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LATEST TROWEL TALK ISSUE
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TROWEL TALK NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
April 2025 | High Performance, Low Maintenance Plants, Gardening with Peat Moss, Garden Beetles can be Fab! What is Traditional Tobacco? Book Review of The Seed Detective
March 2025 | My Foray into Hydroponics, Ants: Tiny Creatures with a Giant Impact, Indigenous Gardens at the University of Ottawa
February 2025 |Downsizing Ideas for Senior Gardeners, Bonsai: The Art of Miniaturized Trees, Yes, Wasps Are a Gardening Friend!, Plant Books by Indigenous Authors
January 2025 | Orchid Care, The Seed Catalogues have Arrived!, Exploring New Brunswick Botanical Gardens, Changing the Way We See Bugs, Snowberry
December 2024 | Native Cranberries Bring the Festivities, Everything you Always Wanted to know about Biocontrols, Celebrating the Season with Indoor and Outdoor Arrangements, Wild Clematis
November 2024 |Sitting in the Garden thinking Positive Thoughts, Everything you Always Wanted to know about Biocontrols, How to Take Great Nature and Garden Photos, Spiderwort
October 2024 |To Wrap or Not to Wrap, Visiting Montreal Botanical Gardens, The Garden Edger, Sneezeweed
September 2024 |Crocus: Welcome Spring with bursts of Colour, Creating a No-dig Border, Best Trees for Aroma, My Handy Root knife, Tall Meadow-rue
August 2024 | Seizing the moment with Herbs, Feed the Soil not the Plant, Aromatic Hardy Shrubs, Flathead Screwdriver, Wild Bergamont
July 2024 | Snip and Snack in your Veggie Patch – Things you didn’t know you could eat, Growing Yucca as a Garden Shrub, Red Maple, Conatainers with Alluring Scents, Weed Torch, False Indigo
June 2024 |Soil, It’s not Dirt, The Scented Garden – Aromatic herbs, Hackberry, Fiskars Hori-hori Style Gardening Knife, Foam Flower
May 2024 | Climate Change and the Home Gardener, Egyptian Walking Onions, Tamarack, The Tool Butler, Harebell
April 2024 | Keep those Plant Tags, Gardening in Small Spaces, Garden Claw, Meadow Anemone
March 2024 | Direct Seeding in the Garden, Under the Microscope, Short Handled Ho-Mi Digger, Paper Birch, Canada Serviceberry
February 2024 | Architectural plants, Bur Oak, Oh No! Oak Wilt in Ontario, Cutting Tools: a Cut Above, Wild Strawberries
January 2024 | Violets in Space! Ode to the Sawzall, Eastern White Pine, Prairie Smoke
December 2023 | Land Acknowledgement, Native Trees for Ottawa Gardens, Book review of Growing Joy, Planting for Northern Cardinals, Little Bluestem
November 2023 | Ten Common Gardening Mistakes, To Prune or Not to Prune, Planting for Sparrows, New England Aster
October 2023 | Perfect Pots for the Winter Season, Eastern Hemlock, Planting for White Breasted Nuthatches, Zigzag Goldenrod
September 2023 | Growing Raspberries, Edible Herb Flowers to Enjoy, Planting for Blue Jays, Flowering Raspberries
August 2023 | Gardening in Small Spaces, Growing Alpine Plants AKA Rock Gardening, Meadowsweet – Queen of the Prairie, Planting for Mourning Doves, Turtlehead
July 2023 | Reclaiming Gardens in a City Park, Glen Villa Art Garden, Planting for Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, Eutrochium maculatum
June 2023 | In Defence of Earwigs, Grow a Garden Full of Memories, Gardening for Cedar Waxwings, Blazing Star
May 2023 | My Passion for Dahlias, The Observant Gardener, Gardening for Nature: Ecoregion 5 – Flowering Perennials, Gardening for American Goldfinches, Asclepias incarnata
April 2023 | Wildflowers and Native Plants. Are they the Same? Gardening for nature: Ecoregion 5 – Shrubs, planting for American Robins, Anise hyssop
March 2023 |Getting a Head Start on the Summer Growing Season, Gardening for nature: Ecoregion 5 – Trees, Planting for Owls, Aquilegia canadensis
February 2023 | Interpreting your Garden, Gardening for nature: Ecoregion 5, Planting for Woodpeckers, Sanguinaria canadensis
January 2023 | Wild Ginger, Angel Wing Begonia, Planting for Black Capped Chickadees, Book Review – A Way to Garden
December 2022 | Reflections on 2022, Plumosa Fern, Making a Fairy Garden for Christmas, Beyond the Bird Feeder, Japanese Barberry
November 2022 | Vermicompost, Documenting seeds, Botanical art, Book review – A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee, Siberian pea shrub
October 2022 | What to do or not do in the Fall Garden, Seed Saving, Winter Sowing, Canadian Bunchberry, Sea Buckthorn
September 2022 | Smooth Aster, The Amazing Life Cycle of Aphids, Last Hurrah of flowers, Purslane, Winged Euonymus
August 2022 | Big, Bold and Beautiful Plants in Your Garden, Good King Henry Herb, The Gardener’s Sense of Sound, Annual Sow Thistle, Oriental Bittersweet
July 2022 | Herbs in the Garden, Wood Betony, The Gardeners Sense of Taste, Common Chickweed, Ox-eyed daisy
June 2022 | Ornamental and Edible, Rabbits in the Garden, Touch in the Garden, Lambsquarters, Invasive Honeysuckles
May 2022 | Monarch butterflies, Carrots and kin, Dandelions, The Gardener’s Eye, Beware knotweeds
April 2022 | Hardening Off, Edible Flowers You Can Grow, Sense of Smell in the Garden, Gardener Beware: False Spirea
March 2022 | 2022-Year of the Garden, Seed starting, Jumping worms, Shiso, Annuals, Beware autumn olive
February 2022 | Polka dot plant, When to start seeds, Shady site challenge,
Homemade vinegars, Beware creeping bellflower
January 2022 | Seed Catalogues, Amaryllis, Soil, Snake Plant, Beware Reed Canary Grass
December 2021
Cape primrose, Ikebana, Book review, Wintercreeper
November 2021
Jade plant, Holiday arrangement, Alcove garden, Book review, Miscanthus Grasses
October 2021
Soil, Wild flowers, Freezing harvests, Dogs, Norway maple
September 2021
Poppies, Blueberries, Light pollution, Goutweed
August 2021
Daylilies, Pesticide Ban, Ginger, Nasturiums, Periwinkle
July 2021
Successive planting, Harvesting garlic, Solving questions, Pollinator tips, English ivy
June 2021
Rose pests, Water Wise Gardening, Book review, Buckthorn, Ditch Lily
May 2021
Lily of the valley, vegetables in containers, Asparagus, Hepaticas, Wood poppy, Yellow archangel
April 2021
Earth day, Rhubarb, Clematis, Spring edimentals, Creeping Jenny
March 2021
Sorrel, Weeds, Sage or Savory, Bloodroot, Amur Maple
February 2021
Aloe, Clivia, Ajuga, winter garden for birds
January 2021
Jade plant, Invasive plants, Valentine’s day gift, Microgreens
December 2020
Norfolk Island pine, Christmas cacti, Cuttings, Evergreen groundcovers
November 2020
Cypress spurge, Chia, Houseplants, Book review
October 2020
Planting bulbs with children, Gypsy moths, Goldenrods, Autumn leaves
September 2020
Drying Hydrangeas, Native Grasses, Dividing Daylilies, Creeping Bell Flower, Lemon Verbena
August 2020
Kale, Fruit bushes, Book review
July 2020
Beets, Meadowscaping, Japanese beetles, Herbs
June 2020
Calendula, Safety, Shorelines, Mint, Alliums
May 2020
Radishes, Zinnias, Vernonia
April 2020
Planting Tomatoes, Grow a Pizza, Blue Indigo
March 2020
Historic Ginkgo, Ideal Urban Tree
February 2020
Sweet Smells, the Sequel
January 2020
The Sweet Smells of Floral Success
December 2019
Mistletoe a footnote to mythology
November 2019
Evergreens in season
October 2019
No time to chill
September 2019
Leafy ambitions for fall’s bounty
August 2019
You’ll grow frond of leafy wonders (Ferns)
July 2019
Summer abuzz with winged friends
June 2019
Get outside this summer (House plants)
May 2019
Toughen up transplants for oudoor living
April 2019
The Larch – Harbinger of Spring
March 2019
Sparkling tools will grow on you
February 2019
Under Used Plants: A Master Gardener Survey part 2
January 2019
Under Used Plants: A Master Gardener Survey part 1
December 2018
Blooming Sucess
November 2018
Winter Garden can Thrive Indoors
October 2018
Repotting, a Great Outdoor Activity for Fall
September 2018
Perennial Picks for Great Divisions
August 2018
Off With Their Heads!!
July 2018
Hardy Geraniums Bouce Right Back
June 2018
Mystery Plant a Lovely Suprise (Columbine)
May 2018
Standing on Rocky Ground – Scree Gardens
April 2018
Discovering Beauty Beyond Bloom
March 2018
Respecting the Roots in Changing Times
February 2018
Flowering Branches Bring Spring Inside
January 2018
Keeping Your Orchid Happy
December 2017
Christmas Tree: Branching out for the holidays
November 2017
Squashing the Winter Blahs
October 2017
Emerald Ash Borer
September 2017
Fall in Love with Glory of Autumn
August 2017
In Praise of Weeds
July 2017
Perfect Spot to Enjoy the View (the backyard Bench)
June 2017
Backyard Bliss (Ponds)
May 2017
Wonders of the Woodland
April 2017
Save Lilies With Luck, Love
March 2017
‘Bones’ at the Root of Great Gardens
February 2017
Gardens Come up Dry
January 2017
African Plant is no Shrinking Violet
December 2016
Pining for Cones (Conifer Trees)
November 2016
Furry Friend or Foe (Deer)
October 2016
Finding the Right Spot for Rhododendrons
September 2016
Respect your Elders (Elderberries)
August 2016
Gardening Can be a Barrel of Fun (Rain Barrels)
July 2016
All Aflutter With Winged Wonders (Butterflies)
June 2016
Inspiration All Round
May 2016
Getting an Edge in the Garden
April 2016
Dahlias Just Dandy
March 2016
Finding a Natural Route to Success
February 2016
Symbol Beauty (Provincial floral emblems)
January 2016
Look Up, Way Up (Rooftop Gardens)
December 2015
O Christmas Tree
November 2015
Winter’s ‘in’ Crowd (Houseplants)
October 2015
It’s for th Birds
September 2015
Ancestors Turned to Herbs to Keep it Spicy
August 2015
Sunflowers Rise to the Occasion
July 2015
Tough But Pretty
June 2015
Open Season for Poppies
May 2015
Privacy Matters in the Backyard
April 2015
Ground Rules for Groundcovers
March 2015
Rhapsody in Blue
February 2015
A Feast of Follies
January 2015
Garden Odyssey (History of Garden Design)
December 2014
Mistletoe — World’s Most Festive Parasite
November 2014
Stemming Winter’s Wrath
October 2014
Tuck in Garden for the Winter
September 2014
Traffic-Stoppers Worth Re-Planting
August 2014
Getting Bogged Down
July 2014
Marvelous Mulch
June 2014
Just Leaf it … and Love it
May 2014
Incredible Edibles
April 2014
Bright Ideas for Shady Gardens
March 2014
Branching Out (choosing a tree)
February 2014
Native Dogwoods Delight
January 2014
Catalogue of Dreams
December 2013
‘Tis the Season for Jolly Holly
November 2013
Time to Pond-er a Lovely Garden (Ponds)
October 2013
Primping Perennials
September 2013
Echinacea — a Cure for Drab Gardens
August 2013
Berry Good Idea for Your Garden
July 2013
Great Gardens are in the Bag
June 2013
The Weed Gremlins
May 2013
So Welcome, Yet so Fleeting
April 2013
Going Wild for Orchids
March 2013
A Leafy Retreat is a Vine Thing
February 2013
Seeds Help Cultivate History
January 2013
Out of This World (Theme gardens)
December 2012
Holiday Fruits Have a Colourful Past
November 2012
Gardening Skills go to Pots in Winter
October 2012
Taking a Shine to Black Gold
September 2012
Keep an Eye on Old Irises
August 2012
Rooting Out a Mystery Weed
July 2012
Breaking Down Composting
June 2012
Heucheras’ True Colours Dazzle
May 2012
For the Love of Lilacs
April 2012
April in the Garden
March 2012
Stunning Roses Made in Canada
February 2012
Nature Has its Own Solutions
January 2012
Catalogues Offer a Wealth of Info
December 2011
Christmas Cacti Add Seasonal Flair
November 2011
Gardening Groups Can Grow on You
October 2011
Pumpkin: Fruit of our Labour
September 2011
Blooms Provide Star Attraction (Sedum)
August 2011
Camels Bloom (Drought tolerant gardens)
July 2011
Laissez-Faire Lawn Care
June 2011
Well Contained Gardens
May 2011
Fleeting Flowers Add Lasting Beauty
April 2011
Blooming Hedges Will Grow on You
March 2011
Time to Veg Out (Vegetables)
February 2011
Design: It’s Elementary
January 2011
Sticking to Your Principles (Design)
December 2010
Poinsettias Colour the Festive Season
November 2010
Houseplants a Breath of Fresh Air!
October 2010
Mums the Word!
September 2010
Planting Ahead!
August 2010
Rising to Great Heights!
July 2010
Bugging Out Your Garden!
June 2010
It’s a Beautiful Day!
May 2010
Backyards for the Birds!
April 2010
Pruning Shear Delight!
March 2010
Reading up on Grasses!
February 2010
Seedlings Offer up Rewards
January 2010
What’s in a Name!