Gardening with Candy Venning
Fall Gardening
By Candy Venning Hello there, remember last spring how every time you saw a crocus or snowdrop you smiled and then…wondered why you don’t have any in your yard? Yup! Time to think about spring bulbs – and if you didn’t order in advance from @flowerbulbsRus or a...
THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR FOR PLANTING IS NOW!
By Candy Venning If you aren’t seeing any perennial blooms in the garden right now – you definitely have a shortage of Asters, Hydrangeas, Coneflower, Dahlias, Canna lily, Chrysanthemums and Monkshood / Aconitum. So what’s next? Glad you asked; planting, yes planting...
CREATING A BUZZ WITH PLANTS… THE NEW POLLINATOR GARDEN
By Candy Venning Looking back over my 20 years of professional gardening it seems that many of us used to be divided between growing vegetables and fruits (homesteading) vs ‘Pretty gardens’. The pretty garden camp was further divided into perennials vs annuals and now...
A Plea for Stewardship in Hamilton
By Candy Venning Nature is not somewhere we go – it’s where we all live. It’s so easy to get disconnected – we walk along pavements and are tuned to the architecture, people, cars, music, shops and other human-centric aspects of our surroundings. It’s absolutely...
Did I Really Plant That?!
Whether you’re a fresh gardener or an expert, you’ve planted something that you came to regret – a lot. It may have been the pretty flower, the ‘friend's' recommendation or the label that lured you in but eventually it became a monster. A recent discussion on...
5 Big Backyard Strategies for Maximum, Small Yard Enjoyment.
SUBMITTED BY CANDY VENNING 1) Great access – from your house to your yard. Many of the older houses were built when outside space was more for hanging laundry or growing veggies than the spa-like oasis we expect of a garden now. Many houses often have odd access to...
10 Front Garden Design Guidelines
(followed next month, with design tips for backyards) by Candy Venning Going grassless or losing the lawn? Awesome! Skip the boxwoods; they’re not native, they’re all starting to succumb to box blight and there are other choices. Try for a 70% native mix (Liatris,...
NATIVE PLANTS FROM SEED: NEED TO KNOW
By Candy Venning shared with permission from The Halton Master Gardeners Page Winter sowing is an easy, low-cost method to grow native plants from seed that require a process called stratification*. It can be useful for propagating most native perennials/shrubs/vines....
PLANTY TO DO IN JANUARY
SUBMITTED BY CANDY VENNING Wooot woot! This stimulating time of the year is prime time to pore over the online Dahlia & seed catalogs, I mean, what else ya got goin’ on??? Dahlias have been one of my favourite cut flowers, they’re stunning in a garden, easy to...
Gardens and Other Comforts
By Candy Venning Did you find solace in the garden this summer? Was it the buzzing bees, the wind sighing across branches, the birds you had never seen before or the tide lapping in the bay? Perhaps the simple act of working with your hands in the soil, coaxing plants...
