CORRECTION - Library Garden Tour is 9 am-4 pm. Incorrect time posted earlier. 
Which speaks to you more – colour or fragrance? A hummingbird is inexorably drawn to colour and will investigate anything red, even inanimate objects that have no odour at all. Although bees discern colour (but not, apparently, red), scent is the guiding force and they will travel a long way for a grove of basswood trees or a field of blooming milkweed.

But many of the plants we love because they smell so wonderful are invasive aliens from Europe or Asia, aggressively displacing native species in the wild. This Don’t-Plant-This list includes Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis), species Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) and a host of non-native vine and shrub Honeysuckles.

No worries: there are much better choices for Huronia gardens - so many native plants that provide intoxicating fragrance and why should the moths, the butterflies and the bees be the only ones to know?

Here’s a run-down:Read more

My annual spring sale is set for Saturday May 31 at 1186 Flos Road 10 East and I’m quite pleased with some of the plants I have on offer. It will run from 9am to 5 pm.
People often ask for a native ground cover and this year I have a nice Foamflower with a pale leaf that's very pleasing in dry shade conditions. I also have the Wild Strawberry – if you’re in a sandy situation and need something that will spread under your pine trees, this is the one. And Wild Ginger, for a more moist shade – a patch will spread slowly, with beautiful light-capturing leaves
Nothing is more wonderful than the ferns at this time of year, their delicate spirals unfurling into fronds of soft green. I have Ostrich Fern (stately) and Sensitive Fern (sculptural).Read more

It’s been a grey couple of days leading into the long weekend, enlivened by extremely colourful birds.
The Goldfinches, of course, bright little yellow lanterns in the rain. A pack of Baltimore Orioles, attracted by some cut oranges, their colour eclipsing that of the fruit. A House Finch, richly red. And a pair of male Indigo Buntings in deep blue, shimmering, absolutely shimmering in the setting sun that decided to brighten up the end of the day.
I want to know where my hummingbirds are. Read more