on my kitchen windowsill. I will try really hard to keep him alive with his minimum care requirements.

My last purchase was a little stone cabbage for my garden from this great booth that has a store in the Eglinton Town Centre in Scarborough. I can’t wait to put it outside amongst my plants! With that weighing down my bags along with some of the literature I picked up from various booths and Mark Cullen’s new book, The Canadian Garden Primer: An Organic Approach, which I had received after hearing Mark speak at the press event, it was time to head home.

I could have kept going, but this Budding Gardener is on a budget!

Yesterday I checked out Canada Blooms for the first time–what a delight! Between the inspiring gardens, the informative and interesting seminars and the shopping, I can’t decide what I liked best. More to come on my blooming adventures, but I’ll leave you with a photo of one of my favourite gardens. Designed by Be-Leaf Landscape Design, this sweet little space was whimsical and inspiring and totally my style! I love how they’ve brought life to a normal stone patio by creating a narrow ring of space to add a pop of colour and greenery.

Today we launched an exciting new contest at CanadianGardening.com. If you did a little landscaping magic to your yard this summer or transformed a boring patch of dirt into brilliant blooms, then you can enter your before and after photos to win! And if you focused a little more on the inside, no problem! We’d love to see your renovation pictures, too! First and second prize include a fabulous laundry pair from Maytag.

The entries with the most votes win, so encourage your family, friends and co-workers to vote for your photos.

I look forward to seeing all the inspiring pics from our readers!