A couple of months ago I promised to share my Successful Gardening show presentation “Fun, Whimsical and Crazy Gardens” on this blog. It was an hour long presentation, and for brevity’s sake I’m writing three different blogs: fun, whimsical, and crazy.

I have already covered the “fun” aspect. Whimsical is next, and it’s the hardest to describe. Whimsical is used so loosely. Very often it’s used for cutesy, playful gardens. But whimsical gardens are so much more than that.

Written on Thursday, December 8, 2011 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

I’ve heard gardens are a metaphor for life. Lofty, idealistic words, I thought, and possibly a pile of crap. Well, nature provides.

Written on Saturday, October 15, 2011 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

Filled with turkey and stuffing, writing a list of garden-related thanksgiving thoughts is easier said than done. Turkey combined with tons of carbs make me sleepy. Anyways, enough bitching, the top 5 garden-related things I am grateful for are:

Written on Monday, October 10, 2011 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

This year I bought my husband, the weather buff, a high quality weather station for his birthday. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.

Written on Saturday, October 8, 2011 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

I love working at Starbucks in the morning…I am productive; I treat myself to my favourite coffee and occasionally I find out something interesting. This week, I found out about the ant problem we are having this spring from a neighbour who works at the nearby Rona.

Written on Friday, June 3, 2011 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

Jake Gorman, a publicist working on the Home Entertainment release of Gnomeo & Juliet for eOne Films contacted me a week ago. He wondered if could write a short list of “great ways to add gnomes to the garden,” as part of their online publicity campaign.

 image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Written on Monday, May 9, 2011 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

Growing flowers…that was the most popular answer I received when I did an informal survey at my Curves fitness group.

Written on Thursday, May 5, 2011 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

Two years ago, my husband and I bought a house in Brampton. The 12-year-old house is a humble little Quad (like a semi-detached, only with four houses instead of two) with a tiny backyard (20 ft by 32 ft).

Of course, the backyard garden was depressing sight.

Written on Friday, February 18, 2011 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

Farming in town — providing food for your family just steps away from the kitchen — has become a widespread social phenomenon. You know a movement has arrived when the Smithsonian magazine features urban farming in its 40^th anniversary edition.

Written on Friday, July 2, 2010 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva

Smart, sexy kitchen gardens. Why not?

Written on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 in Gardens

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Written by Cristina da Silva