YARD ART AS SNOW GAUGE - february

Dec. 19th, 2013

Jan. 26th, 2014

Feb. 23rd, 2014

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WINTER INTEREST IN THE GARDEN - birds

Today it is -22 Celsius and there is not much going on in my gardens.  

Do not get me wrong, it is very, very pretty out but there is not that much activity, no buzzing bees or butterflies wafting through the air.  

There are however birds, and the best way to get to see them is by providing them with food. After all they are so small they could use our help; did I mention it is -22 Celsius out?

I placed this suet feeder just outside our kitchen window where we can see them every day. Today I had what appears to be a little woodpecker of some type as well as the usual Chickadees.

Quick tip: freeze the suet before you place it in the feeder or be prepared to get very greasy fingers!

Lesson learned.

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ANATOMY OF MONET GARDEN - 1 of 3

I loved my original plans for the front garden but it turns out that there is not enough sun getting to this bed for quite a number of the plants I had chosen to live there, let alone thrive, and "thriving" is how I envision all my gardens three years out.

So it is time for what we call at work a COE or Correction of Error.  The 'error' of course was planting so much in my first year rather than waiting and observing, but honestly this is how I learn. Even still I am one year in and still unsure whether the garden is part-sun or part-shade, but now I know it is certainly not full-sun, and next year I will learn even more.

 I have everything planted and  planned but since I have been remiss about documenting what has happened in the bed since moving in let us take it a step at a time. In the end the design is not that different in many ways from what I had originally planned (above).

We will start with a look at what I planted this past spring after having built the garden the previous fall.

Small triangles are lilies: some incredibly tall ones that were here already and some gorgeous cream coloured ones I planted with dinner plate sized flowers.

Bright blue are Iris. Those in the far left oval are white with purple falls that I bought at a Friends of Gardens Manitoba annual plant sale.

The long pink oval along the front is made up of two kinds of Bellflowers that I have grown from seed. 

Green crosses are Verbascum that came from the garden of a work colleague (thank you Rhonda). Apparently they need full sun and flop over in rich soil so I am going to move them into the backyard where the bed is mostly original soil as compared to this freshly made lasagna garden.

Yellow heart is a lone blue Lupine.

Green circle were 80 purple Liatris that definitely did not get enough sun but whose bulbs all still looked very heavy when I moved them into the Sun Garden.

Blue stars are Bachelor's Button from Shelmerdine's that I got just before I admitted to myself that this garden was not getting as much sun as I had hoped and planned for.  Happily I was able to use a gift certificate I had gotten for Christmas (thanks Joyce & Gerry)

I did not include a marker for the Bachelor's Buttons I started from seed but they are spread along the front, and while they make for gorgeous close-up photos they are lanky and spindly and I do not hold much hope for them long-term here.

Nor did I include markers for Flax or tall purple Asters, both of which I planted in the spring but neither of which are getting enough sun to have much of a future in this bed.

 

White circles are one of the few contrasting colours, yellow somethingorothers.

Bright green oval is Lamium that was previously growing in the original part of this bed but has really taken off in the new soil since transplant.

Yellow vertical rectangle is Globe Thistle. Stunted this year, but perhaps that is normal for its first year from seed? Or perhaps it did not get enough sun - also very possible.

Blue vertical rectangle and blue horizontal rectangle I believe to be tall purple German Iris, the same as in the Sun Garden, but I cannot be sure until they bloom one day.

Also in the horizontal one I planted a 50 tiny Iris Reticulada as soon as we moved in a year ago, about 20 of which came up last spring.

 The red smile is made up of Allium Molly, another of the few yellows. Whether Hyacinth or Geranium it should have some contrasting companions sharing its bloom time.

Odd purple shape is made up of about a dozen Hardy Geranium which should fairly quickly take maintenance for that whole part of the garden off of my hands by filling it all up.

The light grey-ish purple circle to the far right are 3 blue Columbines which may very well get overrun by the Geranium. 

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 describing what I planted this fall and what is on the menu for next year respectively.

 

 Parts 2 of 3 & 3 of 3

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EUREKA - late night inspiration

The bed across from my new Sun Garden is a bit of a disaster since we removed the tall straggly shrub that had been there for years.  The Lily-of-the-Valley are trampled, the Peony lies flat and invisible against the ground, and instead of casting beautiful shadows the lighting shines starkly against the white wall.

 

I will move the Lily-of-the-Valley to the Moon Garden and the Daylilies to the driveway strip but am not sure what I want to replace them with.  

Or at least I was not sure until last night.

 

I feel inspired today because while in the garden after dark last night I had the idea to move the 80 Blazing Star I put in the front garden last year (which do not get enough sun and are struggling) to help fill this space.

Below is how I more or less imagined them my front garden. 

 

Clearly, not what I achieved. 

Drastic changes are required, so up they come and into the Sun Garden they will go.

The purple from the Blazing Star will act as a bridge between the blue/purple front garden and the colours of the Sun Garden. After all, they are basically side by side so a transition plan is in order.

Their placement will allow me to stay true to my plans of having my NEW Sun Garden technically made up of only yellows, red and oranges (and bi-colours!).

Am I splitting hairs, differentiating between new and old portions of the Sun Garden? 
Perhaps, but these are the trade offs we make with ourselves as (garden) designers.

Have you made any mistakes in your garden this summer that you intend to fix this fall?

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REPORT CARD - sun garden

Just over one month ago I shared my detailed plans for the Sun Garden, the garden that is clearly progressing the best with its sunny location.

How is it doing? Let's take a look.

Clearly things are growing well. Lots of rain, lots of sun.

Turns out fertilizing Nasturtium promotes leaf growth not blooming. At least they are hiding the Coneflowers I planted along the edge that the rabbits kept dining on, maybe now they will get an uninterrupted period of growth.

Nonetheless there are some gorgeous Nasturtium blooms making an appearance. 

I cannot believe I have never grown these before. 

I love them.

In the centre of this crowded space (inside yellow oval above) I believe we have orange and chocolate Rudbeckia, but we will have to wait and see blooms to be 100% sure. There are loads of them and I am trying my best to gently jiggle the roots apart and transplant them in any empty spaces in the Sun Garden. 

For example in the above small clump there are seven healthy plants; where they grow extremely close together I pinch the smaller one out so as to not disturb the roots of the other.

The Blanketflower running along the north border are going gangbusters.

The yellow stand-out above is Coreopsis Roulette. A flower I thought was red with yellow stripes but apparently also comes in bright yellow with flecks of red. 

Coreopsis Roulette is seeded mainly throughout the northeast part of the garden and its wispy and airy foliage makes the blooms seem like they are floating. 

Among the volunteer plants I have found are Stonecrop, which I moved to the Alpine Garden, white Dianthus which now lives in the Moon Garden, various Sunflowers, Vinca and these unexpected Pink Petunias.  

Is someone playing a practical joke on me? I am specifically trying to rid my garden of pink.

I planted Crocosmia from corms and from plants - the plants are finishing up their blooming but some of those started 'from scratch' are just about to begin  theirs.

So how do I feel about the Sun Garden? I feel great. It continues to improve with age.  Once the Coreopsis and Rudbeckia start flaunting their flowers it is going to be an absolute riot of joyous colour.

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LAKEFRONT GARDEN - what happened?

Upon our arrival at the Ontario cottage a few weeks back we found a portion of the Lakefront Garden - the portion with the greatest variety of plants including Hardy Geranium, Ox-eye Daisies, Iris, Sundrops and of course the garden-defining Daylilies - had been severely cut back on either side of the steps leading down into the water.

An honest mistake by someone trimming the lawn, but still a disappointment.

This is how it looked this year: B-A-R-E

Compared to how it looked at the same time last year.

Most are tough plants and are already coming back but will not be blooming this year.

This is how the rest of the Lakefront Garden currently looks, a mix of (mostly Kwanso) daylilies, Yellow Loosestrife and Sundrops.

I quickly set about remedying the situation by taking the rest of the Sundrops I started to remove from the Lily Garden last year where they were not getting enough sun. They were past blooming but at least they filled in the empty space somewhat. I also added in some Fuscia; though annuals are not normally my cup of tea they are hard to beat when you require immediate colour.

Friends bought me these "Autumn Colours" Rudbeckia which I just love.  I truly hope they take and become a permanent part of the Lakefront Garden where they were a welcome and timely addition. 

Have you ever found an unexpected and drastic change to your own gardens?

What did you do?

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS - back from vacation

Of course I will have some vacation photos to share but first I want to share some of my impressions upon coming back to brand new garden beds that have been left untended for three weeks. 

After all I have never experienced anything like this before; this is my first year in a new home where I planted roughly 600-800 sq. feet , which may not be a lot to some of you, but is many times anything I have ever tended in the past (that was not wooded).

 I am thrilled with the overall result, although not everything has gone perfectly.
It would be boring if it did.

Hundreds of tiny spent brown blooms are giving the Hardy Geranium a slightly worn-out look.  I was planning on dividing it and putting half under our new cherry tree in the fall, but I suspect a good haircut would work wonders on it now.  

I may never get fruit from my black currant: it needs pruning, again; so when are the berries supposed to grow? 

Upon close inspection there are subtle differences between shades of bright yellow in the Heliopsis, but all of them veritably glow. If anything, these plants look even better than when we left.

The Crocosmia that were buds when I was leaving are just beginning to bloom. Can they really be that slow?  Good thing I think even the buds are beautiful. 

In no specific order: first impressions:

- sunflowers are getting big

- a single, blooming sunflower confirms I can expect an incredible show when 50 spread out along the fence next month!!!

- is that one a weed or a "volunteer" worth keeping?

- the grape vines need to be pushed up, it is like walking through a car wash

- grapes beginning their slow march from bright green to dull red  

- there are still a billion grapes - when do the birds come? 

- will that be how I tell when they are ripe?

- is this one one a weed or a "volunteer" worth keeping?

- Creeping Bellflower really IS that aggressive

- shockingly clear where my watering can with fertilizer hit and missed three weeks ago

- what I had presumed was a Bellflower I had grown from seed turns out to be the most fabulous blue Bachelor's Button I had forgotten I had planted. I am thrilled

- I love blue flowers

- are these ones weeds or "volunteers" worth keeping?

- Lily beetles have taken their toll in the backyard despite my vigilance  

- no sign of them in the front yard, why not?

- must kill lily beetles

- are those ones weeds or "volunteers" worth keeping?

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RED LILY BEETLE - disgusting

I have red lily beetles on my lilies in the back yard and sun garden, though they do no appear to have made their way into the front garden and my six foot tall 'lily trees'.

 It looks like these lilies that came with my house will be orange, a colour I am happy with and will fight to preserve.

While the beetle itself is just a beetle and therefore not too disgusting, it lays its eggs in its own excrement which is the disgusting part.

 

 Here you can see them clinging to the underside of the plant and you can see where entire leaves are missing.  

Since there are not pesticides that target only the lily beetle and leave the beneficial insects I pick them by hand, the same way I tackled my slug problem in my shady Toronto gardens.

 I told you it was disgusting.

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YARD ART - herons' new home

I found a new place for my herons. 

They appear to be walking out of the daylilies parallel to the front sidewalk into the rest of the garden, perhaps on the hunt for frogs?

It is hard to imagine that not that long ago they were up to their necks in snow!

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GREAT NEWS - they are not pink

Great news. The Iris that came with our property appears to be purple. This shot is just of the tip, visible only yesterday. I have been on pins and needles hoping that they are not pink, which was the case with my last home.  

Once they are done blooming they can all be transferred to the front purple and blue garden to join the 1/3rd  I already moved there in April.

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - bleeding heart

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A RAINY DAY FOR GARDENING - cedar hedge

Forecasted rain continuing for the next few days is a great time to get some things in the ground to lessen the burden of watering after transplanting. Granted that means gardening in the rain, but no matter how sweet we may appear, we are not made of sugar so we will be fine.

Will neighbour's think we are crazy? We have already established what they think.

Yesterday we started our current 'really big project' - making our cedar hedge.  

We are transplanting the small cedars spread across the sidelines of our property for a number reasons:

1) the currently are in the middle of the Moon Garden (above) rather than at the back where their height dictates, so we need to move them in any case in order to reclaim that whole garden

2) to enclose the backyard and separate it from the driveway (below) 

2) the cedars get lost strung out across great distance and my favourite design theory to apply when taking on a new garden is Proximity - they will have much greater impact grouped together 

 It is wet, messy, rewarding work but with my husband willing to help it goes much faster.

Wish us luck!

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - signs of spring II

 May 12th

 

May 9th

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - signs of spring

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I PROBABLY SHOULD NOT ADMIT IT, BUT...

In a previous post I shared this pic of how overgrown the backyard to our Cabbagetown place was when we first moved in.

Initially I thought our neighbour's garage was too big and overshadowed the gardens. Friends quickly pointed out that if gave us a great degree of privacy, and they were right. I grew an overnight appreciation for it but I never thought it looked quite right. I wanted to plant something growing up it but I was timid about asking the neighbours who we otherwise had never had any contact with.

Then a "For Sale" sign went up! The house quickly sold and sat empty for a very short while. I probably should not admit it, but I struck while the house was empty. I figured new neighbours would not know how long a vine had been there, if they ever noticed at all.

In more recent years I have been good about getting my neighbours permission when required and it has worked out well but since on this occasion I was chickening out I was especially careful to not cause any damage. I used a simple threadlike landscaping netting and simple thumb tacks to secure it.  

Who could have a problem with thumbs tacks?

In the three years since, the Silver Lace vine has grown rapidly and pretty well covered up the garage. It does not bloom much because of the shade from the massive Norway Maple but that is fine, it was meant to cover up the garage and it is doing its job splendidly.

I wonder if you all engage with your neighbours about your gardening every time you should, or if am I alone in my naughtiness?

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