Welcome to the Duchess of Dirt’s website and the venue for our show garden at
Growing Concern Cottage Garden!

Fall 2024

Spiraea x bumalda 'Goldflame'Our garden is now closed for the season. Time for the plants and us to have a rest. But don’t worry! We are not taking a complete break from our “duties” as the Duchess of Dirt and Duke of Compost.

I have quite a few projects on My List to work on over the next few months. At the top is to continue my work of redoing the plant posts listed in Plants We Grow under In the Garden on the menu bar. (It is frustrating the links to display the photos in the posts are no longer working as they should due to some website upgrades.)

There are a couple of writing projects on My List which I hope to make some progress on as well. We shall see.

John, the Duke of Compost, has also set a rather large project for himself through our off-season down time. He is creating a gallery of photos which will reflect the progression of the garden through the seasons in 2024.

However, just because the garden will be sleeping through the next few months, it does not mean this website will be as well. I will continue to add blog posts and other posts of interesting topics pertaining to gardening. I will also continue sending out my (mostly) monthly Toil ‘n’ Trowel newsletter. (If you are not a newsletter subscriber, enter your name and email address in the sidebar on the right.)

So, don’t be a stranger! Drop by duchessofdirt.ca periodically to see what we are up to.

Please note: I am the only “Duchess of Dirt” in British Columbia and there are only two of us in Canada.
I am a gardener, writer, and educator. “Duchess of Dirt” is my pen name.

Feel free to check out the items under the various Menu Buttons which will provide you with a more intimate peek at the plants and wildlife in our Zone 7a garden, located in the maritime Pacific Northwest. More specifically…we are nestled in rural Black Creek under the shadow of the renowned ski hill, Mt. Washington, within the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the photos on my website were taken by my photographer husband…John – the Duke of Compost…who is also a bona fide plant-aholic gardening nut same as me.  The others… especially most of the insect ones…are mine.

We hope you enjoy the journey.

Leslie and John Cox

 

 

Growing Concern Cottage Garden
7896 Fairview Rd
Black Creek, BC    V9J 1G5