The image of a spectacular Kalanchoe blossom jump-started some online investigation this week.  I wanted to know more about this popular succulent and this image in particular.

It turns out the plant in the photo is actually Bryophyllum delagoense, often called Mother of Millions. It is frequently placed in the Kalanchoe plant genus and is labelled as such.  The small structures you can see in the image are tiny plantlets that break off and ultimately take root.  It's a great adaption for success.  

I should have realized this colourful bloom couldn't belong to 
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (also called Christmas Kalanchoe, Florist Kalanchoe, Madagascar Widow’s-thrill or Flaming Katy). But then, every plant family has its 'colourful' relatives, right?

The more common Kalanchoe I know grows well indoors, given judicious watering and good drainage.  When its blooms are spent, it can be coaxed into bloom again with a simulated six-week winter. It takes a little effort, but with such bright rewarding blooms, it is worth it.

I browsed several articles about Kalanchoe.  I recommend reading Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Care & Reblooming ​(2 Jan 2018) by fellow blogger Kat McCarthy at The Succulent Eclectic. It's an excellent primer. Then head off to the supermarket or florist to purchase one of these sweet little succulents.  What a nice way to brighten the winter days.

Want to know more?
Kalanchoe is among the top ten most difficult common plant names, according to David Beaulieu, who compiled the list in his article Why We Use Scientific Names for Plants.  Kalanchoe has four pronunciations, all of which are correct! 

• KA-luhn-KO-e
• kuh-LANG-ko-e
• KAL-uhn-cho
• kuh-LAN-cho

Two things came my way today – a beautiful picture and a meaningful quote.  These two things remind me – or gently admonish me –  that it's high time something bloomed on my garden blog. 

The Picture ...
This bellflower (I cannot name the campanula cultivar) was photographed quickly in the front yard of a gardening acquaintance.  It was blooming happily in a perennial bed that earlier in the season I'd help to redesign. 

Sharing experience is a natural impulse for most gardeners.  I like to think I'm fairly generous in sharing the things I've learned in my garden.  Still, I hadn't thought about 'not sharing' in quite this way.  I think Annie Dillard is right.  When we fail to share what we've learned – and that reaches across all areas of life – it does become lost to us.  I've found what is true in life is true in the garden and vice versa.  The lessons flow from one to the other.  So I ask you – could a garden writer receive a stronger prompt to get busy and write?

​Until the next post ...

During the time I was building my current – and fourth – garden, I picked up Elizabeth's Garden: Elizabeth Smart on the Art of Gardening at a book swap. "During the last years of her life, Canadian author Elizabeth Smart devoted herself to creating a magnificent garden around her cottage in Suffolk, England.  She documented her gardening in a series of eleven journals and twenty notebooks," says Google Books' thumbnail sketch of the title: The resulting book, edited by Alice Van Wart, includes excerpts from Smart's writings from 1967 to 1984, and "describes the evolution of her garden, and herself as a gardener."

This last observation – the evolution of the gardener – is the reason I love gardening memoir.  I am always curious about the motivations and passions of the people who create gardens.  These stories remind us that gardens thrive on imagination as much as they do on compost.

Seed catalogues are growing dog-eared.  We gardeners have visions of growing things  dancing in our heads.  This is seedy season – that wonderful time before the real gardening work begins.  It's that time when the exchange of seeds and gardening tips is taking place all across the country.

Chances are a Seedy Saturday event is planned in your community.  Judy Newman of Seeds of Diversity, explains that "these non-profit, public events are organized by individuals and community groups that see a need for gardeners, seed companies, nurseries, gardening organizations, historic sites, and community groups to have a low-cost local venue where they can learn from one another, exchange ideas and seeds, and purchase seeds and plants in a comfortable, social setting."  ​View the list of Seedy Saturday events for 2018.

Not everyone has access to a formal seed exchange.  That makes online sources for seed very important to many gardeners.  Seeds of Diversity has a marvelous annotated list of Canadian seed houses that you will want to peruse. Many of these seed providers offer heritage seeds.

If you are new to seed starting or if you've not been successful in the past, the all-Canadian garden magazine, Garden Making offers some practical help. Register online to download two free Garden Know How resources:  Starting Seeds Indoors and Starting Seeds Outdoors. Both publications offer basic information and useful tips for seeding success.

Over the years, I've been impressed with the calibre of information for both expert and beginning gardeners offered in Garden Making.  The editors readily share information at no charge through these Garden Know How publications, a regular e-newsletter, and a garden blog.  It's not easy to sustain a magazine these days and this one is worth supporting, in my view.  Garden Making is guided by editor-in-chief Beckie Fox, one of my garden heroes. 

This year, the leading trend is The Small Garden.  As the editors explain, "These days, space is at a premium — but, designers are determined to make even the smallest of gardens useful and attractive. While small gardens are by no means new, we've noticed great progress in the way they are designed. In this case, less really can be more."  Read more here ... and enjoy!