Bloor Street, Toronto, decked out for winter with evergreens.

When I was younger, I don’t recall Toronto’s sidewalks coming alive both summer and winter with planters brimming with life and colour. In the bad old days, they really didn’t; but, more and more nowadays, it’s heartening that many Toronto neighbourhoods and shared spaces are made more liveable and beautiful with large-sized mixed planters. Hurrah! Someone is paying attention to the fact that city dwellers crave more to look at than concrete and traffic lights on our way to wherever we’re going: forget the flu shot, carefully designed street planters with massed greenery inject a needed dose of urban sanity. And since winter is a bit of a marathon season in Canada, I’m grateful for local businesses and community associations coming together to foot the cost and trouble of keeping winter sidewalk planters festive and green. Cut mixed greenery, twigs and branches arranged in a planter last the entire winter, cheering our winter days whether they’re slushy or bright.