Bright colours in a garden are cheering. Signet marigolds are easily grown and their petals are edible. Helen Chesnut
Consider growing some spirit-lifting fragrance that can be brought into the house. Sweet peas are among the most popular of perfumed annual flowers. Helen Chesnut
Colourful vegetables like these sweet peppers are a visual as well as a taste treat. Helen Chesnut
Fremontia is a beautiful shrub that is shallow-rooted enough to sometimes topple over in fall and winter storms. Helen Chesnut Every autumn, I drop into my local bookstore to choose the calendars that will hold reminders and guide my daily living through the coming year. The “master” calendar, a desk agenda production, resides by the phone on a kitchen counter.
SAANICH Meandering through a forested corner of the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific in Saanich, a trail leads to a Garry oak meadow that is home to an ecosystem that is culturally significant to W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. Walking along the W̱SÁNEĆ Ethnobotany Trail, visitors can learn about plants that are native to the southern part of Vancouver Island. Each plant marked with an identification tag has either medicinal, ecological or cultural significance to local Indigenous peoples. “Culturally, this garden is important because these plants have co-evolved with W̱SÁNEĆ people and the land really informs us about who we are,” said W̱SÁNEĆ artist and environmental restorationist Sarah Jim. “It’s informed our language, our art and our world view, so these plants are really a part of who we are.”
Fenugreek microgreens to spice up salads and other dishes. Helen Chesnut
This patch of self-sown cilantro is at the microgreen stage and can be cut for flavouring foods. Helen Chesnut
This sign at a local beach reminds people that our shorelines need to remain fully intact. Everything on and in them is vital to ocean life. Bob I. photo. I’m an enthusiastic fan of farmers’ markets. Some, luckily, run close to year round. Though they may be somewhat less sumptuous through the winter months, I’ve been surprised lately at some new stalls at my local market. Last month, a grower showed up with the most amazing winter vegetables fat parsnips, plump Brussels sprouts, gleaming red and green cabbages.
Keep the plants together as long as possible. Most Yuletide-themed container gardens will have a mix of tropical foliage and flowering plants. Bright indirect light, room temperatures a bit on the cool side, and soil kept just modestly moist are conditions that will suit most of them Winter is not a good time for repotting. Clip off faded flowers to retain a neat appearance in the little plant collection, and wait until early spring to repot. Check to see whether the plants have been kept in their own pots when assembled into a container with peat or moss between the pots. If this is the case, you will have the option of removing a plant if it becomes unattractive and replacing it with a fresh one.