She never did. Crammed with nudges and winks, this educational piece was originally published in the May 2022 issue of Cross Pollination, the newsletter of the Halton Region Master Gardeners. By Bev Wagar, Halton Master Gardener Carrot had been growing beside Tomato for only a few weeks when she realized she didn’t like the guy. READ MORE
Blog
Garden Activism—Are You at Risk?
This tongue-in-cheek article was originally published in the April 2022 issue of Cross Pollination, the newsletter of the Halton Region Master Gardeners. Does your love of gardening come with strong opinions, ideas that sometimes bolt from the brain and barge headlong into the world? When thoughts and convictions grow mouths and legs, do be wary—it READ MORE
Using an Instant Pot to sterilize triple mix
Today (Aprl 10, 2022) I did a kitchen experiment to see if I could use our Instant Pot to sterilize triple mix.The reason for the desire to heat-treat the mix is the risk of Jumping Worms (Amynthas ssp.) an invasive species that has recently been reported in my city of Hamilton (Ontario Canada). Although the READ MORE
A Gardener’s Guide to Weather Prediction
It’s about time, place—and data. by Beverley Wagar, Halton Master Gardener (This article was originally published on April 8, 2022, on the blog of the Halton Region Master Gardeners) The end of March taught us, yet again, that climate change has turned the words “normal weather” into a quaint reminder of the good-ol-days—before CO2 levels READ MORE
Team Work
by Bev Wagar Knotweed’s ruthlessness calls for a special kind of response from Hort Court. I wrote “Team Work” in early 2022, after a long break from the Hort Court series. No longer constrained by word counts (The Point is now digital only and I no longer contribute a gardening column), this one is much READ MORE
Campanulastrum americana ID
Photos below are Campanulastrum americana / Tall Bellflower, a Carolinian native listed as “common” in Hamilton (Ontario) area in Michael Oldham’s ‘List of the Vascular Plants of Ontario’s Carolinian Zone (Ecoregion 7E)’ (link opens in new tab) . Formerly known as Campanula americana and recently assigned its own genus Campanulastrum, this is an unusual bellflower, READ MORE
A thriving support system for birds, bugs and butterflies
For Bev Wagar, it’s a cross between a cottage garden, a collector’s garden, and a native plant garden, writes Cathy Renwald.(This article appeared in the July 2 edition of the Hamilton Spectator. Copyright: Hamilton Spectator) We are on a lazy meander in Bev Wagar’s garden. A place where an angelica plant is tall enough to READ MORE
Killing stuff in the garden
Ah Facebook. You’re a sputtering font of knowledge. A murky, shallow pool of occasional wisdom. Especially this time of year, in mid-June, when gardens really start to look like gardens and life busts out all over the place. I’m an admin for the Master Gardeners of Ontario Facebook group and also a fairly regular visitor READ MORE
Racketeer
by Bev Wagar Ditch Lily’s racket lands him in court–again. Will a backroom deal and two pretty gals save him this time? “Racketeer” is sixth in my “Hort Court” series. These stories were originally printed in The Point (the community newspaper of the Crown Point neighbourhood in East Hamilton, Ontario) in my regular gardening column READ MORE
The Amnesia Defense
by Bev Wagar Vinca cannot remember how he ended up in the forest. Or can he? “The Amnesia Defense” is fifth in my Hort Court series. These stories were originally printed in The Point (the community newspaper of the Crown Point neighbourhood in East Hamilton, Ontario) in my regular gardening column “Lovin’ Your Garden.” Periwinkle READ MORE