Gardenig in county Ontario. Tips & Guides

Oak wilt kills hundreds of thousands of oaks (Quercus spp. and cvs. Zones 3–11) in the Midwest and beyond every year, but what is it? Oak wilt is caused by a fungus (Bretziella fagacearum, formerly Ceratocystis fagacearum) This lethal fungal disease is a threat to oaks in residential settings and forests. Oak wilt fungus grows through the infected oak’s water conducting system (xylem) and clogs the vascular system, leading to noticeable symptoms and in many cases, immediate decline and death. Thus far, oak wilt has been identified in more than 20 U.S. states, and for the first time in Ontario in May 2023.

Tips for Growing Saskatoon Serviceberries Amelanchier alnifolia

Reports show that the population of bees has continued to fall, putting food security at risk as they play a crucial role in pollination. The fast population decline can be attributed to the continued use of agricultural chemicals, climate change, and other factors such as urban development.

We’re visiting Paula Brown’s beautiful garden today.

Walk into any home organization store and you’re bound to see endless rows of plastic totes and storage bins. However, did you know that certain items shouldn’t be stored in plastic long term? 

We’re off to Canada today to visit Anne’s garden.

It’s probably no surprise that when it comes to cleaning, there are lots of items that the average homeowner doesn’t wash often enough. However, according to cleaning experts, there are some items that they find their clients actually wash too often. 

The holiday season is just around the corner, which means that, among other things, hosting season is too. Whether you are hosting a large holiday gathering, a formal dinner, a small get-together, or overnight guests, properly preparing your home for the event is a crucial first step. Here are seven ways that pro cleaners get ready for their own guests before the holidays. 

Today we’re off to Canada to visit with Bas Suharto.

Alice Fleurkens in Sweaburg, Ontario, has shared her garden with us several times on the GPOD, but today she sent in some photos of a friend’s garden, which is just gorgeous.

How to Grow ‘Polish Hardneck’ Garlic Allium sativum var. ophioscorodon ‘Polish Hardneck’

When Neil Patterson Jr. was about 7 or 8 years old, he saw a painting called “Gathering Chestnuts,” by Tonawanda Seneca artist Ernest Smith. Patterson didn’t realize that the painting showed a grove of American chestnuts, a tree that had been all but extinct since his great-grandparents’ time. Instead, what struck Patterson was the family in the foreground: As a man throws a wooden club to knock chestnuts from the branches above, a child shells the nuts and a woman gathers them in a basket. Even the dog seems engrossed in the process, watching with head cocked as the club sails through the air.

You’re familiar with peaches, apples, and pears. But have you heard of pawpaws?

Today we’re visiting Paula Brown’s beautiful garden in Ottawa, Ontario.

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, which seems like a good time to take the next step on our space adventure. You choose the topic of bees in space, so here we go!

Header image: Three sisters (winter squash, maize and climbing beans) summer garden at the University of Guelph. (Hannah Tait Neufeld), Author provided

Mary Ann Van Berlo has been gardening on this 2.4-acre riverfront lot since fall 2012. The yard was still a construction site when she moved in, so all the gardens were installed after that.

WHO VISITED: We met Twitter friends like @GardenGuyKenn (all the way from Michigan) and other blog-commenters like Bobster (all the way from Rhode Island) and Leslie (from Connecticut) and Ailsa and Patti, from Ottawa, Ontario.We met Joyce from Iowa and Michelle from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania (31 miles from Wilkes-Barre, apparently) and Sandra from Clarks Summit (also Pennsylvania, 8 miles from Scranton) and Julie from Reston, Virginia, and Stephanie from Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Stephanie from Seattle (both Stephanies, both from prime garden country…a coincidence?). Someone signed in as being from Scotland, but can that be so? And all of you, thank you, whether from a mile down the road or a country or ocean away…or whether you just visited our virtual tour yesterday.Some of t

Its native range, says the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, is New York and southern Ontario to Wisconsin, and northeast Iowa to Maryland, also appearing in the mountains from Georgia to Tennessee.  Depending whom you ask, twinleaf is hardy in Zone 4 or 5 to 7 or 8.The New England Wildflower Society’s Garden in the Woods, in Framingham, Massachusetts, was the first place I saw it in profusion, though it is apparently not technically a

I got to know Franca this year when she opened an actual shop for Boxwood Linen in the next town, Hillsdale, New York, at the historic Hillsdale General Store, which was recently renovated. Franca grew up on a farm in Ontario, the daughter of parents born in Scanno, Abruzzo, so she is no stranger to the ways of the garden and kitchen.“We had a cellar, a cantina, at the old farm in Canada,” Franca recalls, “where we’d store not just canned goods but cheese and prosciutto and sausage—but no more!”Now Aida, Franca’s mother (above), visits her daughter’s Hudson Valley, New York-based home from Toronto each late-summer-into-fall, when the garden is offering up its best and there’s work to be done. Together, Franca and Aida continue the old traditions, but in a new location. They do hot-packed tomatoes two ways: chunky, and also as a puree. Aida used to use a motorized mach

ROSES ARE ANCIENT plants with a 35-million-year history on planet earth, so maybe it’s no surprise then that they have been a fixture in nearly every culture and many religions, too. In his recent book, “Rosa: The Story of the Rose,” rosarian Peter Kukielski tells lots of the stories of this beloved flower and our relationship to it, and its place in our cultural history.

As a kid, I wasn’t a huge fan of asparagus, but now I can’t get enough of it.The reason? There weren’t any aspa

When you think of the majestic hibiscus flower, your mind may turn instinctively to the medium-sized shrubs with their showy display of large, bright flowers popular in Southern and tropical gardens.There is another type of hibiscus that has been slowly gai

My name is Helen Stephenson, and I have been gardening in the Halton Region of Ontario for over 20 years. For the past 10 years I have tried to plant mostly native species. I am on the northern edge of the Carolinian eco-region, which is an area that makes up just 1% of Canada’s total land area but contains more flora and fauna species than any other ecosystem in Canada. I believe it is my duty to preserve this little bit of heaven on earth!

Tom Sterenberg is sharing some photos today of roses he’s grown in the sometimes difficult climate of the Canadian prairie.