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…
The recent mild, even hot November weather has given us added time to complete outdoors projects, such as painting window frames, pressure-washing the deck, garden-bed clean-up and garlic planting and winterizing the greenhouse, where a few tomatoes are still ripening on the last plant. The cane yucca and agave continue to survive outdoors, although they…
July 15 By Penny Dodd, photos by Drusilla Pearson We should visit Pincher Creek at least once a year. The Oldman Rose Society has created an attractive, interesting and informative rose garden on the grounds of Lebel Mansion. A large circular garden is filled with approximately 30 rose plants, all hardy shrubs that are healthy,…
June 25 By Penny Dodd Thirteen may be an unlucky number, but that number of people experienced only, the best on our June 18 walk in the Wild Rose Conservation Site. Fifteen kilometers southeast of Spring Coulee, this large property on the Milk River Ridge is being managed to promote the health of its foothills…
By Richard Burke A spring day in the garden can lead just about anywhere – even if you have a plan for what needs to be done. Thursday, I awoke planning to take in a box I had built last week for the patio under the Evans cherry tree, beside the dwarf Norland apple tree…
February 20, 2016 By Richard Burke I’m constantly amazed at what can come from a garden. Here, in the middle of February, the day after we sat in our little corner of the world (a protected patio which has its own micro climate) warmed by solar heat, I’m stirring the brew in my basement. It started…