by Leslie Cox; Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Much is being talked about in regards to the future of our food supply. Many have concerns about seed availability, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), cost of trucking – the list goes on.

But what are the impacts of growing your own food, even if you garden organically, in relation to our changing climate? Weather patterns are decidedly different from what we remember from even 10-15 years ago.

One of the biggest global warming factors is the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels. Currently, they are at 398.58 ppm (parts per million) as of June 2013. (That figure is up by over 20 ppm from November 2008 when I first began researching this subject.) Scientists forecast the levels will reach 560 ppm or higher by as early as 2050.

In the garden scene, what does this mean?
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by Leslie Cox; Monday, July 22, 2013

When one has a garden sometimes we are privileged to witness the most amazing things. One such event occurred in our garden the other day.

I was looking out the kitchen window while washing dishes and noticed movement down at the pond. A leaf of a Pontederia cordata (pickerelweed) plant was madly waving…and not a breath of breeze anywhere. From the distance it was hard to tell what was going on but I dried my hands, grabbed my camera (which is always at the ready these days) and raced out the door. It was just possible this would be my photo op of a pair of dragonflies mating.

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by Leslie Cox; Wednesday, July 17, 2013

As the garden wends its way through summer, it is nice to have whole swaths of flowers on display. And if there is a delightful fragrance to accompany the delicious colour buffet…all the better.

Indeed, for the busy gardener, there is one plant genus that will deliver the goods – Hemerocallis or daylily. Well…there are others too, but daylilies are easy care, plus relatively disease and pest free. If you select wisely, you can have blooms from late spring through into autumn.

Did I mention selection? While this is a relatively small group, as plants go, with only about 15 species within the genus, the hybridisers have been extremely busy. We now have an incredible selection of over 30,000 cultivars available…and even more coming on the market every year.

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by Leslie Cox; Monday, July 15, 2013

John has been busy snapping away with his camera in the garden. Check out the updated Garden Photo Gallery to see what has been catching his eye in our garden.

by Leslie Cox; Sunday, June 30, 2013

Friends are awesome! Thanks to some help from one, I have figured out how to embed my hummingbird video right onto my website. It is really quite easy once someone points out where to go and lists the steps. (Told you I can be computer illiterate on some technical things.)

And thanks to my other friends who have been sharing this video with their friends as it has received a few hits since it has been up on Youtube.

Next on the list…edit my video on a couple of swallowtail butterflies. More technical challenging stuff. (I lucked out with the hummingbird video. It was a shoot and a wrap all in one fell swoop.)