Gifts from your garden or garden themed gifts will be appreciated now and throughout 2018. If you are giving a plant, think beyond the familiar but delicate poinsettia and consider the Christmas cactus that will bloom in coming years with minimal care. The ultimate low-maintenance choice would be bulbs. The amaryllis will progress from a […] Read more
Stories by Lorna Mcilroy
Plant bulbs now for early spring colour
As the trees turn shades of gold and formations of geese fly south, it is time to plant bulbs that will bring the first burst of spring colour to your garden. Bulbs are very easy to plant. They tolerate a wide range of soil but do not like wet feet. As a general rule, just […] Read more
Fruit breeders making it easy to pick from the tree
Biting into a shapely petite red Norland apple, newly picked from my tree and still warm from the sunshine, would not have been possible a century ago. Tree fruits then were too tender for the western Canadian climate, but thanks to the Morden Manitoba Research Centre, the horticulture department at the University of Saskatchewan and […] Read more
Celebrating the beauty of western Canadian rose breeders
If you have taken the time this summer to stop and smell the roses, chances are good that your rose may exist thanks to a rose breeder from Western Canada. When settlers came to Canada from Europe and other warmer climates with their roses, they found their tender cultivars could not survive the harsh prairie […] Read more
Diversity in your garden
Canada Day arrives midway into our sesquicentennial year. During the first half of this year we admired four million of the unique red and white Canada 150 tulips, bred by Dutch growers to resemble the Canada flag as well as other red and white tulips often planted in formations resembling the Canadian flag. Home gardeners […] Read more
Celebrate Mother’s Day with all things Canadian
We are hearing plenty about the Fathers of Confederation this year as we celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial. However, this weekend our mothers take centre stage as we honour them. Plants are always a welcome gift for mom, and it can have special significance as we celebrate Mother’s Day in the year of Canada150. The red and […] Read more
Fresh arrangements provide blast of colour for Easter guests
This is the time of year when green thumbs twitch. Serious gardeners will have petunias and pansies already in their third month of growth and windowsills across the Prairies hold a variety of tomato plants ready for outside planting in a month or two. For Easter, it is fun to plant wheatgrass or grains to […] Read more
Prairies are blooming: preserving heritage, natural beauty
Any drive through the Prairies will reveal familiar signage, with some version of the sign, ”Proud to Be a Community in Bloom.” CIB is a volunteer-based non-profit Canadian organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community participation and the challenge of involvement in an internationally recognized Quality of Life program. It […] Read more
August: time to enjoy the garden and learn from others
While keeping busy with late summer gardening tasks, take time to appreciate summer’s bounty before we slide into autumn. Breathe in the early morning fragrance, admire the fruits of your labour and photograph your yard so that you can repeat the good decisions next year and tweak the less successful. With the chill of autumn […] Read more
Choose right to enjoy roses year after year
Roses are top of mind for me after returning from the International Heritage Rose Conference in Beijing this spring. I will not refer to the tender roses that flourish there but instead showcase the hardy roses that survive on the Prairies without much coddling. The first step in choosing a rose should be akin to […] Read more
