Gardenig in Canada. Tips & Guides

Happy Friday, GPODers!

Years ago, I was introduced to honeyberries (known to me as haskap berries) via a delicious jam from the province of Saskatchewan. Little did I know back then that growing honeberries is pretty easy. Though it’s not a fruit commonly known in North America, the shrubs thrive in most of the U.S. and Canada—even Alaska—and make a beautiful garden addition. Once established, the plants can produce for 30 years or more. With a flavor that can be described as a cross between a blueberry and a raspberry—with a bit of a zing—honeyberries are versatil

If you love rustic or country home decor but are living in more of a modern space, there's no need to alter your aesthetic entirely. It's more than possible to artfully fuse these two styles in a way that looks cohesive and sophisticated rather than random.

Meatpacking plants may rely on lots of human hands, but they also rely on functional computer systems.

The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans had harsh words for the Canadian federal government. At a meeting this week in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the committee presented its new report, which looked at the implementation of Indigenous rights-based fisheries. Its findings suggest that, despite more than two decades since key precedents were set, the fisheries have not been fully implemented. This has led, the committee stated, to confusion, tension and violence. 

Cody Caplin is frustrated. The Indigenous fisherman catches lobster, salmon and smelt in the waters near his home in the northern part of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. And he says over the last few years, that process has become more and more difficult. 

Hey GPODers! If you’re savvy on social media and your IG feed is full of gardens that make you say, “How do they possibly do it??” You might recognize today’s submitter, Valerie or @cottageandblossom. Today we’re looking at her enviable greenhouse and gorgeous cutting garden:

Hi GPODers! Today we’ve got an incredible garden story from a frequent GPOD contributor that is a demonstration of how magically small our big world can be. Bas Suharto has previously shown off gardens he has designed and built (check out some of those submissions: Building a Garden With Bas and Building a Japanese-Inspired Garden) as well as his own incredible home gardens (Parterre Garden in Ottawa and A Japanese-Style Garden in Ottawa). But the garden in this most recent submission caught Bas’ eye long before he was asked to lend a helping hand the space.

A long-running dispute between the United States and Canada over dairy imports reached new heights this week, as the Biden administration triggered a formal review of the issue under the still-young trade treaty that officially replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) this past summer.

My fondest memory of childhood summers is picking red raspberries from my family’s small patch. The wonderful flavor and fragrance of these berries led me up and down the rows until I reached my saturation point. Now that I’m an adult, my own garden holds a prominent place for raspberries. In fact, for 10 years I grew raspberries commercially and sold them to area restaurants.

Do Black Swallowtail Butterflies Eat Carrots?

Hi GPODers! Today we’re getting an update from a frequent GPOD contributor, Alice Fleurkens in Ontario.

Happy Friday, GPODers!

Happy Friday, GPODers!

“Virtually all of the products I buy on the regular have experienced some degree of shrinkflation…The practice is intentionally based on deceiving the customer. It’s unethical.” 

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Stunning florals are synonymous with springtime, and chances are, every social channel you're scrolling through is bursting with beautiful blooms. 

STS-78 was the fifth Life and Microgravity Spacelab Mission (LMS) and involved space shuttle Columbia, five NASA astronauts and two international astronauts – Jean-Jacques Favier (CNES) and Robert Thirsk (CSA). 

In March 1910, readers of The Daily Mail were confronted with an advertisement that read, ‘Ten Thousand Englishwomen could be ranged in a line and shot. No one would be sorry. Everyone would be glad. There isn’t any place for them.’ This was pretty strong stuff, but it was just an extreme example of a widely held belief: that the country was burdened with ‘surplus women’. In 1854, author and social campaigner Harriet Martineau estimated that there were over 500,000 more women than men in Great Britain; by 1891, the number had risen to over 900,000. The chief reason given at the time was the high level of emigration among young men seeking opportunities across the British Empire. Every young man signing up to be a colonist, a member of the armed forces, a civil servant or a trader in the British colonies was one less for the women left at home to woo and catch. There was real anxiety that as a result there were ‘surplus women’ who would not find a husband to take care of them after their fathers died. The ‘surplus’ or ‘redundant’ women that bothered commentators most were middle- and upper-class women. Single working-class women were not viewed as surplus; they could go into paid occupations deemed suitable to their station, such as domestic service or factories. For ‘respectable’ women higher up the social scale, however, conventional society offered very few options.

If you’ve run into a garden rut, we’ve got you covered. It’s time to start planning for your first trip to the local nursery or garden center. What plants will you need for a new garden area? Are you noticing a lack of excitement or color outside (we call this the midspring slump)? Just itching for an exciting new addition to a well-established bed? Now is the time to make a list of the perennials, shrubs, and/or trees that will fill those needs.

Common Burdock Learn how to identify and control common burdock weed. Common burdock (Arctium minus) What does common burdock look like?

How to Grow Beardtongue (Penstemon) Penstemon spp.

We’re back enjoying part two of Cherry Ong’s visit last June to the garden of perennial gardening expert Pam Frost on Vancouver, Canada. Cherry visited as part of a tour organized by the Vancouver Hardy Plant Society.

Tips for Growing Saskatoon Serviceberries Amelanchier alnifolia

How to Care for Milkweed Plants in Winter

Look at these amazing Maple Leaf Tattoo Ideas and blend your love for the natural world with the artistry. Keep reading!

Cross summer-blooming begonias with some of their cold-tolerant counterparts and you get the Rieger begonia—a great option for a pop of tropical color during the winter season. Pronounced “REE-ger,” the Rieger begonia is a winter flowering plant with blossoms like tea roses. Although these hybrids don’t have any scent, they more than make up for it with their riotously colorful, creamy blooms. Riegers range from reds, pinks, and bright yellows to shades of orange and stark white. What’s more, under the right conditions, they can bloom indoors for several weeks and they’re fairly easy to propagate, too.

WATCHING BIRDS lifts my spirits, as it has for decades, and who couldn’t use their spirits lifted right about now? But there’s another much bigger potential benefit, which is that sharing my sightings helps scientists understand what’s going on with bird populations in a changing world.

I love growing interesting flavors in my garden and bringing them into the kitchen to cook with. That is why I added shiso to my seed list a couple of years ago. I first tried this fragrant herb in a restaurant in Western Canada (where I was also introduced to parsley root). It has a very distinct flavor and is very ornamental. Growing shiso from seed is pretty easy and if you let it go to seed in the fall, well, you won’t need to grow more next year.

How to Grow and Care for Camassia (Wild Hyacinth) Camassia spp.

Nicholas Sampogna

Nicholas Sampogna

Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.

African violet is perhaps the only full-blown paradox that can survive on a windowsill. On one hand, it is a celebrated show plant, with new cultivars eagerly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts. It has its own organization, the African Violet Society of America, and its own magazine, African Violet. A quick Internet search reveals that there are almost as many African violet sites as there are pages for sex and dieting. And yet, these plants are mass-produced by the hundreds of thousands and are readily available for a minuscule price from mom and pop garden centers, enormous mega-merchandisers, and a host of medium-size vendors.

I’m Maria Nieuwenhof from Quebec, Canada (Zone 5). I was going through my pictures over the last few days and trying to figure out what annuals I will start from seeds this year for my bouquets. When I go to see friends, or when I visit my father in Montreal, or when I have an event to go to I bring one or more bouquets. I started in late April with my first bouquet that had daffodils and ended in early November with achillea.

It is important to differentiate between pepper plants and their look like weeds to keep your garden clutter free and safe.