Gardening – Page 4 – Cynthia Reyes

A Good Home, Container Gardening, Flowers, Gardening

The Indomitable Pansy

July 18, 2015July 18, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

The only pansies we’ve had past the month of June were the dead kind.

If not dead, then seriously bedraggled.

That’s why I stopped planting them each spring, and always planted other stuff instead.

Annual plants that last longer. Like blue salvia, pink snapdragons and ivy.

But our landscaper friend Blaine brought us some bulbs and pansies to put in pots in early May.

Container planting is the only gardening I do these days, so I was happier than a pig in mud.

The hyacinth and daffodils bloomed heartily and died back. But the pansies kept blooming.

And blooming.

The rain beat the flowers down, but they’d spring back soon after.

Mid-July and they’re still blooming.

So here’s to the indomitable Pansy.

Long may you live!

For fascinating facts about the pansy, or viola:

http://www.gardenherbs.org/simples/violet_pansy.htm

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Nature, The Boss Lady

August 22, 2014September 29, 2023 Cynthia Reyes

Some gardeners will

Their flowers place

According to their “measure”

Tall ones in back

Short ones in front

‘Tis best for viewing pleasure

I wish I could

Claim this is what

Takes place in my own garden

But that would be

A lie from me

I’d have to beg your “pardon”

It started out

In this way, yes

All was in perfect order

But I forgot

To see what’s what

And Nature changed the border

So now the tall ones

Bloom in front

While short ones hide behind them

And if I want

To see most flow’rs

I have to go and find them.

***

Dedicated to all who think they can perfectly control a garden. And to those who know better.

Cynthia Reyes Copyright August 2014

A Good Home, Canadian Gardens, Couples, Family Moments, Ferns, Flowers, Gardening, Homes, Hostas, Jamaican Gardening in Canada, July Garden, Life in canada, Lifestyle, Outdoor Living, Shade Gardens, Summer Garden, Tropical Gardening in Canada, Tropical Plants

In the Garden with Gail and Sam

August 1, 2014August 1, 2014 Cynthia Reyes

Right away, you can tell that two avid gardeners live here.

These gloves don’t stay idle for long.

Gail and Sam have lived in their home in a city east of Toronto for 25 years.

Theirs is a mature, complex garden that is tended conscientiously every day. It has trees, vines, ponds, statuary, gazebos, and plants that grow in the ground and in a multitude of containers.

Of course, a gardener’s work is never done. If you’re a gardener, you’ll relate to this moment:

The camera comes out and Gail spies a weed — way, way at the back of the garden.

“Wait!” she says. “Let me remove that weed!” As she pulls one, she finds one more. And one more.

A Canadian who was born and raised in Jamaica, Gail has fond memories of the island.

This garden helps her to keep connected to it.

“We come out here and we’re in Jamaica!” says Gail.

The garden is also a tribute to her mother, who died several years ago.

Gail is a passionate gardener. Luckily, her husband Sam, of Italian-Canadian background, also loves gardening — and Jamaica.

To see them in the garden is to see a team that works well together.

He does the building and hardscaping (paths, gazebos, trellises, stone walls, ponds, decking, etc.) while she chooses and takes care of the plants.

To no-one’s surprise, there’s a banana tree, rescued when the friend who had it was having trouble caring for it.

It’s among umpteen tropical plants growing in containers spread throughout the garden.

Most of them would be quite at home in a Jamaican garden.

There’s even an old copper gallon-jug which was originally used to measure rum at the Appleton estate in Jamaica. It belonged to her father, and, thrilled with the historical significance of the jug, Gail was very pleased when her dad gave it to her for her garden in Canada.

Gail’s an active volunteer in Canada’s Jamaican-Canadian community. She was a member of the Toronto committee celebrating Jamaica’s 50th anniversary in 2012 with a variety of cultural events, including concerts, author readings, an art show and other activities. That project is over, but when Gail wants to feel a connection to Jamaica, all she has to do is to step into her garden.