The Maid of Orange

This iris is Maid of Orange, and what a pretty maid she is with that bright orange beard. She sits beside my Mandarin Orange azalea. The plan is to have purple blooming here with them next year.

Shared Iris

Iris come in such different colours and forms - I love their variety! These two iris both came from Danielle's garden in Saskatchewan. The last time she came to visit, far too long ago, she brought a suitcase full of plants with her!

Bloomin' Trees and Shrubs

 

The Hawthorn and the Lilac were both blooming last week. I noticed this morning that the Hawthorn was done but it put on the prettiest show this year of the two.

 

 

All of my Lilac need more sun. Every year, I think about it and find more pressing issues. One of these years, I will actually do something about it. Until then, I enjoy the Lilac blooms that do show up.

 

The Ridge

Take a few minutes walk through the woods at the back of our house and you'll arrive at the top of a hill overlooking an old quarry. Kelly started his own quarry - that man never seems to have enough dirt... or rocks. Last year he started constructing this garden. It's not complete (he has to quarry some more dirt) but it is filling up nicely. There's lilies in here and the lily beetles haven't found them yet.

New Growth

dwarf hemlock 'Jervis'

We went on a collecting spree during the summer of 2007 and bought several dwarf trees for the front rock garden. That makes it almost 6 years in our garden and this hemlock has grown, maybe, 6 inches in height. Now that it's established, perhaps we'll see it take off and grow a couple of inches this year. It's one of my favourites and is planted in the rock garden right beside the steps in the front walk.

German Purple Iris

These iris were originally a handful of rhisomes that I got from Judy. Over the years, they have multiplied into huge patches that I have everywhere! I love the colour and I love the fact that they are the first of my iris to bloom.

 

 They are almost done now and only one of the other iris has even started to bloom. These extend my iris season by a lot and they allow me to have iris blooming with other early plants that normally would not bloom with an iris. I just discovered this year that these bloom at the same time as the 'Thalia' daffodil in my garden. That seems like a great reason to divide a patch and move some this year.

 

Allium

I think this drumstick allium came from Linda's Garden. Last year it was tall with several big, round blooms. This year, they are short with small, round blooms of which, there are only two. This happens in my garden a lot. A plant will do really well and then put on barely a show the following year. What I have discovered is that to completely avoid this, I have to read more. Since that isn't likely to happen, I bungle along instead. Trying this and that to get a better show the following year.

 

The good news? It never lasts more than a season. My bet is these will be tall, big and round again next year and the one after that too.

 

 

 

 

Got bugs?

I wouldn't be able to call myself a gardener if I didn't have a few conversations about bugs every season. Linda and I actually spend more time talking about bugs than I like. I am sure she feels the same.

I am lucky. I don't have the variety of bugs in my garden that Linda has. And I have bush that the bugs prefer to live in so many never show up in my garden. Although I still get my share!

More often than not, we are talking about the bad side of bugs. This perfect little hive start is the good side of bugs. I love finding this kind of thing. Nests, hives and any other little bits they leave around for us. I am not sure what caused them to abandon this before completion or how it ended up on our firepit patio (might have had something to do with the lawn mower!) but I am glad I found it before it got squished. It is tiny, light, delicate, paper thin and perfect. It will make an excellent decorative addition to any of my plant pots... provided a dog doesn't snap it up.

One for the 'Not Sure' Column

I love Solomon's Seal. At least I do when it is up this close. When it is twisted stems leaning on the garden ladder, I am not so sure. I actually think that while beautiful up close, Solomon's Seal is not very attractive from a distance.

Perhaps that will change as it grows into patches. Patches might be nice. I am not sure how long it will take for these spindly plants to turn into patches and for now, I am grateful that they return every year. Really, they shouldn't.

I started with two small divisions from Linda's garden and in just a few years, I have 4 stalks. It will likely take less time for them to turn into patches than it will for me to decide to dig them so we shall see how I feel about patches... in about 20 years!

Spring Pink and Blue

I have a little garden on the west side of my front yard. It doesn't get much sun but at this time of year it's in bloom and at its best.

The pink bleeding heart mixed with the delicate cornflower blue brunnera flowers is so pretty. The alpine columbine just started blooming to add some purple to the mix.

bleeding heart

alpine columbine

'Thalia'

One of the best things about a garden is that just when you feel disappointment, something else pops up that makes the feeling fleeting.

The tulips may not have been their best but the narcissus more than made up for them. I normally have a lot of trouble with narcissus and there are at least 2 years that I gave up completely.

Their delicate beauty always draws me back and I eventually find myself planting them again.

I can't claim trouble this year. All the daffodil came up in large patches full of flowers. None of the other spring bulbs could compare this year - daffodil was the star of the show!

Nova Scotia Lady Slippers

We were delighted a few years ago to find pink lady slipper orchids growing in the forest behind our property. They're quite scattered under the trees and we keep finding new patches. The leaves are a little hard to spot among the other new growth and dead leaves until they get a few inches tall.

Last year we also discovered trillium undulatum growing throughout the woods too. This year I missed photos because it rained for 10 days. Last year Kelly transplanted some trillium into the garden and they came up this year - I guess we'll have to wait 7 years to see blooms!

What's in a Name?

Funny how things change. When I first started gardening, I knew the name of everything I planted. In fact, I turned plants away because they were unknown. Mostly because early experiments with 'unknowns' had gone horribly wrong and were not easy to correct!

Now, names don't matter. Last year, my sister was building a deck which meant removing a garden. I went and dug what she described as red-orange-yellow mixed tulips. I am so glad I did because look what showed up! I love this nameless tulip.

Tulips 2013

It was a bad year in my garden for tulips. Although I did have a few that put on a beautiful show, most of them came up all leaves or tiny flowers. I think a lot of it had to do with moving them all last year.

My 'Zurel' patch was, as always, reliable. This patch sits in its original spot in my sun gardens. I have dug and divided them several times but the original patch remains huge.

I am going to leave the tulips alone this year. There are a couple of patches that I plan to move out from what is now shade but other than that, if they are in the sun, they are being left alone. Bonemeal in the fall and crossing my fingers for a bigger show next year. Already something to look forward to next year!

'Tarda'

Of all the mini-botanical tulips I have grown over the years, none hold a candle to 'tarda'. They are very reliable, multiply extremely quickly and always add a spot of sunshine to my spring garden.

When I lived in the city, 'tarda' were always the first blooms in my garden every spring. Always.

Here, there are a lot of things that show up before 'tarda'. I think part of it is that the 'tarda' are under trees and not in the sun gardens while the 'chopin', forsythia and early red triumph tulips are in the sunshine all day from very early on in the season.

This year, I was excited to see that the 'thalia' daffodil were blooming at the same time as the 'tarda'. I am going to move a patch of the 'tarda' (they make very nice patches) out to the sun garden beside the 'thalia'. Of course, being in the sun might make 'tarda' bloom earlier but I am going to cross my fingers and go for it.

Forsythia

The first of my shrubs to bloom is always the forsythia. I have to admit, it kind of creeps me out. I think flowers coming from a bare branch, with no leaves, is just plain weird.

The forsythia I have here was planted long before I came along and it was huge the day I walked onto the property. It is so huge, that like almost everything else here, it was way overgrown.

I don't dislike it particularly. At least not enough to do anything about removing it. But every year, the yellow flowers take me by surprise. And every year, I think it looks just a little odd. This year, I am actually going to try pruning it. According to the book, I need to be thinking about that tomorrow!

Blue Gentian

This is truly one of my favourite flowers and the best of the gentians. It took me 3 years to find it after seeing it in another garden and well worth the wait. I have this small patch in my rock garden - very slow growing. This shade of blue isn't very common in flowers.

gentiana acaulis

I also have one of its cousins, crested gentian, which doesn't bloom till September. While more prolific, it's not nearly as striking.

Early Tulips Start

The early tulips are starting. This red is either 'Bastogne' or something that came in mixed red and yellow from either Judy or my sister. I will probably never know which. My tulips are all mixed up by now and are coming up everywhere. It is so awesome, I don't even care that I don't know what many of them are. Any that are particularly interesting, I can usually identify. I could probably pull out maps and figure it out as well but when the sun is shining is no time to pull out maps! That is a winter activity. Maybe winter will have me here renaming everything. Who knows? Something to look forward to anyway.

There are two patches of these so far. Both are in the sun gardens near but not next to each other, in the area that was planted last year. All three sets of tulips, Judy's mom's mixed (red and yellow), Deanna's red and yellow mix and my old 'Bastogne' were moved somewhere into that area last year. At least I think they were! But who is to say that the red in either of those mixes is not also 'Bastogne'?

No matter what they are, they sure are pretty and that is all that really matters in my garden. 

At least today that is all that really matters.

Curving Edges with Old Hose

If you've gardened for very long, you'll have a supply of old garden hoses that are past repairing. We always hang onto them because they're perfect for marking out new gardens.

Lay a hose on the ground randomly and it creates beautiful curves. Hammer a few long nails or stakes through it into the ground to hold it in place while you dig out the garden. Then pull it all up easily and store it for next time. Make sure to collect up all your nails.

For the centre garden in our backyard, I drew out a pattern on graph paper. We staked out a 2'x2' grid in the yard and translated my pattern onto the yard using pieces of old hose.

Narcissus 'Tahiti' was next

'Tahiti' is the first blooming and most reliable of my narcissus. Typically, it blooms after the 'tarda' mini botanical tulips start but this year they beat the 'tarda' out. 'Tahiti' was blooming a full three days before the 'tarda' opened.

I have other daffodil that are in bud and just coming up but these are the only ones that are blooming and this picture was taken today - almost a full week after they first opened wide.

Narcissus are moody in my garden. Sometimes they show up, other times they do not. I never know what to expect. A full, healthy, beautiful patch one year will completely disappear only to reappear a few years later as the tiny bulblets in the ground get big enough to produce a plant. That element of surprise can be wonderful or frustrating depending on the day.

Four years in, it seems I don't have to worry about that with 'Tahiti'. They are the first and only daffodil patch in my garden that consistently comes up, looks great and gets bigger. This year, the patch is large enough that I can divide it and start spreading these beauties throughout the garden. I love bulbs!


Why I will never be a Master Gardener

The first blooms of the season for me were these 'Chopin' Kaufmania botanical tulips. At least that is what is says on my receipt. When I look up 'Chopin' tulips, which I did just the other day, I find a lot of information about 'Chopin' gregii tulips. I also found Kaufmania spelled more than 6 different ways. I am not sure of the difference between gregii and Kaufmania and it turns out, I don't care!

Apparently, Kaufmania means they are a waterlily tulip, referring to the flower shape. Botanical means they are small. While the flowers are not huge, they are smaller than a typical tulip but are larger than any of my other botanicals. And they are definitely short and early.

 

I went looking for information out of interest. I found a lot of information. But here is the crux... I found the more complicated the answer became, the less interested I was in finding it out!

 

I am a gardener. All I need to know is colour, height and requirements to fit it into my garden plan. Anything more is extra information my brain is unwilling to hold. Bottom line, I absolutely love my 'Chopin' no matter what they technically are.

 

 

 

Blue and Lime

I love the colour combinations at this time of year. In the front especially, I have a lot of blue and lime, with some pink just starting to join in.

grape hyacinth and donkey tail spurge

Mom's lungwort

Peek-a-boo

The season has finally started for me and it started fast! I was still breaking up snow banks and spreading them into the sun today at the back deck. Just feet away in the lower boardwalk garden, the tarda are already poking through the leaf cover. Tarda are the most reliable mini-botanical tulips I have ever grown and they are always the first thing to poke through, usually the first thing to bloom. Some years, the crocus beat them to the punch. I haven't seen any crocus yet this year which might be a bad sign. Much to my delight, the Zurel are still a huge patch, despite dividing them three years in a row. And then there are all the unknown (until they bloom) tulips that seem to be everywhere! I spent the whole day out cleaning up the yard and came upon several interesting developments in my garden. The most perplexing of them was the pile of tulips bulbs I found sitting on top of the ground at the end of the boardwalk. Not quite under the dogwood but close enough to get lost if the dogwood were in leaf. Not sure how they got there. My best guess would be that a dog (yes, it would likely be that dog) dug them up or a squirrel moved them. I know that I did not just toss a handful of tulips bulbs on the ground as I walked by! I could tell that two of them were tarda so I planted them together in a spot where I thought a little patch of tarda would look good. It will only take them a year or two at most to become that little patch. The rest of them got planted in the cement pothead at the drive corner. Since they all had root and a shoot, I expect they will grow there just fine this year and once I know what they are, I can pop them in the garden somewhere. If I can resist the temptation to plant them for that long. If I can't resist, they will get plopped in a clump all together and I will cross my fingers that they are not clashing varieties.

The Red Scourge

Even before I was a gardener I loved lilies. Now I have lots of them! For the past 4 years, we've been devastated with red lily beetles and this year they are starting really early. It's pretty obvious from this picture that they just destroy the lily plants soon as they start growing. This is just the first stage, even worse is the larvae.

May Day in Nova Scotia

Things aren't as bleak here as they are in Saskatchewan right now. I'm running around in shorts and Danielle is shovelling - definitely one of the big differences between our two gardens!

I have a few early spring blooms to share with you.