Category Archives: Gardens

Hellebore: Shade-Lover

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Francois Lachance

Larry HodgsonMaking the Most of Shade Like manny other slow-growing perennials, hellebores are little troubled by insects and diseases, and most herbivores avoid them. Marjorie Harris Favorite Shade Plants I was astounded the first time a hellebore bloomed in my … Continue reading →

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Root Division

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Francois Lachance

Sienna Tristen“snaketongue”Hortus animarum: a new herbal for the queer heart […] I know now we all need repotting sometimes, that not every plant wants water each day, that to divide is not to conquer but to propagate & still you … Continue reading →

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Horticultural and Culinary Tautology

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Francois Lachance

Scribbled on a postcard in a series mailed out as correspondence art: If a recipe is a solution, a garden is a crime. And one of the series inverted the order: If a recipe is a crime, a garden is … Continue reading →

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Performance, on Show

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Francois Lachance

Monty Don Japanese Gardens: A Journey Ikebana, like so much of Japanese life and everything in their gardens, is a performance, and the more that the skills needed to create that performance are on show, the more they are appreciated. … Continue reading →

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Time and Gardens

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Francois Lachance

Marjorie Harris In the Garden: Thoughts on Changing Seasons She begins her book with autumn. I want this to be the richest, most satisfying time for the garden. If I draw enough sensual satisfaction from the autumn months, it will … Continue reading →

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Leave it, she said, I like it.

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Francois Lachance

Monty Don on Bunny Mellon’s Oak Spring garden from American Gardens The main terrace – and there are numerous seating areas within this part of the garden – is paved with stone quarried from the estate. Apparently, two men laboured … Continue reading →

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Judging a Soil by Its Trees

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Francois Lachance

Monty Don Japanese Gardens: A Journey In horticultural terms pines are well adapted to growing in the dominantly acidic, poor soil of Japan. It is said that the Pilgrim Fathers cut down the pine forests when they arrived in America, … Continue reading →

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Watching the Wreckage

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Francois Lachance

bees bumbling in a curtain of wisteria blossoms stripped by rain racemes exposed like fish bones hang And so for day 2971 29.01.2015

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Cercis canadensis

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Francois Lachance

View of our Eastern Redbud in its fall beauty. A friend reminded me of the joyful colour of the redbud in the fall. It is truly magnificent in the spring with its bloom of tiny pink flowers along the branches … Continue reading →

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Time, Transmission, Learning

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Francois Lachance

Dear Friend, Thank you for the long view over the Montreal skyline into the landscape beyond. I, myself, tend to capture specimens in my own or “borrowed” gardens when out on walks. My long view is temporal. For some gardens … Continue reading →

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