Has gardening fever taken hold of you this year? You are not alone. The practice has never been so popular in Canada, especially among young people and city dwellers. More than one million households want to learn gardening in 2022, according to a survey produced by Dalhousie University and the firm Angus Reid. Here are some ideas from our archives to decorate your garden.
Posted at 4:00 p.m.
Colorful plants in the vegetable garden
There are a host of varieties of plants that will brighten up your garden quickly and sometimes even all summer long. Better still, the vast majority of the vegetable gardens that we present to you today are sold in plants. Instant color!
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Lettuces: preferably use leafy varieties, which are easier to grow than head or romaine. Several have very cut leaves with purple or soft green colors.
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PHOTO GETTY IMAGES
Yellow zucchini: cultivars are usually early, showy and exquisite. “One Ball” is round, delicious too. To be picked when it is the size of a tennis ball.
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PHOTO ARCHIVES PRESS
Several varieties of small peppers are prolific and very decorative. To buy in seedlings to enjoy the beauty of their fruits as long as possible.
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PHOTO GETTY IMAGES
From the beet family, Swiss chard leaves taste like spinach. They are the size of a hand and grow on very colorful, shiny petioles. From bright yellow to pink, red, orange and green.
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PHOTO ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Chives: delicate stems, edible and very persistent purple flowers.
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Pierre Gingras, Special Collaboration
Pick your herbs
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
It is important to ensure that the plants are well hydrated. Watering should be done every two or three days, or daily in hot weather.
The garden is filled with aromatic herbs that we can’t wait to incorporate into our dishes. A few tips help you get the most out of it throughout the summer. Renée Gélineau, head horticulturist for the urban vegetable gardening company Semis urbains answered our questions on this subject.
Isabelle Morin, The Press
To the rescue of the bees
Threats to bee populations are putting these little insects on the spot. To protect their populations in a sustainable way, every little piece of garden counts.
Five plants that make bees happy
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PHOTO ARMAND TROTTIER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
White clover: its white flowers bloom from June to October. They are a treat for the bees. Planted in lawns, clover makes it easier to maintain and helps enrich the soil by fixing the nitrogen retained in the air.
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PHOTO FROM FLEURSDUQUEBEC.COM
Véronique du Québec: with its large blue ears that bloom from May to June, it attracts bees and butterflies to the garden.
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THINKSTOCK PHOTO
Sea bergamot: also called wild bergamot, this native bergamot has clusters of up to 50 compact mauve flowers. It flowers from June to September.
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PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Milkweed: its nectar is essential to the survival of monarchs and is appreciated by bees. Milkweed comes in hues of pink, orange, and mauve, and blooms from July through August.
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PHOTO FROM MICHEL LACHAUME’S FACEBOOK PAGE
The goldenrod: when its stems are adorned with flamboyant yellow flowers, the goldenrod offers abundant food.
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Isabelle Morin, The Press
Set fire to the garden
Condiment par excellence for thrill seekers, chilli surprises like no other in the mouth. In the vegetable garden, it ignites gardeners with its flamboyant presence and diversity. Faced with such attractions, how to remain lukewarm?
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
In the vegetable garden, the pepper sets gardeners ablaze with its flamboyant presence and its diversity.
Isabelle Morin, The Press
Summer bulbs: for a tropical touch
Spring heralds the flowering of bulbs planted in the fall, but also the return of summer bulbs: dahlia, canna, gladioli or tuberous begonias. Flamboyant when they are adorned with generously sized and brightly colored flowers, these plants also have the advantage of improving from year to year. Generous? Certainly. With a little warmth and some care.
PHOTO PIERRE MCCANN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The canna is highly ornamental and adds exoticism to the garden, as here, with these Canna Tropicanna.
Isabelle Morin, The Press
Protein in the garden
Legumes are carving out an increasingly significant place in the diet. In the vegetable garden, they timidly allow themselves to be discovered by curious gardeners. Rare sources of protein in the garden, they delight all year round on the plate and seduce more than one in their quest for self-sufficiency.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY VALSE DES SAISONS
Varieties of beans grown at La Valse des saisons farm
Isabelle Morin, The Press