Organic Gardening News

In the darkest, coldest time of year, with the holidays over and the evening light displays disappearing, we can all use a little pick-me-up. For the gardening community, it’s a seed catalogue.

Paging through the vegetable sections, looking at all the new and heritage varieties of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, and thinking about where you can fit in all the new ones … going through the annuals, with so many vibrant colours, and imagining where you can fit them into your containers and baskets … is one of the most uplifting winter experiences I can think of. You can almost taste the various herbs, like thyme, sage and coriander or cilantro, as you page through the catalogue. Each section promises meaningful additions to which we can look forward.

Garden stores are already receiving racks of seeds and folks are all ready for a good, long browse. The best thing is, you can pick up your seeds now and store them until you are safe to get them started and planted out. It’s also the best time to pick up those varieties that are often in short supply, so you’ll have your favourites for your garden and containers.

The seed business, worldwide, is expanding because seeds are the least expensive way of either growing your own food or adding colour to your home garden. When you think about it, it’s pretty amazing what a tiny speck of a seed can produce in a relatively short period of time. As with all things to do with gardening, a little strategic planning in your planting, and the experience you gain, go a long way to achieving success.

I love that the garden media folks in the U.S. who track trends in gardening and have designated 2026 as “The Year of Lemonading”. They have characterized it as “transforming setbacks into opportunities through creativity, mindfulness, and a sense of joy.” It simply means turning the experience of gardening into more joyful learning and breaking free from being “wrong.” Treat gardening “fails” as experiments, laughing at it, and getting on with it in a positive frame of mind.

Learning to have success with seeds is just that. After 50-plus years of growing plants from seed, and even when everything has supposedly been done just the way it should be, somehow something messes up. Get over it, learn from it and do it again, but be more mindful of how you achieve success, in a positive way, and have a chuckle over it.

The most important lesson seeds can teach us is a sense of timing. Weather is fickle, and if you are planning for an early start, be extra cautious. It’s always better to be a bit later than too early when starting seeds. Most seed catalogues will give you approximate seeding dates, so use them.

It’s also critical to keep a diary or journal of when and how you start everything you seed. When next year comes around, it will be invaluable information, which you will constantly be updating.

Even though spring weather can be fickle, every day we get more daylight and the soil becomes warmer. The silver bullet is having a cold frame or somewhere you can place your sprouted seedlings to acclimatize them, allowing them to toughen up without stretching. Small greenhouse structures, covered with poly are ideal, even up on your decks. You will need to have a small electric heather for cool evenings, but young seedlings can stay in there for weeks until the ground is warm enough to set them out.

Onions are a prime example; large Spanish-type type onions, as well as novelty varieties, need an early start to develop their sweetness. We usually seed them in late January to have strong seedlings ready to go out early, but because February and early March weather can be very frosty and cold, we hold them in cold houses for three to four weeks after they have germinated. As a result, the plants are much stronger and are very resilient when they go out to tolerate light frosts. Early vegetables like lettuce, Swiss chard and all the early brassicas are started in late February and hardened off to go out in mid to late March.

For early colour, pansies and violas are started in early January and hardened off for setting out mid-March. This gives you a sense of timing for some of the earlier starts.

Direct seeding for bigger, cold hardy, vegetables like peas, Broad beans, and radishes can usually start when we get consistent daytime temperatures of 10°C.

Raised beds and garden areas that are more protected from cooler prevailing winds will allow you an earlier start, too, since raised beds will generally be 4-8°C warmer than garden bed soil.

As for indoor seeding, there are a few basics: Use cell packs of various sizes so you can germinate smaller numbers of seeds at a time, in relation to the size of your garden. We reuse planting trays over and over again by sterilizing with a 10 per cent bleach solution between crops.

A good seed starting mix is also very important. You must have good drainage, but also enough moisture retention to keep the seeds viable.

More and more often, I’m finding that heat mats are almost essential to keep a consistent average temperature for even germination. You will find your percentage of germination will improve dramatically with these mats.

Watering cans with a good nozzle that will provide even watering with smaller openings for more gentle streams is critically important. Always use warm, never cold, water!

To control the height of your seedlings and stop them from stretching, overhead lighting is essential. Keep the light source close to your seeding trays for the best results and leave the lights on 24 hours a day.

Once the seeds have begun to crack and germinate, you need to check them two or three times a day to ensure they have just the right amount of moisture.

Clear plastic overhead domes or covers and important to control both heat and humidity.

Once your seeds have sprouted and true leaves begin to develop, move them to a cold frame with cooler temperatures and good light. Keep them drier with good air circulation, allowing them to toughen and strengthen up. If you see any sign of wilting or “dampening off,” use a mist of garden sulphur or an organic fungicide to protect them.

If you have challenges, re-evaluate your procedures, but don’t blame the seed. The seed we have in Canada has been tested for germination and is some of the best in the world. Most of all, have fun and celebrate your successes with seeds.

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For some people it seems effortless: a casually placed quilt softens the angles on a chair, throw pillows pick up a colour from a much-loved artwork and a layout that naturally guides movement through the space. Together these design choices create that indefinable feeling of comfort and welcome. For those still searching for the combinations to create that ambience, colour and design experts have plenty of insights to share.

Colour is an important element in interior design that can significantly impact the ambience and mood of a home. Indeed, says Langley-based colour expert Maria Killam , “it is a magical thing that can make you absolutely love your space.”

It’s all about choosing the right colour, the hue that will pull the whole room together, says Killam who runs an edesign business and has developed a colour system and neutral colour wheel to help people select the paint colour that will connect all the elements in their space.

Killam believes colour is more timeless than neutral trends, and that a space should incorporate a variety of design elements beyond paint colour, such as lighting, art and decor accessories to create a cohesive and visually appealing environment.

With a varied colour palette in her own home Killam often leans into her favourite colour — yellow — the colour science tells us stimulates the production of serotonin, the natural feel-good chemical linked to happiness and calmness.

The yellow bench and wet weather wellies in the entryway of her home are the first hint of Killam’s favourite hue — but there’s more to come. In the living room a custom yellow sofa brings an injection of the colour into the space while the citrus colour also shows up in the wallpaper, Jardin Bloom by Thibaut . In Killam’s dressing room and a vestibule leading to an office/study, Benjamin Moore’s Hannah Banana continues the colour connection.

However, Killam cautions that because paint covers so much of a room’s surface area, it’s easy to focus too intently on colour alone.

“People want paint colour to do all the heavy lifting, but in actual fact you need art, pillows, coffee table books — all those things to make your home feel alive. A paint colour isn’t enough to bring that feeling into your house,” she says.

As an example, when she moved into her house three years ago, she created a mood board for every room.

“I knew that piece of art in the living room in my last house was now going to go in my primary bedroom. That art has lavender in it. I painted the tray ceilings lavender,” she recalls.

In the living room the ceilings are painted blue.

“Even if you don’t have a lot of blue in your decorating, if you paint your ceiling a pale blue people don’t even notice because it feels like the sky. It feels natural and normal to have a blue ceiling.”

In addition to colour choices, Killam is on a mission to encourage the use of lamps rather than “overhead operating room lights.”

“Whenever I infuse a collection of six to eight lamps in anyone’s main living area, they are a convert. They never want to go back to putting on the overheads,” she says.

Kari Henshaw, principal at Vancouver-based Insight Design Group , agrees it’s hard to explain what gives a home that indefinable but special quality that makes everyone comfortable in the space.

“We’re always striving to make your house feel like a home. There’s an unexplainable thing when you walk into a space and you just automatically feel at home — or experience a sense of calmness — and it’s not necessarily that it’s your taste or your style, but there’s something about that space making you automatically feel comfortable,” she says.

Henshaw says the home’s layout can impact the senses; the scale and positioning furniture and the cohesiveness of the design all play a part.

“As you enter your home, keeping it free of clutter immediately helps with the visual flow throughout your space,” she says, adding that having flooring finishes continuous through the space helps create a seamless, cohesive look.

“Both flooring and paint being the same from one space to another (especially in a smaller home) helps keep things feeling more open and spacious,” she says.

Natural light is always a friend to opening up your space, says Henshaw.

“In addition to a focus on letting the light in, it is important not to block windows with large and bulky pieces of furniture. It’s not preferred to see the back of furniture from outside as you enter the home, or to see the backs of big pieces of furniture blocking transition within the space,” says Henshaw.

She also emphasizes the value of layering.

“For me, layering is important. Playing around with lots of different texture and patterns, adds coziness. Finding that perfect area rug helps make a grouping and pulls things together. It automatically grounds the space. And then I don’t over clutter with a lot of stuff, I pick the perfect, or almost perfect items, and put them where they belong and really help balance the space,” she says.

While many people know the “rule of three” — grouping decorative accents in groups of three, often at three different heights — there’s another important “three” in interior design, says Henshaw, noting interior designers play an integral role in the design of new buildings, such as condo developments.

“We’re brought in at the very beginning with the architect, mechanical, structural, electrical. We can look at a preliminary design and point out there’s no space for a sofa or the dining table with three feet of clearance to pull out a chair before it hits the wall,” she says adding there also needs to be at least three feet between an island and perimeter cabinetry in the kitchen.

Like Killam, Henshaw also advises creating a mood or vision board.

“Create a vision board of what you’re trying to achieve and keep it with you. If you’re out shopping for something, stay true to your vision, don’t get sidetracked. Ask yourself: ‘Is this my style? Is this the look and vibe that I’m going for. What is the colour palette I want to create? Am I going with cools? Am I going with warms?’ Know what you want before you start off,” says Henshaw.

Mitsu Dhawan, marketing director for Dulux, suggests when choosing colours to create a happy and calm setting in the home, it’s helpful to turn to colour theory and psychology.

Pure, saturated warm colours such as reds, oranges and yellows invigorate and liven up a room and can suit spaces that are open and communal, such as the living room, says Dhawan, but be sure not to overdo these colours to avoid over stimulation. The lighter pastels of these hues (think pink, pale coral and butter) still bring energy and warmth, but with a softer approach.

“Cool colours like blues, greens and purples infuse spaces with a sense of relaxation and calm, helping with concentration as well,” says Dhawan adding these hues help reduce stress and promote peace and rest.

But the most important aspect of creating a happy and comfortable home is surrounding yourself with things that you love, says Henshaw.

“In my own home we spend the most time in a small room. I know that the furniture is probably too big for the space, but I love it and it feels cosy, so I threw through my design ideals out the window. It’s a space I love, it makes me feel good.”

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Weekly roundup of three properties that recently sold in Metro Vancouver.

1201 — 3315 Cypress Pl., West Vancouver

Type: Two-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment

Size: 2,018 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $2,197,000

Listed for: $3,000,000

Sold for: $2,950,000

Sold on: Oct. 27

Days on market in this listing: 11

Listing agent: Rahim Jivraj at eXp Realty

Buyers agent: Dale Mounzer PREC at Macdonald Realty

The big sell: According to listing agent Rajim Jivraj, approximately $1.3 million had been invested in a five-year design and build of this West Vancouver condo with a full, down-to-the-studs renovation that warranted a feature in Gray magazine as the winner of a design award in 2024. The reimagined luxury home has a south-facing corner position that bathes in captivating vistas spanning the North Shore Mountains to the Gulf Islands. It resides in StoneCliff, in one of three 15-storey upscale towers that were built by Concert Properties in the district’s Cypress Park Estates. Meticulous detailing and extensive use of natural elements are showcased throughout the suite with custom millwork, a 600-pound cast-concrete bathtub with views, a $50,000 Miele appliance package, Savant home automation system, radiant heat, seven-inch wide-plank engineered hardwood floors, and a private heated two-car garage. The home’s monthly maintenance fee is $1,319.63.

22 — 7331 Heather St., Richmond

Type: Four-bedroom, four-bathroom townhouse

Size: 1,522 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,281,000

Listed for: $1,299,000

Sold for: $1,200,000

Sold on: Sept. 29

Days on market in this listing: 14

Listing agent: Candy Lou at Interlink Realty

Buyers agent: Harris First at Oakwyn Realty

The big sell: Bayberry Park is a 54-unit townhome development that was constructed by Ledingham McAllister in Richmond’s McLennan North. The 20-year-old complex has an exterior esthetic that evokes a Tudor style with steep gabled rooflines and exposed timber detailing with the properties set around an English garden courtyard. This particular home has been updated with new flooring, appliances, hot water tank, and toilets, and has a corner-unit position that allows for a triple aspect. The front door is approached via a private garden, and opens to a sizable living room that leads through to the dining room and adjacent kitchen. The top floor contains three bedrooms — all equipped with generous closet space — alongside two bathrooms, while the lowest of the three levels has a fourth bedroom and ensuite bathroom, laundry, and access to the attached side-by-side double garage. The home’s monthly maintenance fee is $308.62, and pets and rentals are permitted.

6890 Brooks St., Vancouver

Type: Five-bedroom, four-bathroom half duplex

Size: 1,765 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,961,000

Listed for: $1,799,000

Sold for: $1,795,000

Sold on: Oct. 31

Days on market in this listing: 18

Listing agent: Mark Hammer PREC at eXp Realty

Buyers agent: Peter Mai PREC at Oakwyn Realty

The big sell: This recently-completed family-sized front duplex was built by Pavarya Homes in Vancouver’s Killarney neighbourhood. It features attention to detail throughout with custom-built cabinetry, airy 10-foot-high ceilings on the main floor, oversized windows, premium finishings, bespoke millwork in the closets, Fisher & Paykel appliances, engineered hardwood floors, a heated garage at the rear of the property that could be a gym or additional storage space, and a bonus two-bedroom suite in the basement for rental income or for use as a home office. Three bedrooms are located on the upper floor, all with vaulted ceilings, and the 15-foot-long primary bedroom has been finished with an elegant ensuite bathroom with dual vanities and an oversized walk-in shower. The private yard has an eastern exposure and features a patio for entertaining, and privacy hedging that borders the fence.

These transactions were compiled by Nicola Way of BestHomesBC.com.

Realtors — send your recent sales to nicola@besthomesbc.com

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If the past few years pushed our homes to work harder than ever, 2026 is shaping up to be the year when we let them relax a little. According to a new trend report from design company Article , the direction of home design is moving away from sharp extremes and showpiece minimalism, and toward something more grounded, flexible and emotionally intuitive.

The unifying idea is connection. To each other, natural materials and spaces that support real life rather than resist it. Kylie Rozborski is an interior designer who works with Article, offering people customized layouts, furniture recommendations and colour guidance tailored to individual homes.

For next year, she sees interiors that feel warmer and more adaptable.

Designed for connection and calm

One of the strongest themes in Article’s trend report is the idea of homes being designed for connection, and Rozborski says this is no longer an abstract concept. It is showing up in very practical ways.

“We’re seeing more requests for design plans, layout options and products that make gathering feel natural and effortless,” she says. “People want multi-purpose rooms that flex for hosting, open layouts that make conversation easy and furniture arrangements that bring everyone together.”

Rather than formal living rooms or rigid dining spaces, clients are gravitating toward pieces that invite lingering.

“We’re hearing from customers that they want products that facilitate everyday connection,” she explains. “Whether that’s a generous sectional for movie night or an extendable dining table that keeps the conversation going for hours.”

Alongside connection is a clear desire for calm. After years of uncertainty and overstimulation, homes are expected to provide emotional grounding as much as esthetic pleasure.

“With everything feeling increasingly fast-moving and uncertain, people are looking to their homes to offer a sense of steadiness,” says Rozborski. “They want spaces that support how they live day to day, from practical functions to places where they can decompress.”

This explains the shift toward softer silhouettes and gentler palettes because they create that calm, serene atmosphere that promotes well-being, she adds.

The pull of natural materials

Stone, wood and organic textures dominate the report, not as rustic statements but as versatile, enduring elements that quietly anchor a room.

“Natural materials feel familiar but fresh. Wood and stone add character while still feeling easy to incorporate,” says Rozborski.

Part of their appeal is how effortlessly they work together. Their tones and textures are naturally balanced and work together in a space without overwhelming it, she says.

There is also a growing appreciation for longevity.

“Organic materials add warmth and depth, and because they pair beautifully and tend to wear well over time,” she says. “Customers often gravitate toward them for their longevity.”

If the last decade oscillated between ultralight and ultra-dark interiors, 2026 is somewhere in the middle. Rozborski notes a clear move away from stark contrasts.

“People want spaces that feel warmer and comforting. Customers are choosing medium-toned woods because warm woods have undertones that feel cosy and inviting, and are often textured or have rich grain patterns that feel nature-inspired and timeless,” she says.

Colour, too, has softened. Where neutrals once meant white, black, beige, and grey, the new foundation colours are drawn directly from nature.

“Previously, neutrals were dominated by white, beige, black, and grey, and often in high-contrast combinations,” says Rozborski. “Today we’re leaning into warmer, earthier tones that function as a foundational colour in a space to create a calming, organic feeling that connects people to nature.” These hues act as quiet backdrops, allowing rooms to feel cohesive without feeling flat.

Minimalism has not disappeared, but it has softened. Rozborski describes this evolution as warm minimalism, drawing influence from Japandi and Scandinavian design.

“Warm minimalism is really about creating calm without the space feeling rigid or cold,” she says. “You see clean lines, but also relaxed curves and a quiet palette rooted in earthy tones and natural materials.”

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Dozens of owners of short-term rentals in Victoria who lost a bid in B.C. Supreme Court to be exempted from or compensated for provincial restrictions on their businesses have also lost in a higher court.

The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by the Westcoast Association of Property Rights and individual owner Angela Mason, who were seeking relief from the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act, which came into effect on May 1, 2024.

The law, designed to protect affordable long-term rental stock, generally prohibits short-term rentals outside of those within an owner’s principal residence.

Mason and the association first asked the Supreme Court for a judicial review, hoping for the court to declare they were entitled to continue to offer short-term rentals or to have the province compensate them for expected losses. Their petition was filed two weeks before the law came into affect.

But both courts agreed there was no role for the courts because the owners were asking for relief before there was any negative effect — that the consequences were hypothetical and request for relief was premature.

Mason, whose name the association used on the petition as a representative owner, said in an interview the law hurts individuals owners like her. And she said it’s no longer necessary because rentals aren’t in short supply in Victoria.

“There’s a glut of rentals right now, all the government had to do was wait for all the new rental housing to be built,” she said.

She also said the courts concluded they couldn’t offer a legal opinion on the law until someone violated it, which meant “until someone breaks the rules, there’s no (legal) precedent to be set, there’s no one to make an example of.”

“They needed somebody to break the law and suffer damages before they could rule on it,” she said. “Nobody (from the association) has chosen to break the rules.”

Mason said the association will meet next week with a lawyer to discuss any possible next steps as the courts left that door open.

Continuing the legal fight is open to anyone who wants to do it, she said. “It’s not going to be me.”

She said her purchase of a Victoria house as an investment was made possible by the income she earned renting it as an Airbnb. She now rents it from between three to six months, furnished, for about $2,000 a month, which is $800 to $1,000 a month less than her mortgage payments.

At the same time the new restrictions took affect, there was an increase in new purpose-built rentals. In Greater Victoria, the rental vacancy rate rose 5.7 per cent in 2024, according to the CMHC’s rental market report. The city’s vacancy rate was 2.6 per cent in December 2024, up from 1.6 per cent in December 2023, it said.

In December 2025, the Victoria vacancy rate rose to 3.3 per cent, the highest it’s been in more than 25 years, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. In Vancouver, it was 3.7 per cent in December.

That was due to fewer international migrants and students, a weak labour market for younger people, and rental completions remaining above historical levels, it said.

The Supreme Court judge, in dismissing the petitioners’ request for declaratory relief, concluded that without a constitutional challenge, the legislature had “exclusive authority to enact the laws it sees fit.”

“In my opinion, the chambers judge made no error in concluding that the issue raised by the appellants is hypothetical or speculative and inappropriate for an advisory opinion of the court,” said Appeal Court Justice Barbara Fisher, who wrote the judgment. Chief Justice Leonard Marchand and Justice Peter Edelmann agreed.

The Supreme Court judge also said her conclusion that the petition was premature but didn’t prevent the matters it raised from being appropriately submitted in future, and the Appeal Court agreed.

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