How to promote beneficial insects in your garden. Lesson 1: Flowers
How to Attract Beneficial Insects to Your Garden: Lesson 1 – Should you plant flowers?
February 2021 – What’s growing
What a weekend! Here on the Saanich Peninsula (just north of Victoria, BC), we enjoyed nearly full sun and a luxurious 12C. There is a pending cold-snap - in fact, it's here: woke-up to -2C. All that sun and the need to prep a few things for the cold meant that it was time to... Continue Reading →
Alternatives to Lady Bugs
It's going to be another difficult year for plant pests. It’s always a bit of a guess, and largely has to do with localized weather, but generally, those pests that develop chemical resistance are stronger every year. So, whenever you're reading this - it's going to be a bad pest year. But, before you head... Continue Reading →
Sowing Plan, and Hope
Well, well; we meet again. As my blog is largely my own way of record keeping and of sharing of my garden adventures, I haven’t written much. This is also because I have rarely set-foot in the garden since then. We had a particularly dark December, and just before Christmas we had a fairly significant... Continue Reading →
Growing Coffee at Home.
You can grow coffee and get coffee beans. It's also a beautiful plant. Here's how I've grown mine:
Greenhouse Winter Clean-Out Technique
When your final plants have been pulled and it’s time to sweep-up the leaves and dirt, you look forward to the month or two when you won’t be carefully tending to plants in your greenhouse. You tuck a ‘pet plant’ in a corner or two to keep it in a comfortable dormancy and you shut... Continue Reading →
A 2020 – Recap: Books, Beer, and Bugs.
It wasn't all doom and gloom! Funny to look back and think this year started normally here. Sure, there were rumours of a virus in the East, but it wasn’t enough to worry me. And I wasn’t alone. So I wan’t alone in being wrong, either. What a year! It’s been a rough year, of course.... Continue Reading →
Never Buy Ladybugs!
Never buy Lady Bugs!! Seriously. For those of us who know ‘bugs’, and know biological pest control, there is one great reason for commercially available and lab-produced ladybugs: They are the “gateway bug.” An insect that people regularly see, generally like, and view as the poster-icon for beneficial insects. If shopping for “ladybugs” and even... Continue Reading →
Growing Backyard Wheat
Summer is a progression from Spring Green to hues of gold and brown. Fields of grasses like barley and wheat reach for the sun, turn gold and bow their heads to the summer heat. Your yard is, no doubt, full of beautiful plants that similarly demonstrate the passage of time in the choreographed, seasonal flora-dance.... Continue Reading →
Grow Hard
It was a windy day. I wasn’t far from the ocean, although I couldn’t see it. The valley was cold for June and I could smell the salt in the air. I don’t often get to visit growers, especially ones who aren’t already clients. But there I was, on a “cold-call” to an ornamental grower.... Continue Reading →
