CHEX TV airdate: Friday July 11th, 2014 Click here to watch this episode. I had the pleasure of visiting Greenhouse on the River to shoot two episodes of The Garden Gate. Peter Green, owner, was my guest for this episode and we talked about their beautiful containers and unique annuals. The Greenhouse on the River is a member of Peterborough and Area Garden Route. ?This is a cooperative of 9 garden related businesses in the area that each specialize in one or two areas of gardening. ?The Greenhouse is well known for their beautiful container gardens. Whether it be hanging baskets, stunning large containers or small succulent gardens, The Greenhouse on the River is the place to go. ![DSC_0586[1]](https://www.avantgardenshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DSC_05861-300x201.jpg)
Peter and Elyn as well as their staff are very knowledgeable in what plants will do well in your specific situation. And they are there to help you choose which you rarely find at box stores! I loaded my car this spring with beautiful plants and they have been doing tremendously. The fan flower (photo) is spectacular! In July they being their summer sale. So if you need to fill in a few holes, now is the time to visit. Tell them Brenda sent you! Enjoy
Avant-Garden Blog
Garden Gate: Episode 40 – Concrete Sculptures
CHEX TV airdate: June 27th, 2014 Click link to watch this episode. Concrete sculptures can add charm, interest and surprise to your garden. ?Choosing a quality piece can sometimes be a challenge however. ?Often times we find ourselves lugging heavy concrete pieces into tool sheds or garages for winter protection. But if you choose quality concrete, this isn’t necessary! 
If you’ve been in any long standing classic garden or visited places such as Versailles in France, they have very old concrete sculptures, and you’ll realize that these pieces are too large or numerous to be brought indoors each winter. Also, the longer they live in a garden the more beautiful they become. Moss and lichen begin to grow within crevices highlighting the detail in each sculpture. On this episode of The Garden Gate I provide some tips on what to look for when purchasing concrete pieces for your garden so your art will last for many years.
Garden Gate: Episode 39 – Sugar Bush Fairy Doors
CHEX TV air date: June 6th, 2014 Click link to watch 3 minute video
On this episode of The Garden Gate, I’m joined by Alan Cornfield of Sugar Bush Fairies.
Sugar Bush Fairies is a unique and exciting home based business located in the Horseshoe Valley area that?caters to the decorative needs of the fairy folk realm. ?They create enchanted handcrafted wooden fairy doors for your home and garden. ?Alan suggests that we simply lean the beautiful doors against a tree or rock, place them on a bookshelf, hang them on a wall or set them against a baseboard.? These doors are available in a variety of adorable styles to capture the eye of even the most discriminating pixie, brownie, goblin, hobbit, elf, leprechaun, sprite or other fairy folk.? Each door is a portal allowing the fairy folk to enter into our lives, bringing with them the special magic of their realm.
The chief designer behind the Sugar Bush Fairies is Alan Cornfield.? Alan is very experienced in the design and crafting of wood products.? He has been a design engineer in the furniture industry for the past 20 years.? Alan?s expertise can be seen in the meticulous work he puts into each door?s individual details.? He has the ability to capture the magic that every door promises and create it for your enjoyment.
After the doors are designed, they are then artistically painted by his partner, Sarah.? Sarah discovered her passion for painting several years ago.? She enjoys various mediums of painting, from folk art to nature.? Sarah has always been intrigued by tales of the fairy folk and was very excited to be able to assist in these creations.? Some of the fairy doors have very detailed paintings on them, which makes them one of a kind artisan collectibles.? A lot of thought and time is put into each door.
Together, Alan and Sarah have developed the Sugar Bush Fairies Studio that is located in the loft of their workshop. ?Their home is located in the Sugar Bush of Horseshoe Valley, in Oro-Medonte. ?They are inspired everyday by the nature that surrounds them in their little home in the woods.
Available at The Avant-Garden Shop and online.
Garden Gate: Episode 38 – Fair Traded Beaded Art
CHEX TV air date: May 30th, 2014
Click link to watch this episode
We strive to carry as much Canadian made product as possible as we feel it is very important to support our friends and neighbours. ?We do however know that there are many very talented artists around the world. ?If we find an item we love and it meets other criteria like Fair Trade, we’ll also add it to our selection of offerings.
This episode of The Garden Gate highlights just such a product. ?The beaded art from Beadworx is made by artisans from South-East Asia. ?The supplier works directly with the artists giving them ideas of what items and designs would sell best to their buyers and they pay them a fair wage for what they do.
There are many beautiful beaded pieces that the artisans produce including dragonfly’s, birds, butterfly’s, frogs, grasshoppers and geckos!
The beads are glass and the frames are aluminum which makes them very durable if placed outdoors. ?Aluminum won’t rust and the glass beads don’t deteriorate like plastic ones do.
Chimes, garden stakes and large wall pieces are also available.
Orders usually arrive in early spring. Due to limited supply, shop early for the best selection. ?See some of the items on our website.
Garden Gate: Episode 37 – Hummingbirds and Orioles
CHEX TV Air date: May 16th, 2014 Click link to watch this episode Hummingbirds and orioles are almost here. Visit www.hummingbirds.net to see where they have been spotted! On this episode of The Garden Gate I’ll help you choose a good quality hummingbird feeder that will last for many years.
I often have customers ask me, despite being diligent about filling their feeders,?why they don?t seem to get any hummingbirds. There could be a few reasons. Here are some tips to help you out.
-choose a quality feeder that has red colour on it -hummingbirds will not feed from feeders with insects in them, so ensure your feeder has an ant moat to keep out ants and bee guards to keep out the bees. -avoid feeders with yellow flowers as this attracts more bees -get your feeders out early (May 1st in our region) -fill with sugar solution of 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. Ensure the sugar is dissolved. It?s not necessary to boil the water as long as the sugar dissolves. -you may also consider a prepared mix as they often include extra?vitamins and nutrients?(like giving the birds orange juice vs. pop) -do not use food colouring -hang your feeder in a visble location but not the full sun -change the liquid weekly (more often in hot weather) -clean the feeder each time -hang a red scarf or red flag nearby initially to attract the bird. They are highly attracted to the red.
Hummingbirds love certain types of flowers. So include a wide variety whenever possible. Here are some of my favourites to attract the hummingbirds: Lantana, Butterfly bush, Lamium, Salvia, Trumpet vine, Morning glory, Columbine, Honeysuckle, Bee Balm, Fushia, Weigela, Petunia?s, Impatiens and even Scarlet runner beans!
Orioles 
Like hummingbirds are attacted to red, Orioles are attracted to orange. They also drink nectar in the same concentration at the hummingbird.? So pick out a feeder similar to the one recommended above but in orange!? Orioles will also eat orange slices and grape jelly!? Feeders are available for both of these options.
Orioles are a little harder to attract and keep around. They don?t cruise through gardens as easily as the hummingbirds do.? They can be found where tall trees exist, at the edges of forests and along rivers. So not everyone can attract the oriole.
Orioles also tend to move with the bloom. So if flowers have finished blooming in your yard, the bird?may continue to move north to find more blooms to drink the nectar from.
I have been able to keep orioles in my garden but not after being very consistent about providing them with a food source. It took them about 4 years of feeding before they finally stayed for a longer period than normal. So far I have been unable to find a nest, but I have seen the young at my feeder.
And one more tip for this time of year. ?Put stickers on your windows to prevent bird strikes.
These Window Alert stickers are made of an ultraviolet product that the birds can see. It acts like a giant stop light for them, but you barely notice the stickers. So if you don’t like those big black bird stickers from years ago, these are for you!
There are 4 stickers in each package. Place them on the outside of your windows. The more you use the better! ?Replace annually.
Garden Gate: Episode 36 – Outdoor wall art
CHEX TV air date: May 2nd, 2014 Click link to watch this episode 
At The Avant-Garden Shop we pride ourselves in offering beautiful wall art that is Made in Canada and high quality. During this episode I’ll highlight a few artists and show their beautiful work, which is now in stock. ?I’ll also discuss what metals are good for the outdoors and what treatment can be done to keep product from rusting. Placement of your wall art is key, so I’ll make a few suggestions on where to locate your pieces as well. For many of the works that we carry, we are the exclusive retailer of these artists works in this area. So please drop by The Avant-Garden Shop often to see what’s new. ?Because we work with artists, often the product offerings are limited they can often take time to get in again. It’s a good thing that we don’t have 100 of any item! It makes your wall art extra special and unique. Visit our website to read some information on some of our artists. We have over 100 artists
Garden Gate: Episode 35 – Peterborough Garden Show
CHEX TV Air date: April 4th, 2014 Click here to watch this episode of The Garden Gate. The Peterboroug
h Garden Show is coming up quickly! ?My guest this episode is Rachel Burrows from the Peterborough Horticultural Society. Rachel is also the chair of The Garden Show. ?She’ll share information on what’s new for this show. New exhibitors, new speakers and new demos. She’ll also offer some tips on the best time to visit the show, parking and where (besides The Avant-Garden Shop) to buy your advance tickets. Please visit their website for full information.
Garden Gate: Episode 34 – Historical Homes in The Avenues
CHEX airdate: Friday March 21st, 2014 Click here to watch this episode of The Garden Gate. 
Some of the oldest homes in Peterborough are in “The Avenues.” ?Homes were built here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This includes Pearl, Elias, Margaret, Frederick, Maitland, a portion of Charlotte St. etc. The area is under consideration for the first Heritage designation district within the City. An article appeared in November of 2013 in?The Peterborough Examiner?on this topic. It’s a popular area for history buffs including those who like to see some of the oldest trees in the City as well. ?A few years ago a Heritage Home and Tree tour was also developed for the area. During this episode of The Garden Gate I spoke with local history buff, Dave McLeod about the neighbourhood. Dave loves to research the history on the historical homes and has had quite a number of address plaques designed for them. ?The plaques highlight the year the home was built, who built it and what they did for a living. ?Dave tells us a bit of history on a few of the residents of the area including a police officer who was charged with murder! The research is done by Mr. McLeod and the plaques are produced through The Avant-Garden Shop. Made from cast aluminum, these plaques will be on these homes for many years to come. Next time you’re in the area have a look and learn a bit about of City’s great history. If you live in an older home and would like to learn more about the history and have a plaque prepared, contact The Avant-Garden Shop. ? ?
Garden Gate: Episode 33 – AGS’s Internet presence
CHEX airdate: Friday March 7th, 2014 Click here to watch this episode of The Garden Gate If I do say so myself, we have a wonderful website. Our web designers, Black Cap Design, ?set up our site quite a few years ago and we’ve been adding to it ever since! It began with the main informational website and then a shopping cart was added for online ordering. ?We were able to add lots of products and found over the years that many people would find us because of the website. More recently we’ve added this blog to be able to share information appropriate for gardeners and birders who frequent the shop. We have also added links to our YouTube, Twitter accounts and also our Facebook page. I need to do more on Pinterest…and maybe Instagram…but you can’t do it all! We feel it’s very important to keep this information fresh and current. It takes a lot of time, but is worth it in the end. No point in having a website that is old and stagnant which then frustrates your customers. Working with our web designers has been a breeze over the years. We highly recommend Carrie and Pat from Black Cap Design. Locally owned too! ?