This  is my latest beauty, not a xeriscape plant of course.  It’s Acer shirasawnum ‘Moonrise’ and the  touches of red on the palmate leaves are echoed in the red tulips which I’d forgotten I’d planted last fall. Nature the great designer, serendipity for the rest of us.

In this Saturday’s Globe I’ve got the cover story on Xeriscape Gardens. It’s a terrific take out and I’m thrilled with the design.

Sunday morning I’ll be on CBC’s Fresh Air with Karen Gordon talking about the pitfalls of trendy gardening.  Spring has indeed sprung.

On Wed. May 22 I will be giving a talk called “Let’s Stop Making Ugly Gardens” for the Whitby in Bloom Series:   7:30 p.m. at  Brooklin United Church, 18 Cassels Road East. Brooklin.  Come and say hello.

It’s astounding the difference a day or two makes at this time of year. It’s like having a teenage kid who has a growth spurt: they are crashing and bashing about.

I had given up in despair but this is the difference a couple of days has made:

Flood and mess to:

masses of bulbs, in the background there’s a Corylopis pauciflora  that’s going to bloom its head off like crazy this year.

It’s still muddy but I don’t care. With all the moisture some of the moisture  is being returned to the water table. It’s was dead dry back there last year.

It’s a good time  winkle out all those weeds and also and excellent time to learn how to identify them.  The following is a quote from Scott’s:

There are two main types of weeds: broadleaf and grassy. Or, you may hear them referred to as monocots (broadleaf) and dicots (grassy). An example of a broadleaf weed would be a dandelion and an example of a grassy weed would be crabgrass. Each type has certain control methods that should be followed to keep them out of an established lawn.

BROADLEAF WEEDS
Basically, any plant growing in the lawn that does not resemble grass is a broadleaf weed. Examples of broadleaf weeds are dandelions and thistle.

A few weeds can be pulled up by hand, but many will grow right back because of their deep tap root. It may appear that the entire weed was pulled out, but the tap root simply breaks and what is left in the soil will just sprout new weed growth above the soil.

The best defense against weeds is a thick lawn that is properly cared for and never scalped by mowing. A thick lawn will choke out weeds and never allow them a place to establish in the lawn. This can be established by mowing your lawn high and giving it proper feedings so that it grows thick and fills in bare spots.

GRASSY WEEDS
Grassy weeds are tough, aggressive plants that thrive on stressed areas of your yard. Dried out lawns, thin patches, sun-scorched areas are inviting spots for grassy weeds. Grassy weeds are often invasive species and spread thousands of seed during their lifespan. The common ones you’ll see in lawns are crabgrass, goosegrass, and dallisgrass.

Scotts EcoSense® Weed B Gon® gets right inside the cell structure of weeds, which causes them to dry up, turn black, shrivel and die, without harming the rest of your lawn.

End of quote:  I’ve never tried any weed killer because all my gardening is organic. But if you are panicked, try it in a small dose to see if it works for you and doesn’t leave an unsightly hole.

Right now I’m just grateful that the gardening season has started again.  And I’ll be back in the Globe and Mail again this year. And we have some wonderful old client and great new clients who want us to work on their gardens.  Yeaaa for spring.

It’s an astounding day: full of sun and more people around than usual because it’s the beginning of the long weekend here: Monday is Presidents’ Day. More people on the beach than we’ve seen since we got here. That means a few dozen today and maybe more tomorrow.
It’s always amazing here: we cook and eat to the sound of the waves rolling in down below. Every evening there is a magnificent sunset which I can post on FaceBook but apparently not on here. And each evening a young surfer bobs around on the waves until the sun sets and he goes off home until tomorrow.
I love the sameness, yet difference of light and the smells that linger in the air through each long day. From the sun rising on the mountains behind us to the sunset skimming across the water in front. we are incredibly lucky to have found this bit of paradise.
It’s like being in a small European town: everyone says “Good day” in one way or another and we have met people on the street who know about our books or have just seen us around. It’s a kind of warmth we have in our own neighbourhood at home.
We’ve even been to a cocktail party or two. And down here that means a banquet of food as well as lots of wine and talk. The big difference is that we all stand about watching the sun go down. A few days ago we were looking for a flash of green. But it won’t happen until there’s an atmospheric conversion a flash of green comes like an explosion when the water is warmer than the air, or vice versa. So we learned at the cocktail party.
Doesn’t matter we wait for it each evening and it becomes a Caneletto out there or a wild impressionistic painting. It is full of glory

We are here in what can only be described as Paradise: on the ocean, with a sandy beach stretching as far as the eye can see in either direction. The dolphins were out in full force today and the occasional pelican swooped in to peer around.

It’s perfect, or is it? There are no more shells at least not this week. It seems only a few years ago when big storms as we had yesterday lashed these shores, the ocean would give up its treasures to all of those trawling for them on the beach. Today is a very low tide and yet there are no shells, few stones. I swear in the past you’d see people dragging bags of them away to edge, mulch and otherwise adorn their gardens.
I asked a beach volunteer and she thought there was little being fetched up from the sea but even if you could find stones and shells, you can’t take them away anymore. I wonder if the people marching up and down know this.

The sunsets are astounding. But the wonders never cease. What I have seen this week:
A young man walking a wire set up between two palm trees
A chap practising his new equipment for hang gliding. All he needs is a cliff he said.
A surfer with a sail working it back and forth in the wild winds with dophins mucking about all around.
It’s a wondrous place with much more to come maybe a plant or two.

I’ve now had enough time to digest the amazing trip to Italy we took this past year. The Tuscan Valley is magnificent of course but I had never seen it in early autumn and it was, as always, a huge revelation.  One revelation was: don’t take a new camera on a trip if you don’t know how to use it. I messed up with my shots and barely have any record of this trip except what’s in my head.

This is Linda Clay and me at Ninfa one of the truly magnificent gardens on a trip of amazing gardens and sights. You can see we’re pretty happy.

That orange bag on my shoulder was bought in Cortona and I learned another thing on this trip:  if you see something in Italy, buy it immediately. It will not be available in the next town.  These things are very regional, very personal in many cases to the people selling. them. I should have bought all the other colours but no….couldn’t make up my mind how spend the very little I wanted to spend.

In Pienze the next town we stayed in, my good old MBT sandals fell apart making them unwalkable. I was guided to a shoemaker who pointed out all the stuff he was working on. I tried to explain my problem (no mutual language here except hands) and he had them ready for me the next day. Cost:  a mind boggling seven euros. I almost threw my arms around him but settled with handshakes and smiles.

What a country. Everywhere we went we found people incredibly receptive and kind. The food of course is non-pareil and we had magnificent meals at the home of Guiseppe, Sarah and Elise Sesti. We tasted their wines, olive oil and nose-dived into masses of  local charcouterie and bread. Then a great tour of Sarah’s garden.  I get to love them more on each visit.

Another unforgettable meal:  at Susan Mackenna Grants agrotourismo farm. Everything we had in an 8-course meal came from the farm.  Somewhere I have a picture of me about to collapse with joy at the food, the wine and the energetic and lovely talk of my table mates.

The people on this trip were so much fun. And I’ve become what will be long term friends with a few since them. We’ve even had a celebratory gathering (tea which  meant some very nice wine and lots of food) and a catch up on each other’s pix (mine euyuck), passing around of prints (thank you thank you) and plans to meet again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BUIY4IO7GVk <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=BUIY4IO7GVk>

This year we’re going to the Amalfi Coast and you can read about it by clicking on the button in the header.  Love to see you there  Marjorie

It snowed. Blessed snow. It covers the plants that need protection, weighing some down and I have to whack away with a broom to release them from the crushing weight. Here’s my HAPPY NEW YEAR from my garden to yours.

THE TABLE IS SET WAITING FOR THE FAMILY

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.  HAVE THE BEST DAY POSSIBLE

XXXMARJORIE

I was on CBC’s Fresh Air with Karen Gordon this morning and here’s what we discussed:

* Gardener’s Handscrub from Crabtree & Evelyn which you can find at any decent dept. store.  The scrub makes your hands feel soft as well as clean. Around $20

* O’Keefe’s Working Hands  hand cream and Healthy Feet foot cream. Not oily, Feels good. Can find at a big box hardware chain $8 or at Leevalley.com

* Trowel from Sophie Conran (daughter of Terance Conran who began the great design revolution in England.  I got mine at www.rittenhouse.ca which carries the whole line. I tell ya they are stunning, gorgeous and so is the packaging.   Great egonomics and very well made. $30 and up. I can remember when an English garden tool of this quality would cost three times as much.  They last forever if my tools are any indication.

* Harrowsmiths Truly Canadian Almanac 2013. Like old Farmer’s Almanac, Weather predictions plus lots of neat essays including one by me.  And if you want to know about winter 2013:  well bleak but milder.  It’s my totally fave bathroom book. And for $6 you can learn a lot more than you need to know about cluster flies.

* get gift certificates of your own making from the following great places:

www.gardenimport.com This photograph is of a new clematis called ‘Princess Kate’ it’s a beauty and you’ll find incredible stuff on their web site. Will mail.

www.rittenhouse.ca is where I got the Sophie Conran tools but they have a lot of good stuff for gardeners. Excellent service.

www.botanus.com   for plants bulbs

www.gardensplus.ca  for fascinating new plants which they will mail out.

www.leevalley.com lots of garden tschockes

www.wildflowerfarm.cm has mass of magnificent native plant seeds. You need every one from your area.

Here are some well-written books which would make anyone happy to read:

Liz Primeau’s  In Pursuit Of Garlic, Greystone $16.95 is lovely combination of memoir, history and lots of practical advice about garlic.

Sonia Day.  The Untamed Garden: a Revealing Look at our Love Affair with Plants.  $26. It’s funny and beautifully designed.  Won the Garden Writers of America Gold Award and fully deserved it.

Year-round Vegetable Gardening  Niki Jabour  it is bar-none my favourite vegetable book. Really informative and there a vidoe on the Globe and Mail’s on-line videos (tons of them on there). So have a look at it. Niki’s book  is $18 or $20 depending on where you find it.

> Canadian  Biodiversity Treasure Official Plant Emblems of Canada. It’s a big book, and filled with wonderful information about our native plants (and some not so native). I like the anecdotal style, good photos and deep information about some of our finest plants. $50  From publications.gc.ca/site/eng/393571/publication.html

* Toronto Botanical Gardens membership—I’m not big on getting an announcement saying a donation has been made in your name….I actually like getting something which is what you can do my buying a membership at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. For $65 you can buy a family membership and help support one of the finest horticultural institutions in the country.  They also have a great shop filled with great items.

* Your corner store has lots of things for the gardener. I bought some of those miniature evergreens (and evergrold) to decorate the table a few years ago and it turned into a bonanaza. I planted one of the dward blue junipers I used once the soil thawed out. It’s now about 9 feet tall and still a beauty. Now there’s a gift for a gardener.

* Check out your  local florist,. Ask if they have any interesting plants they’re going to rip apart. You might find a really interesting fern that a gardener will dote on.

* Check out  your local nursery this weekend—clear out time on decorations.  Remember just stick a ribbon on a bag of compost and a gardener like me whom you think  has everything and you will get a big blessing. I was over at Fiesta Gardens a few days ago and they are going to sell all their Christmas stuff off for $2 on Sunday. So it’s worth the trip to 200 Christie Street if you’re in Toronto.

* Of course here’s always my book THRIFTY GARDENING FROM THE GROUND UP  and for that someone special on your list  COME WITH ME TO THE AMALFI COAST NEXT AUTUMN. READ ABOUT IT BY CLICKING ON THE HEADER ABOVE.

And if you go get a poinsettia remember the following:

Place in a room where there is bright natural light but not where the sun

will shine directly on the plant.

Keep the plant out of drafts and away from cats and kids (poisonous).  Water

thoroughly but don’t overwater.

The bright colour of the bracts (the red things) will remain longer if

temperatures do not exceed 22C.

Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and I promise to be a better blogger in what’s going to be a great NEW YEAR.

It is seriously odd, discombobulating to be in a city so besieged  by problems that is, at the same time, so very normal. I suspect this is being a tourist.  We carry on in a perfectly ordinary touristy way by going the museums and then we come home and see the news of the destruction, its affect on people so devastating that it is beyond comprehension.  It’s very difficult to make sense of anything.   How will people take the warnings of climate change when their lives are in ruins.

Today the saddest most glorious sight was the snow so heavy on leaves of ginkgo trees and to see them splayed on the ground.  No camera so no picture.  We went on the M4 bus for over 100 blocks and saw so much of the city covered in snow. One guy  on the bus was obviously a street artist. The driver said when he got off equipment loaded into his  backpack.   “Now don’t get caught.” I regretted not talking to him. He was a professional off to work or to mess up a building site depending on your point of view.

We got off  the bus at the Metropolitan to a mass of people. Were they really all speaking French?  You learn many things by travelling. One is about what you wear. Today it was pretty much everything I’d packed because it was bloody cold. I said “You must getting bored with my clothes, I am alternating  two tops.”

“You always look great.” my adorable husband said.  So why did I bother with all that other stuff?

At the Metropolitan Musem  we were  gobsmacked by Bernini’s terra cotta maquettes.  And got waylaid by the Carreveggios en route to the Warhol exhibit. Somehow we never made it.

It’s another and time is closing in. The sun is out today, the snow almost gone at sunrise. And I can feel the humming of a city that is calling me. We will try for The Cloisters again. If this is a trip to see old friends in old museums, I want to see the tapestries here once more.  But mostly I’d like to wander around and among New Yorkers going about the business of living among greatness.

Friends seem to think it’s odd to come to New York when the stories of hurricane damage are devastating  But we’d made plans so long ago  that there seemed no question about coming.

We arrived at a deserted Newark airport and the customs guys said “Thanks for showing your support for us.”  And that started days of unfailing kindness and humor.   We are near The Cloisters so it’s a whole new experience for both of us. We’ve learned the subway system (with lots of help) and we’ve managed to walk on The HighLine the monumental new park that threads it’s elevated way through area bounded by 34th and 14 th. The first people we saw were from Toronto and the rest were dozens and dozens of French tourists (we know because we kept asking them for directions).  They had been at the MOMA the day before and seemed to be everywhere. For a brief moment it felt  like Paris. They are great tablemates in cafes because they talk so quietly.

People up on the Heights feel guilty because the storm left them relatively untouched  and, as ever, generous. When we were waiting for a bus without a pass or tickets, one lovely man said “I’ve been lucky this week—I’ ll swipe you.” And he not only paid our fare, he lead us to the subway where we could buy a pass.  With the subway service changed, cancelled, more people  gave us info on how to get around.  So we’ve been busily eating in the restaurants we can afford  and carrying on normally.  Until today.

The devastation in some parts of the city is terrible but we can’t see it because the trains etc don’t go that far. And New Yorkers go about their business close to usual so it is hard not to emulate them.  A big call went out more much needed under garments and I’m sure people here flooded New Jersey with them.We knew Obama won because we could hear shouting in the streets. Now a storm is about to hit so we decided to stick close to home base and go to the Cloister.  We arrived at the park just as they were taping it off.   All parks are closed.

Back to base and read and wait and  go out to lunch around the corner,  Yes it’s an odd time to be inNYC but what an exhilarating place no matter what.  Now here comes the rain and the snow.