Three private homes in the Swansea neighborhood were the first gardens we saw in Toronto during the Garden Bloggers Fling. Swansea borders on the Humber River, Lake Superior (Correction: Lake Ontario – sheesh, for dumb), and High Park, one of Toronto’s largest and most popular parks. The first garden we saw made the biggest impression …
June tulips on Ward Island, just a short ferry ride from downtown Toronto. More to come.
One day we decided to walk to the Galata Tower on the other side of the Golden Horn. It was a memorable urban hike. The Galata Tower was built by the Genoese in the mid-1300s. At the time, about 100 years before the Ottoman conquest, it was located in the Genoese colony outside Constantinople. Now …
We really enjoyed the food in Istanbul. Sometimes on the heavy side, it was always tasty and frequently addictive. Pide is referred to as Turkish pizza, which is not an entirely apt description. I think of it more as a Turkish pasty, filled with some combination of peppers, tomatoes, cheese, eggs, and/or ground meat. Usually …
After visiting Ayasofya we walked a short distance to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque was built in the early 1600s. From the outside, it looks somewhat similar to the Ayasofya. We read that the Ottoman Turks were influenced by Byzantine architecture. You can see the Ayasofya from …
The heart of historic Istanbul is called Sultanahmet. It’s got the Ayasofya, the Blue Mosque, and the site of the Roman Hippodrome. It’s also got about a jillion tourists, and half a jillion shops catering to tourists. Though when we were there (in December and January), the crowds weren’t bad. And Sultanahmet is not Turkish …
It was 3 degrees F this morning (-16 C), and I have pretty much given up on my dreams of an early spring. Since not much will be happening in the garden for a while, let’s cast our minds back to December 2009, when Judy and I and the boys took a trip to Turkey. …
So this is the last post I’m going to do about the Garden Bloggers’ Fling held in Portland last summer. Fittingly, it is about the garden that hosted the event’s closing reception. This was held at Bella Madrona, a five acre garden on the outskirts of Portland. The garden has been lovingly created over more …
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may know that I like orange flowers. Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia), orange roses (‘Westerland’, for example), orange Zinnias, orange Asiatic Lilies, etc. One of the gardens we visited as part of the Portland Garden Bloggers’ Fling last July was that of JJ …
For gardeners and lovers of gardens, this coffee table book is like a great big scrumptious hot fudge sundae. Or, if you want to switch the metaphor from food to sex, this book is garden porn at its absolute finest. In and Out of Paris: Gardens of Secret Delight is mainly about private gardens and …
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