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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Sharing with Garden Tuesday, Our World Tuesday, Tuesday Garden Party,
 Outdoor Wednesday & Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

DRY CREEK BED - part 2 of 2

In part one I described the process of adding a lovely dry creek bed beside the main path at our Ontario cottage.  I loved the organic process I went through. No mapping out the full vision in advance, instead seeing incremental changes that could make it better when I had time to work on it.

Once the heavy lifting was done I got to "dress" it. The stones are the bones but there was much more to be done to really highlight and take full advantage my efforts.

May 2012

• First I removed the wood ferns that were on a hump between the Periwinkle and the creek so they would not block the view
• Then I added Ostrich Ferns along the far border to highlight define the creek. The ferns were  harvested from the side of the road
• Then I added moss. 2 massive 'buttons' of beautiful, lush green moss that I harvested from the side of the road
• I am adding small ferns and Astilbe. Not sure if the ferns are young or just small, time will tell. And not sure how the Astilbe will do here, but it is less dry than where they struggled before, and if they do well I think they will fit in and look natural even though they do not grow naturally here. 

July 2012

• I also added Sundrops to the moss buttons. I hope they do not grow too big there since the reason I moved the ferns out in the first place was so they did not block the view. It is nice to have some colour though, that yellow really pops amidst the greens.

• And finally I have started to add a moss border beneath the 'canopy' of the ferns to define the edge of the creek bed even further.

So while it will mean raking the rocks and moss border each year to keep it clear of leaves I am very happy with the final result.  Or perhaps I should say the result-to-date because you never know what I may think of adding next!

Part 1 of 2
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Outdoor Wednesday, Rurality Blog Hop & Fertilizer Friday

COTTAGE GARDEN - 40 year plan

What is the big plan for the Ontario cottage?  Is there one?

You bet.

Just because I am now in Winnipeg does not mean I have stopped thinking about my beloved Cottage Garden. My ultimate goal for the Cottage Garden is simple: get as much blooming as possible everywhere possible for as long as possible.  That of course means keeping with my habit of plucking up local roadside "weeds" and wildflowers of course, including Oxeye daisies, Black-Eyed-Susans, Ferns, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Columbine, Trillium, Viper's Bugloss, Buttercups and more!

Lakefront Garden

 I started with the Oxeye daisies on the Lakefront Garden, Septic Garden and  North Deck Garden. I have a good amount in all of those places but can easily see myself adding more each year.

I will also add Black-Eyed-Susans to the Lakefront Garden, they are sure to do well there in the sun.  Last year I added them to the Septic Garden and the North Deck Garden where a few of them are coming back.  Two years ago I transplanted them and had to return to the city right away, so they struggled whereas last year I added a lot to North Deck Garden and was able to stay and water them for a couple of weeks and they did much better and should easily return next year.  Hurrah!

And of course the SunDrops are doing well everywhere... The Lakefront Garden is their priority since they are doing so well there, and they they are a great height to mix and mingle with the Wood Ferns in the South Deck Garden. In fact there should be enough for the North Deck Garden as well.

I am currently grouping Violets in the North Fern Garden, but with a 40 year plan I will eventually have enough there and then add them beside the gravel path with the Trillium I planted last year.

In the foreground about 200 Red Trillium line this path , along with Periwinkle and later ferns & white Impatiens.

And of course I will continue to simply bring more and more (and more!) plant material from the surrounding forest - ferns of all kinds in particular.  Not just lining the path, but throughout the property.  Why look at a brown forest floor when you can green it up?

My goal is to have the cottage feel like it is a tropical rainforest on Vancouver Island. Like it is on steroids.
Greener and more alive than it has a right to be naturally, though naturally beautiful.

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Sharing with Fertilizer Friday

LAST FLOWERS - German Iris

In a previous post I celebrated the 'first flowers' to make their appearance.  Brave souls eager to have their day.  But I also appreciate 'last flowers', those that wait until you think they are done blooming and then surprise us with a last blast of colour.

This Iris (Versicolor or Virginica?) is one such flower.
This picture was taken on June 29 and about a week after I thought I had seen the last of the Iris.  Remember, everything was blooming early this year.
Whether it will bloom again next year at the same time as the Blanket Flower in the background remains to be seen.

Typically a single Iris among all of the other plants on the Lakefront Garden wouldn't be enough to really catch one's eye, especially when its blooms are so outnumbered by the Sundrops and Daisies.  But when said plant is unexpectedly blooming a single flower can really pop. 

"Good for you!" I say to the plant that goes out with a bang.

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And of course Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

IT WASN'T EVEN ON THE LIST!

When I first mentioned our decision to move to Winnipeg I suggested some of the bigger projects that I would need to focus on: the flagstone path, adding a new garden by the old tree and getting the moss border in around the Lakefront Garden.

I've actually done a pretty good job with it, and then some. 

One thing that was not on the list was the North Deck Garden.  It was going to be okay if this took a few years to get done. 

But who are we kidding? 

Once I see the potential - and happen have an endless supply of free plant material at hand (from local roadside ditches) - well what is one supposed to do?

At the front I have put Black-Eyed-Susans since I think they will require the most sun , behind them I have put Oxeye Daisies - and between and beneath them all - Sundrops!  At the back is a hardy geranium I planted just to soften the break line where wall and garden meet.  And while it is serving that purpose well, the job is much more suited to... daylilies of course!

I'll be taking out the geranium and adding it to the ferns at the front and putting in some daylilies here.  They have the right stature for the back of the garden.  I can just picture their bloom stalks pushing their way through the ferns, ensuring they will be noticed.

I said I was going to move a lot of Sundrops from the Lily Garden, and I was right.  Seeing the Sundrops in the LakeFront Garden still in full bloom while  the Lily Garden is bereft of Sundrops I realized that the Lily Garden is really not the right place for the SunDrops at all. 
It just does not allow them to be all that they can be. 

So I will move as many as I have time to, and will have all winter to figure out what to put in its place next year.

 I can already picture this time next year with the Sundrops' bright yellow blooms filling the space under the decks, along the water and up alongside the path.  They are really going to have a heck of an impact, just you wait and see!

EPIPHANY - north deck garden

I was looking at this rather messy scene of browning Columbine and dying Fleabane and thinking:

• when transplanting the way I do, it is not about what it looks like this year (all brown and scraggly), but what it will look like next year!
• the pink Fleabane has come and gone before the white, is that normal?  
• how interesting that there was a lone Daisy and a lone Sundrop under the north deck

Brave souls who have left the comfort of their traditional homes and sought out new adventure. 

A metaphor for our decision to move to Winnipeg? 

Certainly, it worked for the Sundrop, which is healthy and stronger than those still in the Lily Garden.

Seeing these two survive on their own is a reminder that many of the flowers I am planting 'here' and 'there', could also work 'there' and 'here', and 'over there' too.

These two bright spots inspired me to see in a flash what the garden will look like when it is flooded with them, both the Sundrops and Daisies together.  A great pairing. 

In this particular garden it will be interesting to see how they work with the Fleabane and Columbine, but it will be a few years before I tackle it -- because it got me in turn thinking that the South Deck Garden is an even better place for the Sundrops!

There they can fill in between the ferns and I will achieve that "no bare soil" look I go for.  They are the right height and from how they veritably scream out for attention from the greens next to the Dry Creek Bed, I know they will be fantastic here too.

I will keep give the recent transplants to the North Deck Garden a chance to show me next year how they are taking before I start introducing any other plants there, but I will not pull out these early settlers either. 

If they are patient they will one day be heralded as trendsetters by their kin.

SUNDROPS, SUNDROPS, SUNDROPS

I'm in love with Sundrops.

After reading that the Sundrop is the same thing as Evening Primrose I further investigated and learned that they are both Oenothera. Does this mean that I could use my Sundrops for herbal remedies?  I don't think I'll ever find out since these don't look like they will grow in Zone 3 where I am headed and I couldn't possibly make the time to test it pre-move.

Do tell if you know already.

Since they are so densely packed in the Lily Garden, I tested them in 3 different locations last year and have been blown-away by the results.  I've just learned it is possible for them to overlap with the lilies in their blooming; the Asiatic Lilies typically bloom after the Sundrops, but this year things are arriving early after the summery burst that was April.

1) Dry Creek Bed - Doubled in size and blooms.

I have to admit their success in this moist, green location was a surprise.  I didn't even plant the first one, it just appeared two years ago, perhaps travelling with soil when I added the moss "buttons" that summer...and boy did it ever make an stand out in that otherwise subdued space.  

Look at how the yellow pops in the shot above! 

You can not walk down that path with averted gaze.  

They draw you in. 

Seeing that just one could survive was enough to inspire, but I still took a measured approach when I added this spot to my test list last year thinking: more can only be better.

I am so pleased with how the yellow stands out amongst the green that I've already added even more towards the back  (you can see these new non-blooming ones are half the size  of the ones in the foreground that started here last year).   

2) LakeFront Garden - They have doubled or tripled in size and number of blooms.

I almost feel guilty keeping them in the Lily Garden. Almost. But not quite since that garden is rife with them. I will use it as a nursery and take plants, and I mean lots of plants, later this week and move them to the locations from each of the tests I ran last year.

(August update - before I left the cottage I was ambitious and switched out all of the Sundrops I could. They just simply weren't getting enough light and will look amazing elsewhere).

(south side, stone stairs into lake)

If the Lily Garden looks a little patchy next year as a result, so be it, they will come back and fill in again given enough time.

(north side, stone stairs into lake)

Don't worry, even though the LakeFront Garden is 100 feet long, I won't run out.

3) Lily Garden - Same size as before.

"Now wait a minute, isn't that where they came from?"  Yes, but they were only growing behind the daylilies, away from the water.  I planted 3-4 under the fir tree beside the Lily Garden in what is pretty dry earth (as might be expected) and they came back just fine.  Not 'new-and-improved' like the other test sites, but still they came back.  And this is no less exciting because it means that I can now surround the daylilies with Sundrops and expand the boundaries of the Lily Garden.

The Daylilies were always a bit too tall to be in the 'front'of the garden and when the lake dominates one side of the property there is always a feeling like lake-side is the front side, despite the stone border running perpendicular to the lake. 
Most people would not be aware of it, but I think it will make an enormous difference.  

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P.S. I am sharing this link with "We Did it Wednesday", "Outdoor Wednesday" and "Outdoor Spaces", why not check them out?

LAKEFRONT GARDEN UPDATE - june

Ox-eye daisy.

Sundrops, daisies and hardy geranium in bloom.

Yellow of a volunteer clover in the centre fits right in.

Yellow Loosestrife that did not get enough light to bloom while in the woods are flourishing in the sun at the water's edge.

Long-blooming, they hold their own against the daylilies.

LAKEFRONT GARDEN

While most of my gardening happens in the shade, the "Lakefront Garden" is the exception.  It is 100 feet of shorefront above the retaining wall.   As you can see, it was originally home to driftwood, some ferns and lots of opportunity when we bought.

Summer 2008

 

Spring 2010 

Here you start to see the daylilies, which form the backbone of the garden, filling in.

In this garden you'll also find:

• Sundrops that I transplanted from the Lily Garden last year where they add a great splash of colour before the daylilies are ready
• Yellow Loosestrife (not invasive according to the website) which are a great height for mixing in with the daylilies and I love love their bright yellow flowers.  They bloom slightly after the Sundrops, so together they combine to have a dash of yellow for quite some time here
• Oxeye daisies, which I gather from the roadside and which the Ontario government considers a weed

• Pink Hardy Geranium
• Blue German Iris
• Blue Siberian Iris

March 2011

As you can see, in the spring it can flood, submerging the plants in icy water, but they don't seem to mind, thank goodness.

August 2011

Mostly common orange, but also some other colours I got from a Vessey's assorted grab bag.  I think we are really lucky to have such a gorgeous wildflower, but I've read that it can be aggressive compared to hybrids, so we will have to see if it takes over and snuffs the others out.  I certainly hope not because I love the mix - mostly orange, with an occasional surprise: