Judith Cox

Judith Cox

Judith Cox is a Master Gardener and President of the Stittsville Goulbourn Horticultural Society . The many topics covered in her blogs include starting a garden, planting seeds, selecting the best seeds, identifying specific plants, and growing produce other than what is found at the grocery store. Every issue offers solutions to common issues faced by gardeners, including wildlife, whether to water, pests, snails, and other issues. During the winter, Judith writes for local journals and newspapers, give talks at local horticultural clubs on a range of gardening topics. She also finds time to run a small business selling watercolor and pen and ink cards.

Articles by Judith Cox

Try Fermenting Tomato Seeds to Improve Seed Quality

I cut tomatoes to open them, scooped out the seeds and put them in a jar with some water. This caused the seeds to…
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Growing All My Peppers in Pots

I found that peppers growing with flowers that attracted pollinators did better that those that were planted by themselves. I think a splash of…
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Organizing My Seeds

The envelopes in the Christmas container can hold my seed catalogues. I am not the most organized gardener, but if all of my seeds…
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Microgreens for Breakfast

Microgreens often start with two little leaves, and then they will get a couple more. This is the time that I clip them as…
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Planting in the Sun

Judith discusses the importance of locating your plants in the sun It is a grey day with various types of precipitation and a heavy…
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Preparing Roses for Winter

Judith’s advice on preparing roses for winter includes netting, breaking off weak branches, mulching, and how to use snow as an insulator. This is…
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Bee Hotel Research

Judith makes observations, including on bee and wasp diversity, as part of research done by a PhD student, as the bee hotel is dismantled…
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Bird Netting for Roses in Winter

This week, Judith shares how she prepares her roses for winter, including the use of netting and the importance of snow cover. The temperature…
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Join a Horticultural Society

This week, Judith reveals the merits of joining a horticultural society, how to prepare fairy gardens for winter, and thoughts on recycling pots. On…
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On Harvesting and Drying Sage

Judith describes her simple process for drying sage. I stopped and drank in the view this morning on my way to open the chicken…
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A Method for Saving Tomato Seeds

Judith discusses a slightly different method of saving tomato seeds, which involves fermenting the seeds to improve their quality. It is a dark morning…
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On Trees around Eastern Ontario

By Owen Clarkin, Ottawa Field Naturalist Club. All photos courtesy of Owen. One particularly interesting story from this summer is a population of apparently…
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Calendula Seeds In an Envelope

For calendula seeds, once it is dry, I shake the seedhead into an envelope and store the seeds in a cool, dark place. They…
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Seed Collection and Saving

Seed collection is always done on a sunny day because wet seeds can go moldy very quickly. Ripe seeds should fall easily from the…
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Going to Seed

Several flowers and vegetables are going to seed. I took the opportunity to carefully collect Sweet Cubanelle pepper seeds. The humidity is oppressive this…
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Cubanelle pepper

Cubanelle pepper, beautiful, sweet, from the species Capsicum annuum, is almost ready to pick. It has gone through some tough times with chipmunks digging in…
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Nasturtium Vinaigrette Recipe

Today I am straining my nasturtium vinegar and making my Nasturtium Vinaigrette. I like to use basil as my herb, but really the herb…
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Zaatar Climbing Herb

Zaatar is an interesting herb and kind of acts like a climbing sage. The leaves are good to eat fresh, and they are quite…
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Magnesium Deficiency In Plants

Magnesium deficiency in plants can be identified most commonly by yellowing leaves while the veins remain green. The lower leaves usually turn yellow first.…
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Colourful Flowers of My Morning Garden

My colourful flowers were so beautiful. The Emily Carr rose that had such horrible winter damage is covered in deep red roses. One of…
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Judith’s Oregano Pesto

Oregano is a woody perennial, so I often harvest only the young plants. I have discovered that my oregano makes amazing pesto! It is…
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Deadhead Flowers For More Flowers!

Deadheading flowers is a very important job to do in the garden as it helps to increase the number of blooms on your plants.…
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Putting Houseplants Outside

Many of your houseplants would love a little summer vacation outside. I recommend that you avoid direct sunlight however because too much full sun…
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Spike Mats Solution To Plants Being Dug Up

The spike mats worked to keep the chipmunks away. The areas where I had put spike mats were not touched, so that was encouraging.…
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