Helen Battersby

Thanks, John.

Toronto gardeners, take note! #canadagardens #torontogardens

#canadagardens

A tiny new butterfly visiting a neighbour’s garden, the Brown Argus (Aricia agestis). It wouldn’t flash me the other side of its wing, but these were lovely enough. That’s a perennial sweet pea, pretty in pink. 🌱 #gardensky #canadagardens #torontogardens #butterfly

Nigel Dunnett’s top tips on using flower form, not colour, when creating dynamic planting designs — Gardens Illustrated In planting design, we often consider colour, says Nigel Dunnett, but the form of flowers can be just as important

Great tips from Nigel Dunnett on using flower form in planting design. Many were mentioned in the presentation I wrote a while back on designing with see-thru plants, which is reassuring. apple.news/AYTCMnUNyTEO... #gardening #gardensky 🌱 #plantingdesign #flowersonfriday

Finally, I began to see the potential for an alphabet. Here’s an accidental F, L, X. All when I should have been helping do dishes. #artmaking #collage #natureisbeautiful

Another thought as I played with these materials: how many elements can you remove before the design falls apart? #artmaking #lessonslearnedfromdesigners #collage #natureisbeautiful

On my earlier nature collage theme, it’s fun to compare right-side-up and up-side-down. Which do you prefer, and which do you think is which, #1 or #2? #artmaking #collage #natureisbeautiful

#canadagardens #gardensky #gardens 🌱 #gardenmaintenance #gardentips

Why landscape fabric is often a bad idea for your garden — The Canadian Press Landscape fabric may sound like a neat, tidy and easy solution

Some well-deserved hate for landscape cloth from @jessicadamiano.bsky.social — every new gardener (and even some old-timers) should take note. apple.news/AcZY0D6tlTZi...

😄

Thank you, Jenny!

Thanks, Veronica.

Ephemeral collage made of small campground finds, including lichens, mosses, dried cedar scales, cones, bark, and a discarded snail shell. All arranged on a picnic table bench.

Ephemeral art using gifts from nature. Here today, scattered tomorrow. #canadagardens #canadacamps #camping #natureisbeautiful

Come over soon. We can compare petals. 😄

Plain old ones are more orangey-red than yours, I think. Are you sure you don’t have the same as me?

Deep red poppy when backlit creates a stained-glass effect.

Because I can never get enough of this poppy. ‘Beauty of Livermere.’ #bloomscrolling #canadagardens #torontogardens #gardensky #gardens 🌱 #poppylove #flowersonfriday #photography #nofilter #iphonephotography

Everyone needs ‘Beauty of Livermere’!

Adding #canadagardens — to try to link Canadian plant people together on BlueSky.

This is the out-of-the-iphone-camera red, red, red of the ‘Beauty of Livermere’ oriental poppy. I wait for its brief yet happy-making appearance every year.

The crinkled tissue-papery petals of the freshly opened flower and the inky black markings and purpley stamens just add to my joy.

My growing patch lost two buds to (probably) marauding squirrels climbing the obelisk placed to keep the stems upright. This spring in Toronto has been particularly wet, so those stems are taller than usual. Naturally, the flowers lean into the sun, so my neighbour enjoys the best view.

That red certainly draws the eye in my messy front garden.

The arrival of the ‘Beauty of Livermere’ poppies is always a thrill. So red! So crinkly! So look-at-me-everybody! #bloomscrolling #canadagardens #torontogardens #gardensky 🌱 #messygardens #photographingflowers #nofilter

#canadagardens is the tag to bring all of us Canuck gardeners and plant people together. Please spread the word.

#canadagardens is the tag to bring all of us Canuck gardeners together. Please spread the word.

Saplings of two of Steve’s favourite figs: ‘Niagara Black’, a purple fig, and ‘Dalmatie’, a green one. These are off-shoots from Steve’s own trees. I’m gardening in Canadian Zone 6b (USDA Zone 5b-ish). He over-winters some in a cool indoor space, and some lie down under straw bales. Fingers crossed for me!

Steve Biggs in his garden with s few of his lemon trees.

The front cover of Steve’s award-winning book, Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t. Buy it from his website foodgardenlife.com

This old dog in Toronto is trying the new trick of growing figs in a cold climate. All thanks to the guidance of Steve Biggs, who literally wrote the book on it! On lemons and (soon) olives, too. Visit: foodgardenlife.com #canadagardens #gardensky 🌱 #edibleplants #growingfruit

You know, I almost used that no-such-word but changed my mind at the last minute. Perhaps for your very reason.

Please send tomatoes!

Sudbury, Ont., seed producer helping expand national seed production through new partnership | CBC News Northern Wildflowers in the Sudbury, Ont., community of Lively is helping with Canada's national re-greening efforts by working to expand national seed production. The company is one of 13 recipients ...

A seed company in the Sudbury, Ont., community of Lively is helping with Canada's national re-greening efforts by working to expand national seed production.

Northern Wildflowers produces flower, grass, shrub, and tree seeds for home gardening #Ontario #Canada

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Wonderful! Sharing. #canadagardens #gardensky #gardening 🌱

Closeup of the small, multipetalled flowers of this Eastern redbud nativar.

Redbud flowers emerge before the foliage. But when the heart-shaped leaves do begin to come out, as here, they make a handsome contrast.

My first-ever sighting of a double redbud, possibly Cercis canadensis ‘Pink Pom Poms.’ Very showy! But I wonder how it is as a nectar source. Opinions? #bloomscrolling #nativars #gardensky 🌱 #canadagardens #torontogardens #onmywalktoday #floweringtrees

That, too!

An aging purple tulip with blue and white markings, yellow stamens and an acid-green pistil. Sometimes I love the look of a tulip near the end of its flowering period, like this one. The petals take on fascinating sculptural shapes.

The wabi-sabi beauty of a frizzled tulip. #bloomscrolling #canadagardens #torontogardens #springgarden #bulbs #tulips #photography #photographingflowers