The university is on the south side of the city, so the areas that Cookie8 recommends are good. Adequate shopping and services nearby and one of the biggest malls in the city. Fort Rouge and St Vital have some older homes, Island lakes is probably newer, but something for everyone's price range. Regarding gardening, the old zone map used to list Wpg as zone 3a, now it lists us as zone 2b. Still, if the plant tag says zone 3 you probably canÂt go wrong. In fact, I also grow some zone 4 stuff because in general the city is more sheltered and protected than the rural areas. Regarding not planting a lot because of the weather, there is actually quite a good selection of zone 3 plants. ItÂs a known fact that our January is colder than south Ontario, but from April to November our climate is quite similar, maybe a degree colder on average (though overall less humid here, more breezy). Hardy hibicus and Japanese maples arenÂt quite hardy here but you can plant similar plants such as elders, ornamental crab apples, dogwood, korean and amur maples work good too. Some perennials that grow here include: purple coneflower, hostas, lamium, vinca minor, rudbeckia, ribbon grass, golden grass, oat grass, clematis, iris, shasta daisy, hardy salvia, pansy (which sometimes survives winter under good snowcover), lambs ear, bergenia, irish moss, peony, maltese cross, sedum, hens n chicks, some sort of white bell plant, liatris, various ferns, arctic beauty kiwi, perennial geranium, phlox, morden mums, lilies, daylily, fleabane, bleeding heart, etc. I am just going by what I have tried in my yard at present or in the past, I know I am missing a lot, so perhaps search on the internet for zone 3 hardy stuff. Hardy trees and shrubs I grow consist of aspen, sour cherry, spruce, cedar (arborvitae), dogwood, cotoneaster, caragana, salt bush, barberry, spirea, lilacs, potentilla, purple leaf sandcherry, potentilla. In the city there are lots of maples, elms, linden, spruce, pine, cedars (arbs), ornamental apple, etc. I grow apples such as Norland or September ruby, which are regular size apples (not quite as big as store bought ones, however). I donÂt have many roses in my yard, but I have Wpg Parks rose, Morden Blush, Morden Sunrise, Jens Munk rugosa, lambert closse, morden ruby and Tropicana. Tropicana, a hybrid tea rose, needs winter protection, but itÂs as easy as surrounding it with a rose collar and filling in around the plant with peat moss to insulate. As long as the base of the rose survives it sprouts again in spring. For vines I grow lots of clematis, kiwi vine, honeysuckle vine, virginia creeper, and now am trying porcelain vine that I started from seed last spring. Hope this gives you some idea. Try searching sites such as www.ttseeds.com or www.jeffriesnurseries.com for some more ideas, or just do a search for zone 3 perennials. Regards, Glen

Landscape ties are available at any Home Depot or Rona. I think they are about $4 for an 8ft tie. A few garden centres in Headingly and in the south side of the city should have them as well but probably more money. Its best to order soil from a landscape company. It will be cheaper and better quality then buying bags from a home improvement centre or Walmart. Plus you will need alot if you are going to start up a garden bed or two. As for plants, Walmart is cheap, but not great quality. They do not know how to take care of there plants. A nursery is the best place. Healthy plants will take to the new garden better. Hope this helps.

I see this is an old post, but it was called up as I was just searching for other bloggers in CA too. I started one during the pandemic. We’ve been gardening here for 20±. I enjoy also seeing what other gardeners are up to. My blog is: https://the-compulsive-gardener.com/home-2/blog/

Wow, this is an old thread, but the Canada Blog Hop (as it is now called) is still active and going strong. I have a feeling it is a lot longer than it used to be, so please stop by and check out all the great Canadian blogs. As well as garden blogs it now includes craft blogs, photography blogs and general interest blogs from all across Canada. Here is a link that might be useful: Canada blog hop