Recent Posts
Jujubes : A tasty, crunchy fruit you’ve likely never heard of before!
Jujubes : A tasty, crunchy fruit you've likely never heard of before! Ziziphus jujuba is a rare and unique fruiting tree known as jujube, red date, or Chinese date. They typically grow into beautiful small trees perfect for small spaces or even large pots reaching about 8-10 feet tall. [...]
Discover Pineapple Guava
Discover Pineapple Guava Feijoa (Acca) sellowiana is native to South America and is known as pineapple guava. It is an attractive, small, multi-branched shrub or small tree in the Myrtaceae or Myrtle family and is related to Eucalyptus, guava, and Chilean guava. It is highly ornamental with beautiful gray [...]
Hydrangea for Canadian Gardens
Hydrangea for Canadian Gardens Out here on the West Coast, Hydrangea is an integral and beloved part of the summer garden, especially the bigleaf Hydrangea macrophylla with its glorious shades of sky blue, royal blue, purple, pink, and near red. These flowers emerge in early summer and provide interest [...]
How to Grow Climbing and Rambling Roses
How to Grow Climbing and Rambling Roses A climbing rose makes a wonderful plant choice when you have a wall, fence or pergola to cover with foliage, flowers, and fragrance. Climbing roses offer a wide range of flower and fragrance types in almost every colour of the rainbow. Not [...]
The Five Different Types of Rose Fragrance
The Five Different Types of Rose Fragrance When we plant roses, we think first with our eyes when we consider the colour and form of the bloom. Certainly choosing one’s favourite colour or the perfect hue for that magical colour combination is extremely important. Next, since we’re talking roses, [...]
All About Dahlia
All About Dahlia It’s hard not to love Dahlia. They are bold and cheerful and come in a wide range of colours, forms, and sizes. Some cultivars have flowers that are just 2 inches wide while others offer flowers that are 8, 10 or even 12 inches across! The [...]
Grow Hardy Citrus
Grow Hardy Citrus These 17 varieties are hardy or potentially hardy outdoors in coastal BC or grow them with less heat in colder climates! Citrus are beloved subtropical fruits that originated in Asia but have been cultivated for thousands of years by diverse cultures. They are loved for [...]
Growing Roses in Containers
Growing Roses in Containers Roses are one of the most beautiful and beloved flowers you can grow. Their wide range of colours and flower forms and their fragrance have endeared them to generations of gardeners. But in today’s modern world with our ever denser cities and [...]
Grow Avocado, Guava & Passionfruit
Grow Avocado, Guava & Passionfruit With a little winter protection, you can grow your own subtropical fruits! If Canadians can grow citrus, then why not try avocados, guava and passionfruit? Avocado Few people in the Great White North have tried to grow avocado. Information is [...]
Mini and Patio Roses for Small Spaces and Containers : Small Roses with Lots of Flower Power
Mini and Patio Roses for Small Spaces and Containers : Small Roses with Lots of Flower Power Compact patio and miniature roses offer you more options to plant roses not just in your garden but also in containers on your patio and on your balcony. You'll [...]
Grow Milkweeds : Support Beneficial Butterflies and Insects to add intriguing Beauty to your Garden
Grow Milkweeds : Support beneficial butterflies and insects to add intriguing beauty to your garden Asclepias is a genus of hardy perennial plants that belong to the family Apocynaceae and are commonly known as milkweeds. Milkweeds are well-known for their ecological importance as they provide nectar [...]
New Striped Roses
New Striped Roses Striped roses are like plants with variegated foliage, they're not for everyone but those who like them, like them a lot! And even many of those who say they don't like them come around eventually. Striped roses make an intriguing and bold statement [...]
Discover and Grow Pawpaws : These hardy trees produce delicious fruit with tropical flavours
Discover and Grow Pawpaws : These hardy trees produce delicious fruit with tropical flavours Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is an intriguing eastern North American understorey tree that grows across much of the eastern US and into southern Ontario. It is a member of the Annonaceae (Custard [...]
Aeonium: Succulents for Drama and Vertical Appeal
Aeonium: Succulents for Drama and Vertical Appeal Aeonium, sometimes called tree houseleeks, is a wonderful group of rosette-forming succulents that have the added appeal of growing atop woody trunks into architecturally beautiful branching sculptures. Young plants look a lot like an Echeveria but over time Aeonium will rise upon [...]
The Five Different Types of Rose Fragrance
Roses are famous for their visual beauty but also their fragrance. Learn about the five different types of rose fragrance and the different cultivars that offer these intoxicating perfumes.
English Style Roses for Canadian Gardens (Other than David Austins!)
The English style rose was made famous by the pioneering work of David Austin combining the beauty, fragrance, and romance of old roses with the colour range and performance of modern roses. While David Austin is the most famous breeder of English style roses, he is not the only one!
David Austin Roses for Canadian Gardens
David Austin roses are some of the most renowned and beloved roses in the world. Since the 1950s David Austin has been working to combine the beauty and romance of old roses with the performance of modern roses. His work has lead to a stunning range of beautiful and fragrant top-performing cultivars for Canadian gardens.
Colchicum: The Autumn Crocus
In the garden, Colchicum or meadow saffron, is a beautiful and intriguing bulb with two seasons of interest: the first in the spring with beautiful, lush foliage and the second in the fall when the white, pink or purple-pink flowers are produced in profusion.
The Benefits of Fall Planting
Fall is one of the best times to plant perennials, vines, shrubs, and trees. Learn about the benefits of fall planting and some tips for success.
Haworthia: An amazing genus of southern African succulents
Haworthia is a lesser-known genus in the world of succulents — especially relative to favourites like Echeveria, Aeonium, Agave, and Aloe — but it is a spectacular and fascinating group of small succulent plants with an incredible diversity of structures, patterns, and colours. Haworthia also have cool evolutionary innovations that help them survive in the challenging, semi-arid environments of southern Africa and make them more beautiful and more intriguing.
The Joys of Edible Gardening During a Crisis
Edible gardening is fulfilling and inspiring, it provides exercise, gets you outside, saves money, connects you with family, friends, and neighbours, and provides you with delicious produce. In times of crisis, growing your own food becomes all the more important for economic reasons and for psychological and physical health. Learn more about the benefits of edible gardening and get some valuable tips to success.
All About Hellebores
Hellebores are an incredible group of evergreen perennials for gardeners from zone 3 to zone 9. In warmer zones, they are winter and early spring-blooming plants providing colour from late November through April. In colder zones, they bloom in late winter and early spring as soon as the snow melts. In any zone they provide interest when most other plants are soundly dormant bringing forth the first major burst of colour for the season.
Like it, Love it
In Phoenix Perennials owner Gary Lewis's article in Fine Gardening Magazine, take 10 plants you've always liked and consider 10 exciting alternatives that you just might love.
How to Grow David Austin Roses in Zone 3
David Austin roses are some of the most renowned and beloved roses in the world. Though they are usually listed as hardy to zone 4 or 5, here are a few strategies to grow them in zone 3 in some of the coldest parts of Canada!
A Canadian Breeding Success Story: Alan McMurtrie’s Incredible Iris reticulata
Bred right here in Canada, Alan McMurtrie is creating new colours and colour patterns never seen before in the reticulated iris. Learn more about his amazing cultivars.
