It’s curbside business as usual at Green Haven Garden Centre, at least until the first week in May, says co-owner Karen Barbie. Word came last Thursday from the provincial landscaping group to greenhouses like Green Haven that garden centres have been classified as an essential service by the Alberta Agriculture minister. Posts this morning on…

April 9, 2020 Hilltop Garden Centre is open but would like a phone call before you go out.  Annuals are ready to take (but you’ll have to baby them yourselves until they can be planted); some perennials are there but more arrive after May 1.  They will be getting your orders ready for pick up,…

March 31, 2020 By Richard Burke On the one hand, it’s not difficult to visualize a beehive of activity in a nursery nurturing seedlings that have sprouted and are clamouring for the next step. On the other, it’s hard to imagine doing this with a staff cut to a fifth of normal. “Our plants are…

Our water feature has been installed. Now just a few tweaks and you will see running water. It’s our main attraction in, the anchor of the Society’s huge project, in concert with the City of Lethbridge. We have now begun our planting, starting with some perennials donated by Kathy and Randy Forsyth of the Lomond area.…

November 28, 2018 Richard Burke Took advantage of a gorgeous, late-November afternoon to plant 20 tulip and 50 grape hyacinth bulbs that had been waiting in the garage for some snow piles to melt. They should pop forth (or fifth) mid-to-late Spring. Also noticed a lot of green still in the yard, like on the…

It took no time at all this week to almost forget the last four-plus, endless winter, Lethbridge months: Four-foot high snow piles in the backyard Monday were gone Saturday; Four days of spring clean-up in the front and side yards revealed daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and hellebore busting through while crocus and hepatica showed their colours;…

By Richard Burke Seeds are among the wonders of our world. With usually little prompting, just the right planting medium, moisture and light, they become seedlings that turn into mature plants with flowers, some of which become edibles and others that are simply a feast for the eye. Ultimately, they produce more seeds to propagate…

    Lethbridge is on the verge of having a major ornamental garden, an attraction for all to enjoy that may even attract garden lovers from beyond the city limits. That’s the goal of the Lethbridge and District Horticultural Society, led by a core of garden lovers 10 strong who in a committee of the society…

August 7, 2017 By Richard Burke We had a pretty-much non-stop air show in our backyard this past weekend – the hummingbirds were battling over a patch of bee balm in our backyard. They’ve been coming to the garden every year since we planted a dropmore scarlet honeysuckle vine and bee balm, probably 15 years…

By Richard Burke There’s nothing like the first day of spring to spur a week of firsts – it’s almost like winter never happened. • First oil change in two years on the old truck and first ever for the new car. • First chance to prune the apple trees. • First seeds started Monday…