gardening

Butchart Gardens - Handout

Creating the Japanese Garden

A place to think, meditate and be at peace

  • Aug 11, 2021

 

Potatoes have two genetic centre of origins, one from the lowlands in Chile and the other from the highlands in Bolivia. The highlands potatoes flower and produce fruit profusely, which is where the seeds come from. They contribute to exciting and ecologically imporant genetic diversity of potatoes. (Submitted/Fiona Hamersley Chambers)

Vancouver Island farmer shares secret for inventing a new potato

Using seeds anyone can name their own variety

 

A native-to-B.C. wild queen bee (bombus melanopygus for those in the know) feeds on a periwinkle flower. (Submitted/Sarah Johnson, Native Bee Society of BC)

B.C.’s wild bees need messy gardens to survive

The year-long nesting period makes habitat a primary concern for wild bees

 

B.C. beekeepers will face extra supply challenges this year thanks to COVID-19 supply chain disruptions. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. bee supply threatened this year by wasps, COVID

No, bees aren’t getting COVID, it’s the supply chain that’s been disrupted

B.C. beekeepers will face extra supply challenges this year thanks to COVID-19 supply chain disruptions. (Black Press Media file photo)
Gordon Cyr and his family run Bee Canadian have been raising mason bees for 20 years and provide homeowners across the Island with pollinators every spring. (Black Press Media file photo)

Island company rents out 135,000 mason bees despite the impacts of COVID-19

Bee Canadian delivers pollinators to renters in pandemic-friendly fashion

Gordon Cyr and his family run Bee Canadian have been raising mason bees for 20 years and provide homeowners across the Island with pollinators every spring. (Black Press Media file photo)
Gardeners are preparing for the second spring during COVID-19. Business is already picking up at some Greater Victoria nurseries, including Elk Lake Garden Centre. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

Vancouver Island garden centres preparing for busy season

Businesses stocking up after last year’s COVID-19 pandemic gardening explosion

  • Mar 24, 2021
Gardeners are preparing for the second spring during COVID-19. Business is already picking up at some Greater Victoria nurseries, including Elk Lake Garden Centre. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)
Dorothee Kieser, president of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association and a volunteer at Milner Gardens and Woodland in Qualicum Beach (Submitted photo)

PQBeat: Timely tips from Dorothee Kieser of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association

Podcast: It’s never too late to develop a green thumb

Dorothee Kieser, president of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association and a volunteer at Milner Gardens and Woodland in Qualicum Beach (Submitted photo)
A new West Coast Seeds pollinator mix of cosmos pays tribute to Dr. Bonnie Henry. (Submitted photo/ We Are The Northern)

New blend by West Coast Seeds to bloom in Dr. Bonnie Henry’s name

Cosmo blend designed to attract bees, and marketed with tagline ‘Bee Calm, Bee Kind, Bee Safe’

A new West Coast Seeds pollinator mix of cosmos pays tribute to Dr. Bonnie Henry. (Submitted photo/ We Are The Northern)
Berwick Qualicum Beach resident Jack Lowe is a member of the gardening club, which adds extra beauty to the award-winning landscaping.

Award-winning Qualicum Beach residence sets the stage for creativity, fitness, and social connection

What does it feel like to live in an award-winning building in…

  • Aug 10, 2020
Berwick Qualicum Beach resident Jack Lowe is a member of the gardening club, which adds extra beauty to the award-winning landscaping.
Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes proudly shows off his rented mason bee colony. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

Saanich mayor receives his foster bees through pollinator rental program

‘I feel like I’m an adoptive father,’ Fred Haynes says of his rented mason bee colony

Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes proudly shows off his rented mason bee colony. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)
Ethan Hunt from Port Alberni questions the sharpness of a cactus at the Valley Succulents booth at Qualicum Beach Seedy Saturday in 2019. (News file photo) Ethan Hunt from Port Alberni questions the sharpness of a cactus at the Valley Succulents booth at Qualicum Beach Seedy Saturday in 2019. (News file photo)

Qualicum Beach gears up for 18th annual Seedy Saturday

Local gardeners welcome to attend the by-donation event on Feb. 1

  • Jan 25, 2020
Ethan Hunt from Port Alberni questions the sharpness of a cactus at the Valley Succulents booth at Qualicum Beach Seedy Saturday in 2019. (News file photo) Ethan Hunt from Port Alberni questions the sharpness of a cactus at the Valley Succulents booth at Qualicum Beach Seedy Saturday in 2019. (News file photo)
Plants, pots and other pretty things at Old Farm Garden Centre

Plants, pots and other pretty things at Old Farm Garden Centre

Buying business included a steep learning curve for owner Robin Knox

  • Jun 24, 2019
Plants, pots and other pretty things at Old Farm Garden Centre