Christmas In Castleton

The 1st Annual Christmas In Castleton Artisans' Show & Sale to Benefit the Castleton Library takes place at the Castleton Town, Castleton, ON, on Saturday, November 21, 10am - 5pm and Sunday November 22, 10am - 3pm.

Admission is free.

The lovely Castleton Town Hall will be beautifully decorated for the season with artworks and crafts displayed throughout.

Paintings, photographs, wood carving, handmade natural soaps, cards and papers, Christmas decorations, maple syrup and lavender products, birdhouses, knitting, jewellery and beaded accessories are among the items offered for sale by our talented artisans.

Don't miss the 1st Annual Christmas In Castleton!

www.ChristmasInCastleton.ca

The last of the Peonies have shipped ...

Yes, we have shipped out the last of the peonies for this season and the rest are safely tucked away in their beds for a long winter nap.
Thanks to all of our http://www.peoniesfromthefield.com/ customers and friends for a great year!!!!
All the best - Gordon & Lana

"AMARE - A True Italian Love Story"

I took my own advice in August and took an afternoon off to sit in the garden (http://www.gardenhouseperennials.com/GardenGossipAugust609.htm ).



The truth is, I didn't intend to spend a whole self indulgent afternoon there, but when I started to read Sheila Wright's first book "Amare", I couldn't put it down (even though I knew how it turned out). With guilty pleasure I let her enchantingly told story draw me into her romantic adventure.





Sheila founded the Warkworth Writers' Group and this lovely book is available at Chapters and Amazon.
.




Perhaps there is a "happily ever after". -LTM

What we do....

We are always surprised when someone says "I pass by your place nearly everyday. The gardens are really beautiful, but what do you do?"

Without a huge advertising budget, small "niche" businesses like ourselves, do have a struggle in getting the word out, and although we think it is fairly straight forward what we do, it's obviously not so clear.

So for the benefit of those who don't know what we do, here goes:

Gordon is a plantsman who designs gardens using perennial plants. His particular focus is on planting combinations of long blooming plants for late season interest. That is, he designs gardens that bloom from June until well into October. Although he tends toward mass plantings for larger gardens in commercial applications, he is well able to design gardens to suit the tastes of his clients in their home gardens. Garden bed preparation and interesting and unusal plant selections and combinations that thrive in the growing conditions of a site are his particular strengths.

In support of his garden design business, Gordon grows plants that we also offer for sale at the nursery. The nursery is open limited hours that are always posted on our website http://www.gardenhouseperennials.com/ and in our weekly e-newsletter. (Click here to sign up)

In addition to the garden design business and the nursery plant sales, we also sell top quality bareroot Peonies and Daylilies from our websites http://www.peoniesfromthefield.com/ and http://www.dayliliesfromthefield.com/. We ship across Canada and to the United States.

We hope this sheds some light on "what we do" and welcome everyone's comments, questions and suggestions. TTFN

Plants From Friends...

Plants that we receive from friends are placed in special spots in our gardens. They remain there, constant reminders of these good people.

Here are a few that have come to our gardens:

This perennial sweet pea is from brother Emerson.

A vibrant red monarda we call "Mrs. MacKenzie" came from Emerson's good neighbour Helen MacKenzie.

Juliet Mannock gave us this rose whose beautiful blooms grace our garden each spring.

Another rose, this one from our friend Peggy Howden (Old Barn Perennials). This long blooming beauty is a constant reminder of our kind and generous friend.

Thank you to to all of our friends who have kindly given us beautiful plants for our gardens...

Photographers Are Welcome at GardenHouse

At GardenHouse, our display gardens are not just a resource for gardeners, photographers can also enjoy the opportunity to capture the beauty on camera. There are countless subjects for macro photography enthusiasts and for the nature photographer there are the beautiful scenic vistas of the Northumberland Hills.

Individual photographers are welcome free of charge and without appointment during our open hours (http://www.gardenhouseperennials.com/Our%20Store%20&%20Nursery.htm) and at other times by appointment or by chance. Camera clubs and other groups of 5 photographers or more are welcome for a small charge. Please contact us by email at info@gardenhouseperennials.com or by phone at 905-344-5022 for scheduling.

First Annual Coneflower Festival at Old Barn Perennials, Colborne

Our friend, Peggy, at Old Barn Perennials in Colborne is hosting her First Annual Coneflower Festival this weekend July 25 and 26.

Peggy has a wonderful collection of coneflowers and other perennials.

Treat yourself to a visit this weekend.

Old Barn Perennials

13794 County Road 2

Colborne, ON

905-344-2000

... for thought

"Gardening is not some game by which one proves his superiority over others, nor is it a marketplace for the display of elegant things that others cannot afford. It is, on the contrary, a growing work of creation, endless in its changing elements. It is not a monument or an achievement, but a sort of travelling, a kind of pilgrimage you might say, often a bit grubby or sweaty, though true pilgrims do not mind that. A garden is not a picture, but a language, which is of course the major art of life."

By Henry Mitchell The Essential Earthman

GardenHouse Blog "Update"

It was such a busy spring, we didn't have much time for blogging, but we took lots of pictures.

The peonies were fantastic both in the field and in the gardens. They really put on a nice show.

These peonies were cut for the June 20th wedding of our friends Cathy and James. The spring was late enough that most of the blooms for the wedding were cut the day or two before. But we did have the opportunity to test out Mr. Hollingsworth's instructions on "Cutting and Storing Peony Flowers For Later Use". It worked perfectly. See (http://www.peony.ca/e_html/articles/cut.htm) .

Congratulations dear friends!!!! Cheers to a blessed and happy life together.

The weather has definitely been on the cool side, don't you think!! Regardless, the GardenHouse display gardens are becoming quite the local attraction with visitors already this year from places as far off as Ottawa and Strafford. The gardens really are a resource, gardening enthusiasts come back every 2-3 weeks to follow the plants through the seasons. Gord, as usual, would rather build new beds than do the weeding, so there is always something new to see. Lana is taking pictures every day or two and will be better at posting some of them here.

Telekia (Oxeye) graced us with it's lively bloom.


The Munstead Lavender has made it through it's third winter.













The asiatic lilies have been wonderful this year. Here they are in combination with Orange Meadowbright Echinacea (Art's Pride) and Leucanthemum Becky daisies.

Salvia 'May Night' in front of Liatris, is such a photogenic combination.

Well that's it for now ... we'll eventually get the hang of this blogging thing. All the best to our good gardening friends...G&L

"For The Love of Gardening" Peterborough 2009

The Chainsaw Carvers had a large display outside at the Evinrude Centre for the 2009 Peterborough Garden Show.


Can't wait to get out and do some gardening? The usually well attended Peterborough Garden Show "For the Love of Gardening" helps to take the edge off. This annual event was held this year on Easter Weekend
Thursday, April 9 (6 - 9 p.m.),
Friday, April 10 (10 a.m. - 6 p.m.),
Saturday, April 11 (10 a.m. - 6 p.m.)
at the Evinrude Centre,
911 Monaghan Road in Peterborough.

We visited the Canadian Peony Society booth attended by Judi Denny (right) and Mary Ellen Simerson.

Judi, delightful as always, is so full of useful peony information. It's worth the price of admission just to be able to ask her any peony question you can think of. She is an amazing resource.


To find out about membership, upcoming events and to learn more about the "CPS" visit http://www.peony.ca/.

Also at the show was LavenderHills from Brighton. All their products are made in Canada, with pure lavender essential oil. Lana's favourite is their Lavender Hand Lotion. It's a wonderfully smooth nourishing lotion with a subtle lavender fragrance. If you've missed them at the show visit their store at 15653 Hwy.#2, Brighton or visit their website http://www.lavenderhills.ca/.





Other popular vendors were:

Tomar Crafts - Bird Houses and Feeders - These wonderful rustic constructions from reclaimed materials and natural elements are made by Tom and Marge Hetherington from Fenelon Falls.

You Rock - Natural Stone Birdbaths, Benches, Garden Lights, Etc - Apsley, Ontario
www.you-rock.bravehost.com - Made by Scott Switzer, these are beautiful natural stone garden pieces that are completely happy to be left out year round in the elements.

There was so much to see and buy including many tempting plants. But alas, as much as we would like to get started planting and dividing, we still need to be a little patient. In our neck of the woods, or should we say, out standing in our field, it's still a little early. It won't be long now.

All the best to our gardening friends...

Home Renovation Tax Credit

Good News - The Canadian Home Renovation Tax Credit announced in the 2009 federal government budget does include garden design and installation service expenditures and perennial plant and shrub purchases for eligible home renovations. The 15% credit may be claimed on the portion of eligible expenditures exceeding $1,000, but not more than $10,000, meaning that the maximum tax credit that can be received is $1,350. Taxpayers can claim the HRTC when filing their 2009 tax return.