If you were allowed just one garden plant, what would it be?
Charlie Dobbin
Richmond Hill, Ont.
Owner, Garden Solutions by Charlie Dobbin
A big tree.
It's always 10 degrees cooler under the dense shade of, say, an oak or a maple. And one tree removes 12 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the air, which is equivalent to 18,000 kilometre's worth of car emissions.
Jim Hole
St. Albert, Alta.
Co-owner, Hole's Greenhouses
Nothing makes a bolder statement - or evokes more romantic memories of holidays in the sun-than bougainvillea.
I keep mine inside in winter and put it outdoors in spring. By early summer, it's covered with some 400 magenta flowers, and blooms until frost.
Wilf Nicholls
St. John's
Director, Botanical Garden, Memorial University of Newfoundland
I love alpine pasque flower (Pulsatilla alpina ssp. apiifolia).
It nods up with stunning yellow flowers, then leaves behind great big fuzzy knock-your-socks-off seedheads - so don't deadhead it!
Des Kennedy
Denman Island, B.C.
Author
The noble garlic.
Lovely to behold, easy to cultivate, a treasure to taste and spectacularly health-inducing, Allium sativum also has, as old Aristophanes himself testified, the capacity for restoring masculine vigour. When I'm old and possibly in need, I'm sure I'll love it all the more.
Robert Bateman
Salt Spring Island, B.C.
Artist
Moss.
I'll do almost anything to encourage its growth. Whether it's on the apple trees in my orchard or old stone walls in Europe, moss lifts my heart. For me, west coast and tropical mossy forests are almost sacred places. Hmm, I hope that's
not sacrilegious.
Alexander Reford
Grand-Métis, Que.
Director, The Reford Gardens
The Himalayan blue poppy
Meconopsis is the most mysterious and exotic non-native plant in our gardens. Yes, it's difficult to grow, but doesn't that add to the adventure? Four weeks of breathtaking glory are worth the trouble.
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