A small garden renovation in North York, ON

A recent garden rescue in North York, Toronto

Maybe "rescue" is too dramatic but this small front yard garden bed definitely needed a "rehab"! It was completely infested with garlic mustard and Siberian squill with some decrepit old tulips here and there.

Here's a before picture:

Before picture of the garden bed
 infested with garlic mustard and Siberian squill, 
with a few tulips thrown in!

The client wanted a fresh start with very low maintenance requirements. Here's the after picture showing the new plantings which should fill in over 2-3 years.

After picture of the new low maintenance garden 
in full sun with a lavender border, 
a "Limelight" Pee Gee hydrangea standard, 
"Autumn Joy" sedum 
and "Hens and Chicks" Sempervivum

By Paul Jung, owner of Paul Jung Gardening Services Inc. of Toronto

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Toronto spring cleanup yields hellebore love

Spring 2013: it's finally here (I think)

Sorry for not posting lately but I've been busy doing spring garden cleanups for new and old clients for the past several weeks. Temperatures are finally increasing so that it feels like spring in Toronto, although not as warm as last year. 

I took the following pictures after cleaning up last autumn's debris from a client's backyard the other day. Maybe you'll feel inspired to plunk down some bucks for a few hellebores in your garden after viewing this post?

The new varieties of H. hybridus under the "Winter Jewels" and "Gold Collection" trademarks are so nice!


The "hot" hellebore this spring is "Ivory Prince",  it was all over the place at Canada Blooms last month.

"Pink Frost" Hellebore

Same clump of "Pink Frost" hellebores backlit

Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) blooming in many ravines now in Toronto

"Pink Beauty" Hellebore halfway doing its spring thing

Sorry, I can't identify this cultivar. Anyone can help?

Common purple crocus. I like the shadow of the pistil and stamens!

Enjoy spring while it lasts, wherever you are!

By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog"

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Allan Gardens Conservatory Easter Flower Show 2013: part two

You want hydrangeas? I'll give you hydrangeas!

Easter has come and gone but there's still a chance to take in some nice colour in a city currently awash in brown. During my last visit to the Allan Gardens Conservatory Easter Flower Show, most of the hydrangeas were still not fully opened so I came back and took some better pictures.

I prefer the lacecap varieties over the big mophead types (more subtle and I like plants blooming on the horizontal plane.) Some of my clients receive these hydrangeas for Easter and then plunk them in the ground outside after the blooms fade. I'm surprised that some of them overwinter successfully but they never thrive and flower as much as the "real" Hydrangea macrophyllas.

I hope you enjoy these big balls of colour!

I like the cute blue Easter eggs hanging from the two bare "trees"

A drift of Easter colour, the variegated ivy ties everything together

Some may find the palms and bananas incongruous but they do add drama

An overview shot, smells nice too!

Drift of two types of hydrangeas, different forms and feelings

Massing works well here

I just like the blushing pink tones

Pink Florist's hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla)
 Allan Gardens Conservatory Easter Flower Show 2013

By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog"Google Google Find us on Google+ Find us on Google+

Happy 2nd Birthday to "garden muses"!

This Toronto gardening blog turns 2!

A big wet kiss goes out to all my readers who, I hope, have enjoyed reading my "garden muses" blog as much as I've writing it over the past year. If you're not open to the kiss, then enjoy a piece of my birthday muffin vicariously:

Two years and counting....

Keep visiting: I really don't know where my posts will take me!

By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog"Google Google Find us on Google+ Find us on Google+

Allan Gardens Conservatory 2013 Easter Flower Show | part one

Well, at least it's blooming here in Toronto!

Inside of course. 

Winter is sloooowly leaving us and we may reach double digit (Celsius) temperatures next week. I'm seeing a flood of florist mophead hydrangeas in supermarkets and  hardware stores in blue, pink, white and variations. Easter is around the corner so Easter lilies are ubiquitous as well. Outside, tips of tulips, crocus and daffodils are poking up.

The Allan Gardens Conservatory in Toronto exhibits five types of flower shows each year, free of charge. Since the focus is on plants (annuals and tropicals) and not interlocking brick or McMansion boulder arrangements, I wonder why anyone would rather go to Canada Blooms than this inner-city horticultural jewel. True, the area is kind of sketchy (nice Harveys down the street, wink!) and the city staff don't make eye contact with you but you're there for the plants, not to be accosted by hot tub and hot sauce salespeople.

I digress.

During my visit today, the mass plantings of tender hydrangeas and Easter lilies were not fully in bloom yet so I'll have to go back in a week or so. In the meantime, please enjoy these pictures of  hydrangeas, daffodils, cyclamen and a blooming rhodo.

Wishing you a happy Easter for those who celebrate (and a good long weekend for those who don't!)

Variegated lacecaps, blue mopheads and variegated English ivy

White mopheads, blue variegated lacecaps and variegated English ivy

Blue lacecaps with white florets

A blooming (Catawba?) mauve rhododendron

Poet's Daffodil (Narcissus poeticus) at 
Allan Gardens Conservatory 
Easter Flower Show 2013

A composition of deep blue (and fragrant!) hyacinths, pale blue agapanthus, egg-yolk yellow primula, nestled among asparagus fern (?)
A contrast of  colours and textures

The pink is much more vibrant in real life: the halo around the yellow just kills me!

This should satisfy the delphinium masochists out there

Same grouping as above from the other side of the bed: the pink cyclamen cheers things up

Your spring container?

Down one path...

From the other side: you can imagine the smell coming off this drift of blue hyacinths!

A simple pastel palette, perfect for Easter

By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog"Google Google Find us on Google+ Find us on Google+