Lilac

There are lilac in several places in our yard. All of them need help. None of them get sun so they have to really stretch to bloom.

It has taken a long time to beat back the bush and this year, we can finally open up above the lilacs, in almost every spot, so they can reach sun without leaning.

I love lilac. We have dark and light purple. No white that I have found but they are on my list to add.

The light purple grows in the campground and the dark purple grows at the top yard edge and at the road gate. There are so many great things to say about Lilac but what has to be the best is the scent on the dining table!

Iris, German Purple

This is one of the iris I am dividing again this year. It has been in my garden for many years, starting in my city garden. It was moved here and spread to Linda's garden in Nova Scotia. I don't think I have many gardening friends that don't have it by now.

Originally given to me by Judy, it produces lots of flowers and is still a favourite! The best thing about it is that it is early blooming with open flowers long before the other iris are budding up. And it blooms until the later iris start. This week, the blue and whites started to open and there are still 2 patches of german purple that have blooms!

This variety really extends iris season in my garden.

NOTICE TO MY LOCAL FRIENDS -
I am dividing this iris this year.

If you want some, let me know!! 

 

My Little Backyard Oasis

In another month or so as the perennials grow, I won't be able to see much of the garden along the fence from the driveway. Unfortunately the neighbour's fence has been a gardening challenge. Nothing wants to do well on the north side of a 6 foot fence that's also shaded by big maples most of the day. The bonus is we have privacy, but it's nothing like Danielle's open spaces.

Weather Rolls In!

We have had a lot of stormy days. Two days without power, although never for the whole day, just a couple hours here and a couple hours there. Enough that staying online to work has been a challenge and watching TV or movies online has been impossible. I tried to complain about that but wasn't really successful.

Truth is, my garden can use the rain and I am feeling a little ahead of the game in terms of weeding. Lawns are all mowed and another day of rain means I can get some work done. Of course, at some point, in order to finish the work, I will need to get back online. Weather is such a double-edged sword!

Yellow and Blue

There is a period in my garden where everything is yellow and blue. I used to think I didn't like yellow. Until I discovered it was just a particular shade of yellow that I don't like. There are LOTS of yellows that I love. All my yellows are in that category and the blues run from the burgundy of the lady slipper, through the royal purple of the german purple iris, to the pale, true blue of Nova's Little Blue iris.

The first of the pink flowers opened this week, as did the first of the white flowers. Other colours are on their way! Sometimes I think I should make a concerted effort to add other colours earlier in my spring garden. But I like my season of yellow and blue.

Tulips 2014

It was a bad year for tulips here and they put up a very poor showing in my garden. I am happy it was a problem all around me and not just in my garden but it is always a drag when we get a bad tulip year.

Judy thinks it did not get warm enough for them and she may be right. Some years, the buds will form and start to get full when a frost will come along and next thing you know, all those buds are dropping. It wasn't that kind of year so frost was not the problem.

Whatever it was, I guess it is not worth contemplating much since there is nothing that can be done to change it. Or fix it for next year!

I will keep my fingers crossed for a better tulip year in 2015. If memory serves me, I don't think I've had 2 bad tulip years in a row. Might be a good year to add tulips to my garden... I think tulips are going to be awesome... next year. Why is it I am always waiting for next year? lol.

The Reappearance

One fall about 4 years ago, Danielle decided she was going to move to Nova Scotia in the spring. That November we received a big box of bulbs from her to hang onto till she got here - tulips, daffodils, glads, iris and lilies. The glads went into the fridge - easy. Because it was November, the ground was already partly frozen. Kelly poked the rest all into one garden back under the trees in Little Stonehenge.

We still getting surprises! This iris came up once before and I neglected to mark it - have been waiting a couple of years for it to show up again. At least now it's a nice little patch and I can send some back to Danielle AND move some into my garden.

unknown bearded iris

Gotta Love Hosta

There's nothing for filling in all those gaps in the garden like hostas. They make such a nice backdrop for all the other plants, but at this time of year as they're starting to 'pop', they're at their best - before the slugs get them!

hosta 'First Frost'

unknown hosta (from Mom's garden)

Finally! A reliable daffodil in my garden.

Narcissus are a constant problem for me in my garden. I have tried, and continue to try, many varieties. Some come back for a couple of seasons, others I never show up. Most bloom the first year and then do not return.

Narcissus Tahiti was added to my garden in the fall of 2009, bloomed for the first time in 2010. Since then it has been reliably blooming and spreading every year. There are now 4 very large patches in both sun garden circles.

Tarda this year.

Reliable and fast spreading, I love tarda and my spring garden album would not be complete without photos of them. I brought them from my city garden and put a patch of them in the lower boardwalk garden here. Since then, they have spread throughout that level in the boardwalk garden. I have spread them to the top level of the boardwalk garden and last year, out into the sun gardens. There are patches everywhere that need to be divided again and so this year they move to the front yard as well.

Baby Blessed

Baby Blessed is the next iris to show up from my iris exchange last year with Nova. A pretty, yellow dwarf variety that is very delicate.

She is planted in the furthest sun circle, in sight of Little Blue, but not in the same bed. The nice thing is that from most angles, they are both in view when walking through the garden.

Little Blue

Last year, I was dividing iris and I put out a call for anyone interested in exchanging iris. Several friends got in touch and the result was that I should have a LOT of new iris coming up in my garden this year. This little beauty is the first of them.

He came from Nova's garden as an unknown pale blue dwarf iris. I always name my unknowns until I find out what they are... if I find out what they are! It helps me remember them and it helps me communicate about them with Linda. lol. I usually include something about where they came from in the name. Another thing that helps my memory.

I have decided to call these Nova's Little Blue. There are more pictures of him at this link.

All Alone

It seems like everything opened all at once today! Of course, it didn't happen that way.

The tulip Tarda were open yesterday and there was a viola I forgot about when I was out with the camera so didn't get a photo of (hopefully it will be there tomorrow). The tulip Chopin is already finished. But today there are buds, flowers and plants everywhere!

Starting with this awesome tulip Ballerina, growing all alone in the middle of the firepit lawn. It is in what used to be a garden bed but is now again part of the lawn. Miles mowed around it today and when the leaves are done, I will move it out of there in an attempt to save it. I think it might have been there last year too but was cut down brutally before we noticed.

I love the sunny colours of this tulip. The yellow inside is as bright as the orange. Somewhere, I think in the front, I have an actual patch of these.

Tulip Chopin

First post of the season is always so exciting! I have flowers :)

Tulip Chopin were the first to open, with pinks surrounding them at a hurried pace. They are pretty little mini's that have much larger foliage and flowers than the Tarda and this was the first year that they opened before the Tarda. No worries though, the Tarda are on their way! I took pictures of some in Judy's garden just yesterday.

It looks like the Narcissus will follow very shortly as well. They are full of buds and unfortunately, surrounded by dandelion. I had every intention of dealing with that today but rain has interfered so it is another day inside. Hopefully, sunshine is on the way.

Creeping and the Beauty of Space

The beauty of space is that there are actually places, not that far from my house, that I never get to. The south side of our shop is one such place. It is out of the way, surrounded by bush and the graveyard of things slightly in need of repair but possibly useful in future has only grown since we arrived.

There is a cast-off rack there, that at one time held canoes and one time held wood. Now it sits and waits for a new use, surrounded by pallets and the odd bit of firewood.

Our place is full of Virginia Creeper. Both the dark green all the time variety and the more stunning fall turning variety. Sadly, all the fall turning variety was planted away from the house originally. I have spent years moving it in to catch views of it from the windows. I thought I knew where every patch was.

Imagine my surprise to find fall turning Virginia Creeper on the south side of the shop! Majestic and beautiful, doing just what it was designed to to - making that junk pile look awesome!

 

Just look at those purples!

All my new Iris

 

Remind me about this picture next spring. I will take pictures to post of them all in flower. It's hard to believe but there are more than 12 new varieties there! And enough of each that they should all show up.

Dahlia in October

dahlia 'Preference'

There isn't a whole lot blooming now in my garden but all of the dahlia are still going strong. In the afternoon sun, the bumble bees are sluggish and swarming over them. Every morning I look out to see if they've gotten frosted off yet. A couple of years ago, they lasted till Remembrance Day but I suspect it will be sooner this year.

Limelight!

 

I love lime leafed plants. Actually, blue leaves and variegated leaves are just as welcome in my garden but don't tell the lime plants that. They think they are special. And this year, they are.

When I had my late summer iris exchange, I picked up a couple of lime leafed beauties from a friend and these plants come with added benefits! The lime leafed Lamium is hopefully going to join the variegated leaf variety in my garden to become everything I ever wanted in a Lamium. I love Lamium. It has so many uses. However, the traditional dark green varieties that flower dark pink, light pink or white, multiply like weeds and are almost impossible to control. Definitely impossible to showcase! If this lime leafed variety can match its traditional cousin in duration and repeat flowering but manage to contain itself at the same time, it will be one of my new favourite groundcovers.

Then comes Columbine. How pretty are Columbine flowers? I am constantly on the hunt for Columbine in colours I do not yet have, always examining the flowers. Now I have a reason to examine the leaves! This little pretty inspired me to dig up and rearrange half of my lower boardwalk garden bed. With luck, it will all come back in the right place next year.

 

It only had to snow once and I am already thinking about spring :)

Fall has definitely arrived!

Today was cold. Not cold enough for the football fans to show up at the game, they are a hardy bunch! Too cold for me to be in the garden putting it to bed. So instead, I stayed inside, went through garden photos and thought of warmer days. Like this one where the garden dogs are lounging. Tuk is happy on snow or grass but I think Summer prefers grass any day!

 

Lots of Lily Blooming Now

 

Oriental White from Kelly, growing in the slide garden. This one is about 12 inches tall. lol.

 

Lily 'Madrid', my favourite lily in my garden and I have it in the nursery, in the drive garden and in the sun garden.

 

Lily 'Northern Dazzle', growing at the front lower level and in the back sun garden.

 

Lily, 'Northern Carillon', growing in the sun gardens and blooming for the first time. All the Northern series lilies were added just last year.

 

Lily 'Stargazer' has been growing in the bird sanctuary for a few years now. Still not sure how I feel about this one. It's pretty but it has a really strong lily scent and if the patch gets too big, I can't walk by it without wishing it was smaller.

 

Lily 'Northern Star', my favourite of the Northern series added last year. At least, it is my favourite so far... still waiting for Northern Sensation to open.

Sharing Iris

Nova and I had an iris exchange and LOOK what I got :)



Unknown Pale Blue (dwarf)

Boo (dwarf), originally from Hazel's Garden

Possibly... Stepping Out

 

Cherry Garden (dwarf)

Baby Blessed (dwarf)

Batik

Blue and White (check scent)

I can hardly wait until next year!

Sharing with Linda

When Linda and I first met, she did not garden. She lived in a high rise apartment with a balcony that did not lend itself to gardening and she traveled a lot. She was always sufficiently interested and polite when I tried to drag her through my garden but there was no connection to plants. Then Linda got a house. The house came with a yard. Suddenly, Linda was almost a more avid gardener than I was. And she learned fast!

The benefits for me were huge. Now my best friend is interested in my main hobby which opens up whole new topics of very long conversations! The excitement of suitcases full of dirt when we travel back and forth because what gardeners do not share plants?!

Here are some of the beauties that Linda has shared with me over the years and have managed to survive in my zone 3 garden.

Alpine Columbine, blooming in my bird sanctuary garden.

 

Lungwort blooming with the Alpine Columbine.

 

Linda's Mom's pinks, blooming in my sun circles. I have a lot of plants named Linda's...

 

Spiderwort, blooming in my slide sun garden. She also sent me 'Sweet Kate' but I was not able to help it survive the first winter. I have tried 'Sweet Kate' since and it did not come back the following year. I am not very good about protecting things. They either survive our winters on their own or they don't. I don't think 'Sweet Kate' likes -38!

 

 

 

Iris Sale

UPDATE: German Purple are SOLD OUT!!!

 

All the iris are done now. I am dividing three of my iris this year. If you would like any of the iris shown, please let me know at danielle@daleyprogress.com. Cost is $2/fan.

 

Iris, Blue and White (very fragrant!) 

 

Iris, Pale Yellow

 

Iris, German Purple (early blooming, blooms with tulips)

 

 

 

Groundcovers

Tricolour Sedum; summer blooming, slow spreading

 

Cerastium; spring blooming, summer re-blooming, fast spreading

 

Pinks; summer blooming, slow spreading

 

Dwarf Flax; summer blooming, fast spreading if left to self-seed

Beautiful Disaster

I think I hear an echo in here! Thought I'd show you just a little taste of what keeps me so busy that I don't post for weeks. This runs half way across the top end of our drive.

It is a mass of daisy, orange lily, weeds and the edge of a raspberry patch. I have whole sections of garden that look just like this. But if you look really hard, you will see a short, tangerine lily buried way in the back. See it?

That is the last of what used to be a huge patch of tangerine lily. It was originally here and when all the orange lily were moved out of here to allow the raspberry patch to extend, the rest disappeared. To top it off, the raspberry patch decided it would rather extend in a whole different direction, leaving weeds and more daisy in its wake. Nevermind all that bad news though, the great news is that I still have that lily. That lily is one of the many reasons why I don't get my husband to go through these 'should be empty' gardens and hack everything down with one piece of equipment or another.