YEAR 3 - what a difference!

I am entering the third full summer at my new home in Winnipeg and what a difference it makes as a perennial gardener.

While I have been busy in the gardens (as always), I have been making minor adjustments compared to the work required in the previous two years establishing beds and experimenting with light and soil conditions.

In year one I added 3 Iris here as a test, then 10 more in year two and finally in year three I have the effect of the Herons wading through these purple German Iris. 

Suzie enjoying the sun and the scent of blooming Jacob's Ladder which was initially struggling in the front yard but is happier this year after being transplanted to the sunnier back yard.

The Sedum in the rock garden is thicker and fuller and blooming like never before.

Mulch in the Sun Garden is clearly helping keep the weeds at bay; in the first two years I was growing too much from seed to use it but established plants allow for it.

Thank goodness!

 There are 15 Peonies altogether, with only 5 of them blooming this year. Can you picture it 2-3 years from now? That is how I view it...

I have planted Daisies for the past two years but this is the first that there has been any blooming en masse. I am thrilled with the results and will likely end up adding more. Can one have too many daisies, is it even possible?

***

Sharing with Tuesday Garden Party, Garden Tuesday, Maple Hill Hop, Nature Thursday, 

PLANNING SESSION - old sun garden

Today while relaxing in the tub I planned the replanting of the Old Sun Garden, i.e. right-hand side, beneath the windows.

Unfortunately it had to be ripped out last fall due to construction. I committed to preserving its idea and building on it, after all, it was (ironically) the one part of the garden I felt I had right.

Nevertheless this is still an opportunity to purposefully improve on where I had casually ended up. 

Heliopolis grow window-height but no more, are easily pruned (for variable bloom times) and are prolific self seeders (which for now is good but one day I may regret), all solid reasons to retain them, limiting them to the back, immediately below the windows to keep them in check.

In front of the their bright yellow, daisy-like blooms a row of taller, transparent grasses. Height v. transparency? No question. I choose height; the taller the grass the better, certainly some Heliopsis will manage to show through. Along with the grass will be purple Iris from the Sun Garden and of course daffodils for spring interest.

In front of the grasses: a combination of Purple Liatris and Blue Sea Holly.

I first saw these two beauties together in a garden designed by my friend Jess Dixon.  

I think my heart actually skipped a beat. 

Stunning. 

I wanted it. A lot of it.

Now I shall have it.

They are tall plants for the front border but I would like it to be clear to everyone they are not passing between gardens, but rather passing through a single garden, and height is one tool to reinforce that feeling.

Check back with me in the summer to see if I am true to my vision.

***
Sharing with Today's Flowers

ANATOMY OF OLD SUN GARDEN - 2 of 2

I initially had transplanted Lily-of-the-Valley in the red rectangles under the Spruce on the other side of the path from the Sun Garden. Given it is a big tree, I assumed it would be shady underneath, but the way that the sun comes up keeps it quite well lit and by the end of the summer I had switched to adding sun-loving Heliopsis.  

Now the Heliopsis runs not just the length of the Old Sun Garden but curves around the path to encircle the New Sun Garden as well.  Using these tall, bright, long-blooming perennials as the border will really pull both the Old Sun Garden and New Sun Garden together into one Sun Garden.

Having taller plants on both sides of the garden should contribute to the feeling that one is cutting through the garden when walking the grass path. The Heliopsis may also keep people in the front yard from seeing too much detail in the Sun Garden; I want people to have to come into the space to really appreciate it.

In those red rectangles I also added 15 orange Hyacinths, as I did at the opposite end under the Cherry tree, to tie it all together.

***
Sharing with Tuesday Garden party &  Garden Tuesday

ANATOMY OF OLD SUN GARDEN - 1 of 2

The Sun Garden is broken into two distinct parts. The new garden on the left, which I created by putting in a lasagna garden on top of the lawn within a month of taking possession of our home, and the bed that existed when we moved in, on the right-hand side of this photo and what I am now calling the Old Sun Garden. 

Early spring I noted what was coming up, late spring I transplanted the Iris out, summer I removed the composter and added a tree and in late summer I divided the Hardy Geranium, but I did it all without an overall plan, after all I was mostly just monitoring in my first year.

It turns out that there was lots in there, but as with any garden that has not been kept up it required some maintenance. The blackberry bush needed to be kept in check to give the lilies on this side enough light  -

and this substantial Phlox Paniculata which was hidden on the other side.  

In September I removed both and transplanted them to my Corporate Guerrilla Garden, because they were pink. 

While some people recommend a hand's off approach to learning about existing garden beds in a new home for the first year, I say "why wait?" if you identify key changes. Getting these plants in to their new bed with enough time to settle in and put down roots was the first step in figuring out what I wanted this bed to look like next season.

Obviously it had to work with the new Sun Garden to make one harmonious experience, though to be honest I had not really thought of that when I put the new bed in.

My preference is for lines of colour rather than clumps in a long and narrow bed such as this. In the photo above you can see how I dug up both the Peony and Heliopsis which were large, healthy and perfect candidates for dividing, and spread them about along the side of the house.  The Peony in front of both window wells and the Heliopsis all along the wall under the windows where it will serve as a vibrant, long-blooming backdrop.  

(The blackberry bush came out and went into a box in my garage where it sits to this day.)

In the newly-created, empty 'front' of the bed I planted 80 purple Liatris that I had to move from the Monet Garden, where they clearly had not been getting enough sun.  Among them I added three Phlox Orange Perfection.  I have been striving to find more orange plants, and purple is the contrast colour in this otherwise sunny-coloured bed; hopefully the bloom time of these two will overlap in a gorgeous purple/orange display.  

Also under the windows are 50 Darwin Hybrid Tulips (a bulb I tried once without luck but not in as sunny a spot), and a dozen or so orange Hyacinths under the Cherry Tree.

There are no low growing plants at the front of this border, it is filled with big, tall plants because I want those walking along the path to feel immersed in it.

***

Sharing with Tuesday Garden Party, Garden Tuesday

THE FORGOTTEN MONARDA - update to the monet garden map

My Monet Garden will be purples and blues and my Sun Garden is already bursting with yellows, reds and oranges.

So where does this Monarda fit in?

In the photo above it looks pink and below it looks more purple. In either case I think it clashed with the Sun Garden. What do you think?

Between wanting the Sun Garden to stay true to its palette and needing both more height and colour in the Monet Garden I made a last minute decision to transplant it just before freeze up.

There are two Monardas in the Sun Garden, both bought at the Friends of Gardens Manitoba annual plant sale and both labelled "red".  The other stayed relatively small and never bloomed so let us hope that it is actually red, while this plant grew so vigorously in one year that I divided it into three.

 By surrounding it with blues and purples I hope to make it seem more purple and less pink.  I added it in the green rectangle otherwise reserved for Delphinium (top left), where they should get as much sun as any plant in this garden.  Nothing to do for now but hibernate and wait.

Do you think this colour of Monarda was better suited for the Monet Garden or the Sun Garden?


***
Sharing with Today's Flowers, Floral Friday Fotos
& Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

MACRO FLOWER - maltese cross

Sharing with:

Floral Friday Fotos, Very Close, Macro Monday 2, Today's Flowers, I Heart Macro

MACRO MONDAY - milkweed

The Monarch butterfly needs our help. 

Please consider planting Milkweed in your garden to help ensure they have enough habitat to survive.

Sharing with 

Macro Monday 2 & I Heart Macro
 and Today's Flowers

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?

***
Sharing with Outdoor Wednesday Garden Tuesday
& Fertilizer Friday

LOBLAW'S SPECIAL EDITION - rudbeckia

Let us not forget that I am a marketer as well as a gardener, so when a publicist for Loblaw's contacted me about getting some plants from their store you can bet that I jumped on board.  I am used to working with bloggers on behalf of my clients but this is the first time the shoe is on the other foot. 

Thank you Loblaw's, or in the case of Winnipeg, "Superstore" as people here know it. 

A few weeks ago I was supplied with two Rudbeckia plants which turn out to be a great addition to my Sun Garden.  

 

 Since I try and picture my beds three years out I did what I generally do when a store-bought container clearly has multiple plants: I split them apart before planting. Yes, when they were in the middle of blooming & no, this is not generally recommended for short term performance, but as I always say, "as long as they come back next year...".  I want to delay having to dig them up and divide them as long as I can but still have them pack a punch in their first year.

 Three plants in each container were split and planted as six separate plants, which already have a much grander feel than if i had just planted the two bushier plants as-bought and they have hardly skipped a beat despite my aggressive treatment.  

I did not realize how much something taller was missing from the west side where I started more plants from seed and so where they tend to be shorter, at least for this year.  You can see in this fish-eye perspective the role they are playing in bringing height-balance from one end of the garden to the other.

From this perspective you can also see the colour-balance they bring with the Heliopsis on the far right.

All in all a great addition. Thanks Real Canadian Superstore.

***
Sharing with Garden Tuesday
Outdoor Wednesday, Our World Tuesday

ANATOMY OF A SUN GARDEN - breaking the rules

A virtual tour of my "South Lasagna garden" which I am officially renaming my "Sun Garden".

Although some experts suggest limiting use of the sunny colours to "no more than about 10 to 15 percent of really warm or hot colors for best design" I have my own ideas on this matter.  In my Ontario gardens I had too much shade to grow many of the most colourful flowering plants and now that I have sun I am embracing them wholeheartedly in what I am calling my Sun Garden.  It sure has changed a lot in the last month, including the removal of cedars that had come with the house.

My Sun Garden is primarily reds, oranges and yellows with perhaps 10-15 percent purples - so take that experts!

The second floor window is the best way to get an overview (literally).

Another rule I have read is that clumps look better than rows. But since my garden has such strongly defined borders being next to the driveway I have chosen to emphasize them by planting in rows all along the border. Nasturtium seedlings line the driveway and 11 Blanket Flowers line the grass path, alternating between "Arizona Sun", "Red Sun".

1. The large triangle in the middle is made up of purple Iris and red Lucifer Crocosmia. Their foliage is so similar and their bloom times so far apart that they complement one another really well.
2. The pale 'no smoking' symbols in the centre are Honeyberry bushes, the fruit of which has been described as a cross between a raspberry and a blueberry.  
3. Behind them in the yellow circle I just planted a pack of burnt orange and yellow Marguerite Gloriosa Daisy seeds.

(Ignore the stones, they are only placeholders until I find something I really like to build up the edge.)

1. Moving to the right we have three hearts representing orange Butterfly Milkweed. 
2. The house shapes represent some kind of Bellflower that was here already, and that I divided into about 8 clumps. One of the few purples in this garden. 
3. The red bullseye represent red Columbine, 4 plants and a pack of 'Bordeaux Barlow' seeds.
4. Yellow lightning bolts represent yellow Leopard's Bane x 5.
5. The dull purple "L"s could be Asclepias, I have not been sure since I bought them.
6. The dark brown squares represent orange Iceland Poppies which have not bloomed so far this year.
7. The small yellow bullseye mark where I have planted roughly 9 orange Asiatic Lilies, only 1 of whom has so far broken the soil 
8. in that same space I also spread orange California Poppy seeds. I am not sure how their bloom times will coordinate with the lilies, but they could be spectacular together. 

1.  On the left I have various Coneflowers represented by the small green shapes. Two each of "Hot Lava" and "Secret Desire".  Between the winter and the rabbits they are struggling.
2. The light blue rectangle represents Rudbeckia GoldQuelle; bought three in the fall only 1 strong contender left.
3. The red line in the middle left are three Helenium "Red Jewel".
4. The blue triangles are red Lupine which are not happy in this continuously damp soil. I hope they do better in the sandy soil at the cottage.
5. Yellow rectangle represents three red Bee Balm.
6. Purple rectangle represents red Butterfly Bush - I think, but am not sure.
7. Orange stars represent 2 Red Charm Peony 
8. To the left, just out of frame, I have lined the border with Swiss Chard with its bright yellow, orange and red stalks.
9. Over the entire left side, filling in the gaps between all plants and progressing really well are Coreopsis Roulette I direct sowed. Absolutely gorgeous; hope to have it 'take over' more than half the garden.

Spread across the whole garden (except for amongst the stalks of Iris and Crocosmia in the centre) are Scarlet Flax seeds.  

And finally, other seeds I tried but do not believe are germinating include a chocolate-orange Rudbeckia, Cherry Brandy Rudbeckia (red) and Brilliant Oriental Poppy (red) as well as some gentian blue Anagallis Mouron for contrast.

So as you can see, I am fully embracing hot summer colours in my "Sun Garden".  I will keep you posted with photos all summer and you can be the judge if it "sizzles" or is 'too hot to handle'. 

*** 

Sharing with Garden Tuesday, Our World Tuesday and Nature Notes.