SHIFTING ROOTS

home, garden, food, and prairie lifestyle

20+ Canadian Seed Companies & Nurseries to Order the Garden or Landscape of Your Dreams

Are you a beginner gardener with no idea where to buy your seeds?  Whether you’re looking for flowers or vegetables, heirloom seeds, organic seeds, wildflower seeds for your xeriscape, or hardy fruit trees, you’ll find something in this list.

Are you a beginner gardener with no idea where to start?  Whether you're looking for flowers or vegetables, heirloom seeds, organic seeds, wildflower seeds for your xeriscape, or hardy fruit trees, you'll find something in this list. Order early so you can try seed starting before it's gardening season! #gardening #seedstarting #seeds #startingseeds #flowers #vegetables #landscaping #seedcompanies
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Beginners Guide to Peonies: Growing Tips and Beautiful DIYs.

Peony season is finally here!  For two weeks in June peony lovers everywhere rejoice and furiously arrange and photograph their precious flowers. . . or maybe that’s just me.  There’s nothing like those delicate shades of pink and that glorious scent wafting from every bloom.

But peonies aren’t always as easy to grow as they might seem. In this post, I go over how to grow peonies, what you can expect when you add them to your perennial garden, and some tips for transplanting them.

Did you know that peonies make excellent cut flowers? Once they have established, peonies will provide you with many cut flowers to use in the five DIY flower arrangements I’ve listed at the end of the post.

If you live in hardiness zones 2-8, you really need to pick up a peony root from your nearest garden centre or friend with too many on her hands.  Here’s everything you need to know to grow and play with herbaceous peonies.

For two weeks every summer I am blessed with gorgeous pink and white peonies. Learn how to grow beautiful peonies in your front yard, the best way to cut them, and how to store them for later. Lots of DIY ideas including bridal bouquets, wedding flowers, fun arrangements, and even some beautiful floral hoop wreaths.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase something.  You can read more about it in my privacy policy.  Thanks for supporting Shifting Roots!

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How to Grow A Floret-Style Cut Flower Garden on the Cheap

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something from one of the links, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for supporting Shifting Roots!

Do you dream of a yard full of beautiful cut flowers and filling your Instagram feed with their gorgeous blooms?  If you’ve read the Floret Farm’s Cut Flower book or seen their Instagram feed, chances are you’ve caught the flower bug and are wondering how you could ever make your flower fantasies come true.  Just me?  Anyway.

I interviewed Saskatoon’s Danielle Fulawka, a full-time artist and cut flower gardener (yes, you read that correctly!!) and asked her to spill her secrets on how she was able to start a Floret-style flower farm in her small city backyard on the cheap.  She was able to start her business from scratch for $2000 and break even in the first year.

Did you know you can start your own flower farm in a small backyard? Danielle shares how she started a flower farm business with cut flowers like Floret for under $2000. You'll never believe how many bouquets she grew in her zone 3 annual flower garden. #cutflowers #flowerfarm
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This Is What Your Urban Garden Can Grow in One Year

Think you have too little space in your city backyard to garden?  I’m here to tell you that as long as you have decent light, you don’t.

This year I planted a small garden in my backyard in a designated garden area, amongst my flowers wherever there was space, in pots, and in three raised beds.  That sounds like a lot of space, but it really isn’t.

Here are my results.

Have you ever wondered how much you can really grow in your urban garden? It might be more than you think! I'm sharing the results of growing vegetables in a tiny garden plot, on my patio in pots, and in a few garden boxes. #urbangardening #gardening #growingvegetables #smallspacegardening #citygardening

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The Solution to an Unused Side Yard: Graham & Sarah’s Urban Garden

If you’ve ever had the privilege to live on a corner lot, you know the struggle.  What do you do with that small piece of land that’s facing the street but isn’t your backyard?

You could fence it in, but no one will ever play there and no one wants to be relegated to the dark corner of the yard to “relax.”

You could just leave it be, but all of that grass seems like a waste of real estate.  It’s also a waste of your time to mow, especially if you have an electric lawn mower!!

My friends Graham and Sarah have come up with a fantastic solution: grow a raised bed vegetable garden.

Corner lots are wonderful, but they come with the dreaded narrow side yard. If yours has full sun, you can easily turn it into a low maintenance raised bed vegetable garden. Here's how Sarah and Graham did it in their landscaping makeover. #sideyard #landscaping #ideas #garden #makeover

Today we’re going on a tour of their yard and talking about the project, the best parts, and what they wish they’d done differently.

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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