A brisk walk through UBC Botanical

The quintessential winter salad garden!

Happy New Year to you all. The 11th of January was a nice bright day, the kind of day for a winter walk with a pace slightly quickened by the cold air. The Botanical Garden at UBC is one of Vancouver’s ideal spots for such a walk, with lots of [...]

Mr. Singh

These unusual squashes were volunteers, he tells me, so we don't know what they are.

Mr. Singh lives up the street from me. I would pass his yard in the summer, and see over his fence that some extraordinary things were going on back there. Pumpkin plants and other vines being trellised up to the [...]

Polydesmoid millipedes!

I’ve become a real geek when it comes to tiny animals. I spend so much time in gardens, in their territory, that I kind of feel obliged to know who I’m dealing with. Having a macro lens helps, of course.

This little fellow is quite likely Harpaphe haydeniana, a kind of millipede that was out in [...]

Rose Heaven

Some blooms are already open, but in a couple of weeks, it's going to be crazy!

There are a number of garden-related places around the Lower Mainland I like to visit several times a year. Some are relatively local, like the UBC Botanical Garden, and I may manage a couple of trips per month. Others [...]

More from UBC Botanical Gardens

What a difference a couple of weeks makes! So much more in bloom out at UBC. The magnolias are finished, but the rhodos are just warming up. And everywhere you look are more little blossoms appearing. In the last email newsletter from WCS, I mentioned the effect of photoperiodism on plants. How the length of [...]

Warm November - so far...

Just for the record, let it be known that in 2010, September was miserable, October was okay, and November did not usher in the violent winters we normally see round these parts.  November 2nd is the first average frost date for the Vancouver area, but averages can swing in either direction. We had a light [...]

Monster Tomatoes

Our friend Noel Brechin had some rather amazing results with an Italian tomato variety called Cuore di Pomodoro. These tomatoes were BIG! Noel forwarded some images to me to share. Check these out!

This grand champion was 18" in circuference, weighing 3 lbs, 4 oz (1.54 kg!)

Not quite as big, but still 16.5" in [...]

Curiosities

Remember – I’d love to share images of your gardens, too. You just need to email me with a short description.

The end of the season and the main harvest period turns up some genuinely unexpected results in nearly all gardens. I have seen carrots embracing before, but never with the level of intimacy shown by [...]

Winter Squash Bonanza

Triamble is another heirloom of the "Australian blue" group. This oddity is always tri-lobed. Each lobe has its own, separate seed cavity.

I have a kind of obsession with squashes. It should be a healthier one, too, because I’ve just never developed a taste for them. In truth, I can’t even be swayed by pumpkin [...]

Owls (OWLS)

Sarah is a barn owl. You can see these birds if you travel the farm roads in Delta, usually at night or in the early morning.

Today we held the grand opening of the WCS retail shop in Ladner, and it was pretty fun. Beautiful, unexpectedly nice weather shone down on a whole lot of [...]

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