From the nursery I returned with what one day I would eventually portray as an elegant, pine green Juniper Bonsai. However, at the time, the tree did not bring me an ounce of joy, as all that was on my mind was the passing of […]

Sweet Peas by Donna Williams I am struggling to paint a bouquet of sweet peas. Picked this morning from my back garden, straight cat-tongue-hair stems that hold lacy light blossoms, self-possessed yet playful. The perfume, the perfume! Alberta honey and a daughter’s love. I mix […]

Chinese cuisine has many kinds of vegetables, but the one I’m most familiar with is bok choy. Like other Chinese families, bok choy is the most common green eaten during meals in my home, and not a day went by without bok choy. Although we […]

I’ve been in and among nature since I was born. Some of the earliest pictures of my family show my (most definitely sleep deprived) parents loaded to the brim with outdoor gear, with a backpack child carrier on each back. Having twins isn’t easy, but […]

Learning my mom’s love of plants has been a lifelong process. My mother is a teacher. She has worked at a small elementary school in southwest Calgary for over twenty years teaching music and whatever grade they can slot her into. For my entire childhood, […]

Is this a garden story? My brother ate a bug from the garden, then he went to the hill in the backyard and tried to fly.   My mother laughed her head off. Author: Susan Medalie Featured Image Photo Credit: CC0 Public Domain. See more […]

My wife, when she fell ill, was advised by the physicians to chew on gooseberries in order to gain some vital energies.  She kept salted gooseberries in a bottle and chewed on them occasionally. There is something very special about this fruit; may be it […]

My father, Michele, was born in a small town in Italy called Bitetto, about 20 miles from Bari. He eventually bought a house in Canarsie, Brooklyn, that had a plot of land where he could do some gardening. He loved gardening and planted a lot […]

[English Translation below] Mon grand-père Paul vivait à Haute-Rivoire, un petit village dans les monts du Lyonnais. A chaque fois que j’allais les voir, lui et ma grand-mère ces dernières années, je repartais avec un sac plein de légumes de son potager : des choux […]

  From where I sit, wedged into a corner of the sectional, I notice the plant on the end table, somehow still flowering in the ceramic pot painted by my youngest for Mother’s Day, last month. It’s a plant I can’t identify, nor can I, […]