December 31st, 2018 |
This final post of 2018, written on the last day of the year, brings the garden at Glen Villa to a close -- for now, at least. August is high summer in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. [caption id="attachment_7121" align="aligncenter" width="5184"] The trail through the Joe Pye weed is luscious in August, for bees and for pedestrians.[/caption] Insects make their presence known. [caption id="attachment_7122" align="aligncenter" width="1797"] I'm not sure what flying creature this is, but I love the translucency of the wings.[/caption] NOTE: Thanks to Mark A. for identifying this
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Posted in Glen Villa, Miscellaneous, Plants | 6 Comments »
December 28th, 2018 |
The meadows and fields at Glen Villa are white with snow in December, but in June and July, they are alive with colour. [caption id="attachment_7079" align="aligncenter" width="5184"] Lupins brighten meadows and fields in late June and early July.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7092" align="aligncenter" width="5184"] Buttercups and dandelions colour a field yellow.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7088" align="aligncenter" width="5184"] Ragged robin turns this field rosy pink.[/caption] Closer to the house, colours appear in smaller doses. [caption id="attachment_7090" align="aligncenter" width="5184"] Hawthorn trees are a froth of white.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7096" align="aligncenter" width="5184"] Old-fashioned day lilies
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Posted in Glen Villa, Miscellaneous, Plants | 6 Comments »
December 23rd, 2018 |
On a surprisingly mild winter's day -- not at all typical for Quebec in December -- I'm remembering the garden at Glen Villa as it looked earlier this year. January brought lots of snow. [caption id="attachment_7035" align="aligncenter" width="5184"] A stream coming down the hill marks an S-curve at the entry to Glen Villa.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7036" align="aligncenter" width="4836"] The Crabapple Allée marches across the open field.[/caption] February brought snow and gloomy skies. [caption id="attachment_7037" align="aligncenter" width="3456"] My sculpture Tree Rings honours the life of a maple tree that died
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Posted in Glen Villa, Plants | 9 Comments »
December 14th, 2018 |
Do Christmas trees qualify as topiary? We never think of them as such but they fit the definition -- the Oxford dictionary calls topiary the "art or practice of clipping shrubs or trees into ornamental shapes." And surely Christmas trees don't grow naturally into the perfect cones commonly seen but have been pruned and clipped to shape them. [caption id="attachment_5888" align="aligncenter" width="2099"] This cone-shaped spruce tree is attached to the chimney stack at Glen Villa. It hangs right outside our front door.[/caption] As a young gardener, I disliked topiary, thinking that it was a distortion
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Posted in Design, Miscellaneous, Plants, Quotations | 8 Comments »
November 27th, 2018 |
For the last eighteen months or more I've been working on an art installation that stretches along a 3-4 km trail at Glen Villa, my garden in Quebec. The trail moves in and out of fields and forests, and each environment has its own character. When I started the project, the idea behind it wasn't entirely clear. Gradually, working with the land and listening to its story, the project took shape. Time -- how we think about it, experience it and represent it -- was a thread connecting each installation. So several
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Posted in Art, Design, Glen Villa | 12 Comments »
November 20th, 2018 |
Paintings on rock made by indigenous people many years ago give us insights into their daily life and the events and objects they valued. (I wrote about rock paintings here.) Monuments and memorials serve a similar purpose. So what do they show about what we value today? Traditionally monuments were erected to great men and generals who led us in war, and to those who fought and died. I grew up surrounded by this type of memorial. The statues of Confederate leaders that lined Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia left no doubt about
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Posted in Design, Miscellaneous, Reviews | 6 Comments »
November 12th, 2018 |
Cave paintings on the island of Borneo showing animals and human hands have recently been dated back some 40,000 years, making them the oldest known example of figurative rock art in the world. (Details of the story can be found in various articles, including one here from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.) Think for a moment about how long ago that is. Forty thousand years. It takes my breath away. I've been fascinated by rock art for many years and have been fortunate to see examples in South Africa, Namibia, Australia, Chile and Peru. While the particulars
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Posted in Art, Design, Miscellaneous, Travel | 19 Comments »
October 30th, 2018 |
We are living in strange times. Walking through the woods yesterday, I came across an odd scene. A creature made of stone was rising up from the leaves. First came a head, shoulders and arms.... then a leg. First one leg ... then another. The legs stretched out longer and longer. I admit it, I ran. And as I left, I heard a crash. I ran faster and faster, only to find myself in the place I'd been before. And there was
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Posted in Miscellaneous | 11 Comments »
October 16th, 2018 |
Autumn is spectacular in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Unfortunately I've had little time to enjoy it this year, because earlier this month we sold our condominium in Montreal where we've lived for the last 22 years. Cleaning and sorting and disposing of the contents has taken a lot of time and effort. In fact, it's been a real slog but thankfully I've had lots of help from family members. (Thank you, each and all!) Understandably, blogging has taken a back seat to household work. But this past weekend, I took a
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Posted in Glen Villa | 12 Comments »
September 30th, 2018 |
At home after three marvellous weeks visiting gardens (and friends) in England, I find much to criticize in my garden. After many years of travelling, I've come to expect this -- and to accept that a garden in Quebec's harsh weather conditions will never resemble an English garden, with its lush foliage and flowers, topiary and ancient walls. I've also come to expect that gardens other than my own will disappoint me. On every tour I've hosted, there has always been one garden I particularly looked forward to seeing. On
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Posted in Art, Design, Reviews, Travel | 13 Comments »
