Gardening Pomona

Winter at the Royal Botanical Garden

2012-02-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

Every year at this time I make a trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton. This winter they have an exhibit on chocolate with some taste testings, if you can make it through the crowd.

My dad and me

A visit to the Mediterranean room is also a must which holds tropical plants. This garden has its ups and downs, and this year it was ok. Some of it has to do with timing. I try to get there when the jasmine is in bloom and I always seem to miss it. Too early this year.

This year was the Glass under Glass exhibit in the Mediterranean room which features glass pieces from local artists. There were some interesting pieces which are following below.

unknown snowdrop

shocking pink Mandevilla

gardenia

bird of paradise

Medinilla magnifica

This is what it looked like while were enjoying ourselves.It is actually snowing in the photo but it is hard to see. Needless to say the snow was gone 24 hours later.

Snow, Finally

2012-01-31T09:18:00.000-05:00

It has not been a snowy winter thus far. Rain, rain and grey. Sushi decided she was going to check it out this morning rather than sleep in.

Feathered Visitors

2012-01-24T18:25:00.000-05:00

Alas, my heart has not been in the garden of late. It is damp and cold and hardly what you would call winter here. I have been watching the birds and trying out my zoom on the camera, but it is not zoomy enough for me. Nevertheless, here are some of my feathered visitors to the feeder this month.

Blue Blue Jay

Chickadees

Downy Woodpecker

Male and female Juncos

Cardinal

The bird eating lazy cat Sushi

A Stroll Along Burlington Beach

2011-12-15T16:05:00.002-05:00

Burlington Ontario sits on the western edge of Lake Ontario looking southwards to the Niagara area (both Canadian and American). The waters edge has in places sandy beaches and naturally the city had in times past promoted this area for visitors and locals. Burlington Beach is only about a seven minute drive from my home and for the past year or so I have been taking walks with a friend along the path or on the sandy beach itself. However, until recently the beach was not enjoyed as fully as it could have been due to the pollution in the lake.

Part of the pollution in our area comes from the steel mills that were the backbone of industry for the city of Hamilton.Constant infilling and channel dredging damaged fresh water streams and hurt the wildlife they supported, disrupting the ecological land balance. Chemical, industrial and thermal pollution continued to damage the environment particularly after 1890. Asian carp were also a concern.
Government has been working at cleaning up the lake for many years now and is succeeding.

The parking lot views. I don't know why I am showing you this but I guess it gives a sense of the place.

Ever since I have lived here you would hear at some point in late spring or early summer that the beach is closed due to pollution levels and no swimming was permitted. This year was the first year I am aware of that this did not happen. And you could certainly see it with your own eyes as the beach was crowded all summer long with swimmers, picnickers, walkers, and sun worshipers.

At this time of year it is the devoted walker that is seen at the beach, sometimes in pairs or groups or on their own.

There are many openings from the paved path to the beach.

I don't know why the city, or whoever, decided to place the hydro towers along the beach. What made them think that this was a good idea? Obviously they were not thinking about beach attraction.


Looking at Burlington

Viburnum trilobum or Cranberry bush growing wild

The is the Burlington Canal lift bridge (in orange with green towers) and the Skyway Bridge. While the Skyway is a nice bridge, and most people use it to cross the canal, the lift bridge is much more interesting. It takes cars and pedestrians and emits a fog horn sound when the bridge is going to rise up to accommodate any large boat, ship or tanker. If you like bridges, here is a link to the government site which has a nice article on the history of the Burlington Lift Bridge.

That is it for a cool day in December by the beach. You might want to sit here awhile and enjoy the view.

Fallen Colour

2011-10-30T13:50:00.000-04:00

Mums - the colour of fall

2011-10-09T11:19:00.000-04:00

Every year at this time the nurseries and grocery stores and convenience stores are setting out pots of colourful chrysanthemums to sell. They are always eye catching and the colours are strong and vibrant and a reminder that fall is upon us.

I think like the recurring seasons I am a creature of habit in some ways.

I always buy a pair to set on the stairs, in the same place. This year it is a deep bright red.

First cultivated in China as a herb, they are believed to have the power of life.

The earliest illustrations of mums show them as small, yellow daisy-like flowers.

Chrysanthemums get their name from the Greek prefix “chrys-“ meaning golden (its original color) and “-anthemion,” meaning flower.

The mum appeared in Japan around 8 A.D. So taken by the flower, they adopted a single flowered chrysanthemum as the crest and official seal of the Emperor.

A symbol of the sun, the Japanese consider the orderly unfolding of the chrysanthemum’s petals to represent perfection.

In many countries in Europe the chrysanthemum is used in bouquets at funerals and is considered the death flower.

At my house it is a reminder of Fall, with their glorious shades and hues of orange, yellow and red and everything in between.

A Work in Progress (part 2)

2011-10-03T11:17:00.000-04:00

It seems now all will be at a standstill for at least a month concerning the back yard revitalization. Not much progress has been made due to rain almost every day for the past week. So I bring you up to date on what has been accomplished and what some of the plans are for the spring.

The patio is in the form of an ellipse. Not just any ellipse. Hubby chose to create it using Maxwell's Method which involved some stakes at certain foci and string and then drawing out the circumference. However, he arranged it so that the shortest distance of the ellipse faced north/south and the longest faced east/west. What can I say, engineers do these things.

Then the stone for the patio and the paths arrived. A very cool crane, operated by a remote control, picked the stone bundles off the truck and onto the ground by the street. They were later moved to the back by bobcat.

At this point the sod was laid and our fantastic crew had finished their part of the work. We had not really thought through how we were going to cover the bare ground and toyed with the idea of laying grass seed. Sod was quick though not the ideal choice. The yard gets a fair amount of shade and the grass may not do well in time. We expect to do some over seeding with shade-friendly fescues at some point.

Some of the stone (Credit Valley Limestone) was brown and hubby decided to place it in the form of an ellipse in the center of the patio.

This is as far as work progressed. The rain has kept us away from going any further. As well, hubby starts a new work contract away from home for the next month or so.

If you look to the north of the patio you see a small eyebrow shaped bed partly covered in leftover sod to protect the soil. This will be the only flower bed in the garden as it receives the most sunshine. Plants that exist along the borders of the garden will be moved into this spot in the spring. Planted in the middle is a dwarf pine called Bergman's Variegated Eastern White Pine. It has yellow needles amongst the green and was impossible to resist. I have long wanted a native pine but most are too big or need more sun than I can give them. A dwarf was a great compromise at only 5 feet by 3 feet at 10 years maturity.
Between the house and the patio (the first of these two photos) I will plant 5 or 6 hydrangeas. This will soften things up and feel more comfortable when sitting out back.

Along the north side of the garden I will add more rhododendrons to the existing ones as they seem to do well there. We will also add a couple of small trees. I am still uncertain which but am considering a Japanese maple and a flowering dogwood - the dogwood being a 'Stellar' hybrid due to the possibility of anthracnose disease in this area.

Unexpectedly, a little garden turned up between the maple and the boulder along the side of the house. I am thinking to fill in with some low maintenance Annabelle hydrangeas as I will also be placing a number of them between the house and the patio. Most probably one of the new pink varieties that bloom through the fall.The shed will sit to the left of the boulder.
And that is all I can show and tell for now. I hope it was of some interest. If you have any comments or plant suggestions I welcome hearing from you.

A Work in Progress (part 1)

2011-09-28T11:41:00.001-04:00

I think it must be five years that we have been wanting to renovate our yard behind the house. That area was an eyesore (at least to me) with never ending Forget-me -nots, weeds galore, poor grass or really almost non existent grass (see weeds galore), and big dips in the ground where some old poplar stumps were left to rot. There was also some issue with drainage which caused erosion along one side of the property.

But I had a vision.

In mid September, a wonderful work crew of two plus one, and a husband, turned the backyard into a mud field and a reality.

I have come to realize that I do not have many 'before' photos of the yard. So I am presenting some photos with bits left out.

Below: First a side view of the house looking back. Not much to see but it may help with perspective later. To the right of the window will be a new shed. A flagstone path will link the shed to the door and window on the side. Notice the stone below the tree, it is part of the steps to the side door. You are on the south side facing east.

A decent if not chaotic look at the yard. Hubby was removing a dead apricot tree at the time. Along the north side of the garden are some rhododendrons. You are on the south side facing due north.

A winter picture to fill it in a bit. You can see the left over stump of the apricot to the left of the photo. Again, you are on the south side facing north.

A view you may remember, and the most important one for me; the large green bush is a forsythia that sits on the crest of the slope to the next yard. The slope was muddy in spring and not much grew around it. I wanted a true grade change between the two yards. This photo is facing east.

Now for the fun part.

Below: remember the side window of the house ? that corner square area on the right is where the shed will be. The oval is going to be the patio. The grading has been completed at this point. Notice the forsythia is gone. You can still see part of a cedar trellis hubby made for me on the very left side. It is also in the previous photo behind the golden mock orange (also now gone).

This is the left side of the yard. Gone is the apricot stump, but the rhodos at the back are kind of still visible. The outline of the patio is just beginning to take place in this picture.

Facing west and the back of the house. The grade is dramatic now between the two yards. No more sloping yard. The stone at the fore of the photo is left over Credit Valley limestone that made up the original front porch, now long gone. It includes 4 large steps treds which will be used in this project. We have been hoarding this stone for years. Now hubby will turn what we have into wall and stairs. More stone is on the way as what we have is only a fraction of what is needed.

Here is hubby at the start of the wall creation. We are on the south side looking northeast, the house in behind us and to the left. He has made the corner of the wall here.

And then before you know it the wall is complete!

What a piece of work is a man. Thank you hubby!

Yes, other stuff happened in between, but I wanted to give us all a sense of satisfaction for making it to the end of the post. Next time you will see the finished sod work, what the garden will be like and a glimpse of the patio in progress. I am not sure how much more will get finished this year. The paths to the house and shed may wait until next spring, and the shed too perhaps. Hubby starts a new work contract very soon and the timing of this job worked out perfectly when he was in between contracts. He is working on the patio as I write - I am not allowed near it. Not allowed to move a stone or open my mouth.

Until next.

A 'Small' Crop of Garlic

2011-09-01T09:19:00.000-04:00

Garlic. I love garlic, hubby loves garlic. I purchased Canadian garlic two years ago and have now had two crops. Two crops of disappointing garlic. At first I wondered, is it me or is it them. Well that's a no brainer, it is me. Well not me specifically but rather where I planted the bulbs and the conditions under which they have thrived.

The property on which we live is large and yet only has pockets of sunshine through out the day. Most of it is in varying levels of shade, and that is of course problem number one - not enough sun. Where there is sun is where I have been planting my sun loving plants and so that relegated the garlic to the less than premium location. The soil in that location is pretty good and it is fairly quick draining as the tiny vegetable plot is in a raised bed. I harvested the bulbs (all 6 of them) in mid August as the leaves were yellowing and I think that was the right thing to do. So, I think the lack of required sunshine may be the main reason the bulbs I carefully removed from the ground are so small.

This fall I will shift their location to improve the sun deficiency and we shall find out next year if that helps. The photos that follow will show you their growth and eventual harvest.

Looks are deceiving. The largest bulb is only 2 inches across and the smallest 1 1/4 inches with only two cloves. Oh well. I will plant the larger cloves for next year and the rest will end up on some garlic toast along with a glass of wine. Bon appetit.

A Short History of the Agave - for Bom

2011-08-04T22:05:00.001-04:00

Agave tequilana

The agave has been around for 60 millions years. The native range of these sun loving plants is in Southern Mexico and Northern South America. They are used to hot deserts and the arid conditions of sun drenched mountain slopes. Agaves have been consumed in one way or another for nine thousand years and continue to be used primarily for commercial purposes.

Agaves have been used as medicinal plants for the relief of inflammation, however, some such as A. bovicornuta cause dermatitis and some other species are so toxic that they have been used to poison the tips of arrows.

One tribe of New Mexican Apache Indians had many uses for the agave. They ate the mescal agave and turned its fibres into rope, cords, sandals and baskets. It was used as fuel and also as 'quids' in firearms.It could also be used to sew with: when the needle-sharp tip of the agave is snapped off it comes away with a string of vascular tissue that serves as thread.

Sisal

The fibres are durable and sunlight resistant and those from A. sisalana are made into handwoven sisal rugs and more recently into cords and ropes that will hold up your clematis, tie that mattress tightly onto the roof of your car, or hold cargo in its place on transport ships. In the 1400's when Mexico was at the height of its power, the fibres of A. pacifica were used in clothing. Today sisal is grown in Kenya, Tanzania and Brazil and plays a significant economic role for these countries.

A century later when the Aztec civilization was in decline they traded their knowledge of the agave with the Spanish who gave them the technology of the still. The process of distilling grains into liquor was yet unknown to the Mexicans at this time. Naturally they looked to the agave as a possibility and soon were distilling a variety of intoxicating spirits. Pulque is made by fermenting the 'honey water' that is collected in the hollowed-out stems of the agave. Mescal is made from mashed mescal heads, or cabeza, made from the maguey plant (a form of agave, Agave americana). Mescal is double distilled and is aged in the bottle for four years. By the 1620's the Mexicans found if they cooked the fleshy leaf base of A. tequilana they could convert the natural starches into sugars. When pulped and fermented, the sugars became the drink the most famous for Mexico, the tequila.

Mezcal

This post is entered into Bom's birthday prize give away. Happy Birthday Bom.

The information on the agave comes from Bill Law's book Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History.

Waterlilies and a shameless plug for a friend

2011-08-02T09:03:00.001-04:00

A visit to the RBG in Hamilton/Burlington provided some of these lovely photos taken by a good friend Julie. It was a hot sunny day, one among the many during our heatwave of the past couple of weeks.

The two gazing pools with waterlilies are new to the gardens and are a wonderful draw for the visitors.

There is a nice specimen of the tree Metasequoia or Dawn Redwood. It is not huge yet, but is getting there. A great tree-climbing tree.

Another new addition is the Living Wall. I have seen a few other such walls but hear they can be difficult to grow well. Happily this is not the case for this one.

Flowers and butterflies seem to go together well. Kind of like peanut butter and jam, mmnn.

If you would like to see more of Julie's photos visit her blog here. Also, she is a whiz at Social Media, go here.

It's 27 celcius in the House

2011-07-18T12:38:00.000-04:00

From the title you can be sure of two things: a) it is friggin' hot here and b) we don't have air conditioning!

I am hot and sticky and await cool rain with impatience. Needless to say I seem to await in vain. Oh well. On the positive side almost all the weeding is caught up. A neighbour's ash tree must be at the height of its seed cycle as the seedlings are in the thousands and it seems that they are all germinating. I have been pulling them out in the handfuls of late. Mulch? They survive through the mulch. Woe is me.

On the negative side my two (brand new) rain barrels are now empty. Rain dance, rain dance.

On the plus side the flowers are blooming with great speed. I will catch you up on some of them.

Bright and blue - I have two kinds of Blue Eyed Grass. The first one is 'Lucerne', the second one's name is forgotten.

This one prefers to seed itself in the gravel

Here is a photo of the Common Moss rose that did not make it in the last post, plus another.


A beauty and smells divine too

A patio rose called Royal Bassimo

I am growing Spikenard which is a native plant. Large plants with large leaves and lots of dark red berries in the fall. The first one is over six feet tall and still growing.

Monster Spikenard 1

Spikenard 2 -This one is a baby in comparison

Tasty garlic scapes. Quite artistic looking aren't they?

Butterfly weed and Beebalm - a loud combo

Lavender fronting a blooming sedum

Finally, my prized possession for the year, a simple oakleaf hydrangea. Prized because this poor plant had been rabbit-pruned badly over the last two years (partially my fault, but the rabbits get most of the blame). I am overjoyed to see it recover so well and bloom for me this summer.

Late Spring Garden beds

2011-06-23T15:31:00.001-04:00

Among the various garden beds on the property there are two that did really well this year. I have been tweaking the rose bed over the years and have never been satisfied. Roses have been planted and dug up and I am slowly coming to the realization that roses and I do not work well together. There are four roses in this bed, one a patio rose, is swamped by a columbine and a masterwort. Father Hugo has already bloomed this spring (and spectacularly too) while Sombreuil, a climbing tea, and Muscosa or Old Pink Moss, have yet to bloom.

Rosa hugonis or Father Hugo

Sombreuil

So over the past few years I have slowly altered the plants in this bed, adding Max Frei geraniums and two types of Willow Blue Star. My motto is keep adding what is already doing well. And so I am. The colour combination to my eyes is wonderful.

From the left is peony Miss America, wild columbine, Willow Blue Star, Max Frei geranium and a dwarf variety of Blue Star. The columbine seeded itself there and has been left for the season. Fortunately you can not see the patio rose and the masterwort duking it out.

Miss America

Another bed that has had a good spring showing is by the front door. It is fairly new and I call it the Red Bed. Three Diablo ninebarks dominate the bed at spring and bloomed profusely this year. A good chop after flowering by about one third gets great results. For spring colour there is Thalictrum aquifolium or Meadow Rue and Blue Alliums for contrast. This planting also includes two clematis, one pink and one red, a ruby red hollyhock, japanese maple, and of course pink liatris and coneflowers.

Ninebark and Japanese maple

Allium cernum in bud

in flower

Meadow Rue

I post this on a rainy day. A day when it is good to remember how wonderful the garden looked, if only a couple of days ago.

Chlorosis, really ? Ants too. Good Grief !

2011-06-19T13:14:00.000-04:00

Chlorosis, is considered a disease in the plant world. Chlorosis is when the leaves of a plant can no longer make chlorophyll and the leaves turn yellow. It is usually associated with an iron deficiency in plants, or when plants are unable to use the iron in the soil due to poor pH levels (too alkaline), poor drainage or damaged roots. It may also be caused by a lack of manganese or zinc in the soil. To tell the difference between low iron versus low manganese you look to the leaves themselves. Forget that the deficiency creates cool looking designs in the leaves. Look at whether the chlorotic leaves are at the tips of the branches or closer to the center. In other words: old leaves or new leaves?

For the first time ever I am witnessing chlorosis in my garden, on one of my clematis, which happens to share a bed with roses. I believe it is due to a lack of manganese or zinc rather than iron. First have a look at the leaves. Gorgeous aren't they?

However, if you look towards the end or tip of the vine, the leaves are green.

I think because the clematis is in the same bed as some roses I will take the easy route first and apply a low solution of fertilizer that includes all the micro-nutrients. The roses will then get fed (and at an optimum time too since they are only still in bud form) and I might be able to stop the chlorosis from spreading. If that doesn't work I guess I will have to put my thinking hat on in case I have misjudged the culprit. Soil tests, checking the soil for compaction would be other factors to look into.

Ants have been a thorn in my side for years now. They are in the grass and tend to move house from one spring to the next. You discover them when you suddenly trip over a mound that wasn't there before, or find that the edge of your gravel driveway ( a curse and a love both) has sand along the sides. Huh?

Where'd that sand come from?

We have big ants, little ants, carpenter ants in the house (oh don't get me started), and yellow ants that smell like lemon when you crush them. They turn up in the lawn, the garden beds, the leaf compost pile and the containers. I just planted this container of succulents a few days ago and already there are ants.

Can you see the holes?

The soil is pushed up in places too.

Now what was my mantra again? Oh yes. I love gardening, I love gardening.

Last of the Spring Flowers

2011-06-02T20:39:00.003-04:00

Some of you must be in full summer swing by now. I know this. I read your blogs and see your wonderful photos. Here we are still a bit behind by about two weeks and so there are still some spring flowers in the garden at Pomona.


the last of the Redbud

Labrador Tea

Growing the Labrador Tea is still a mystery to me. It is a circumpolar plant and therefore can take a range of conditions. However, as you can see there is either sun scald or winter burn or wind burn from over the winter. This has happened since I planted this three years ago. It goes brown over winter and then does a partial recovery in spring. Obviously I have to move it, as it is not happy with its accommodations, but where to?

Phlox 1

Phlox 2

Phlox 1 and 2 are the same plants. This is a special plant for me because of all the effort I have put into the two measly plants I could find. I am 99% sure it is a Phlox subulata but in broadleaf form. I have searched for three years now for additional plants but no such luck. The plant was to grow it around the base of the Black Walnut tree. Today I can say I am succeeding, but it has been yearly cutting stems and replanting them, in order to have come so far.

Shooting Stars

The beautiful white form of Shooting Stars. I only have one plant. I could have added the pink form but I like the white.

Wild Columbine

Columbine (L) and Geranium maculatum(R) in bed

The columbine is growing in almost every bed I have. It is not happy to be in one place for too long, it is free spirited and so moves right along where ever there is an open spot. I do not grow any other kind of columbine as they are also quite promiscuous and I would prefer to keep mine pure.


False Solomon Seal

Here is the False Solomon Seal in bloom. It is similar to the bugbane, below.

Bugbane

Lastly, Bugbane or Cimicifuga racemosa, now Actea racemosa, is the native one for North America. I have a few plants and they have been very hard to come by around here as the Chinese ones are everywhere. This is the first to bloom this year and is a beauty.

These plants are all native to southern Ontario and are all woodland plants. If you missed some of the earlier ones check out an older post here.
Next time we'll move to the front of the house for some sun lovers. We'll see what's in bloom then.

Tulips Galore

2011-05-28T15:56:00.000-04:00

Once again I volunteered with the Master Gardeners at the Royal Botanical Gardens Tulip Festival. It has been a poor spring with the weather and the day I was there it was grey and spitting rain from time to time. That however did not deter the tulip lovers from coming out to the Rock Garden. I tried to get some names for those of you who would be interested but sometimes there is no tag... I heard that stolen plant tags are number one on the hit list at most public gardens.


Now that I have your attention

The Rock Garden is a sunken garden with terraced levels and winding paths made of local stone. Here are a couple of views from the top.

The main beds are full of colour

Of course it is not all tulips

An unknown viburnum (close up below) with a Cercis canadensis alba or a white Redbud

and a pretty cherry in flower

How lucky to get this shot. This apple is in the parking lot. As I was the first one to arrive I benefited by a car -less lot.

Goodbye from the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Shade lovers in my Garden

2011-05-23T18:04:00.004-04:00

Thank goodness the worst of the rain is over - two weeks! The sun comes out now and the temperature is now in the double digits. A respite in which I took some pictures.

A large portion of the garden is shaded. To varying degrees to be sure, but with a lot of trees, and more desired, it is to be expected. Naturally the shade garden is at its best in the spring when the ephemerals make themselves known. But you better be quick or you might miss their visit. We are blessed or cursed (the choice is yours, but I go with the former) with three Black Walnut trees that are only now leafing out. Perfect timing for the spring bloomers to catch as much sun as possible before they are shaded out. This year the Trilliums are doing really well and the Hepaticas which have always been quite shy are slowly pushing themselves onto the scene. Ferns and Solomon's Seal always do well, and this year I have (after a lengthy search) two small plants of False Solomon's Seal both of which are in flower. I know you are aware of the ongoing battle with rabbits however the elderberries are recovering, though the honey suckle is still struggling. Ironic of course, since both were planted with feeding the animals in mind, if only the bunnies would let them live first.

Who can resist the Bleeding Heart?


Oddly the native ones do not do well in my gardens.

Rue Anemone or Anemonella thalictroides is a sweet little thing


Flowers are now over but the foliage of Hepatica nobilis is great

Virginia bluebells start out pink and then turn blue. They mix nicely with bleeding hearts, trilliums etc.

The Jack's are doing really well and transplant without a problem

The Great White Trillium is known for its three white bracts and three leaves

False Solomon's Seal form is similar to the true but the flowers are not as showy

Solomon's Seal flowers. The plants come in varying heights, mine top out at 3.5 feet

I never knew the Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) flowers were so interesting

Here's a close up - just because

Here's hoping for a productive week in the garden.

Plant Sale

2011-05-09T17:09:00.000-04:00

Every year the Royal Botanical Gardens has its annual spring plant sale. It is held in the arboretum, a wonderful area filled with hundreds of kinds of trees. It is also famous for the lilac festival which is held in June.

I arrived before opening at 9am along with a hundred other eager people, searched for a parking spot and then high tailed it to find the end of the queue. Then of course the mad dash as we all elbowed our way past each other to begin the plant sale extravaganza. Now I am not really the type to line up hours ahead of time to ensure my ticket or place in line. And I am not a collector trying to find the elusive primula that only grows in Tahiti. But since this is my third year going, I guess I enjoy the environment and the feelings that accompany the rush and excitement of a good find. I was more organized in my preparations than I have been in the past. I remembered to bring a sturdy plastic bag and a cardboard box for my potential goodies. Others were obviously veterans of the plant sale and brought wagons, boxes, carts and most importantly, the list. No list for me. Actually I was just curious to see what they had and then see if there was a plant I could not leave behind. I did make a few purchases (at 20% off too, being a RBG member).

First photo are two Thalictrum diocum or Early/ Tall Meadow rue. I have other meadow rues in the garden but this one grows in a shady area and will go in the native area. Hopefully they will survive as they are quite small right now, almost insignificant in fact, and yet I decided to make the purchase.

Trillium erectum. I have tried this red trillium a few times unsuccessfully so far. I can grow the large white ones or T. grandiflorum with ease it seems, but the red eludes me. If it flowers the world will know, but maybe not until next year.

Not quite an edible. Nodding onion or Allium cernum is a pretty member of the onion family whose flower head nods towards the ground before the small white flowers open and straightens to face the sun. I lost the only one of these I had a few years ago when we were re-stacking our stone wall. I tried to remove the plants I wanted to keep before hand but being a small bulb among other small bulbs it was not to be. Seeing as they only had one left at the sale I grabbed it.

Lastly I could not leave without this heucherella hybrid Sugar and Spice. The leaves are lovely with that purple blotch and the flowers are a dainty pink. I imagine from the name is has scent but I have not been so lucky yet.

There are many other plant sales advertising in and around my area right now and I hope to go to one or two more, just to see. If I had had a list with me this time it would not have helped, as what I need are trees and shrubs and the RBG sale did not have much in that area. Who knows, maybe next plant sale I'll come home with a tree sticking out the trunk.

Spring Collage

2011-05-04T18:23:00.001-04:00

An attempt at something more than just loading photos. Happy Wednesday.

Do you know what the plants are?

click on photo to enlarge

Spring is Waking up

2011-04-28T09:08:00.000-04:00

While the weather is still not conducive to doing much outdoors (cold, rain) the garden at Pomona is starting to wake up. Today is very windy, perhaps it is the winds from the tornado that hit the southern USA yesterday.

My thoughts go out to you all in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia.

I still have frustrating moments with the camera. Many macro shots are a blur and I just don't know how to get off the automatic settings. It is pathetic how technically challenged I am.

Despite all that it is a joy to see plants return from their winter holidays. Here are a few of the highlights.

That is Sushi with the arabis. With so much rain lately the air is quite humid, and so the arabis is headily fragrant. Kind of like sweet candy.

Charming Tete a Tete daffodils

I don't know what kind of violet this is but they turn up in the lawn every year. I think if the lawn was made entirely of violets I would be happy.


Life and death of the oakleaf hydrangea


Pretty chionodoxa

One of my favorite roses is Father Hugo or R. hugonis. The flowers are a pale single petaled yellow, sigh. Quite pretty right now with the lime of the leaves and the red stems.

I grow hepatica nobilis var. acuta or sharped lobed hepatica. This one is white. The following picture is a light violet flower, new to me, and supposed to be acuta but I am not convinced yet.

The bloodroot is doing really well in the garden and is spreading on its own. A delicate flower and pretty but I think the plant is most interesting when it is unfolding itself.

Oops! Just got back from a short power failure. It is getting stormier here....

Another success is the American Ginger. I like the Asian species as well, it has interesting foliage, however in this part of the garden I plant natives.

Signing off now before I lose power again.

Back from Birthday trip to Las Vegas

2011-04-21T15:02:00.000-04:00

Yup, another year older.

However this year my hubby surprised me with a trip to Las Vegas. I have always been curious about this city of casinos, the lights along the strip, but mostly I wanted a glimpse of the Grand Canyon. My wish was granted. We stayed at the Belagio Hotel known for its street-side fountain displays throughout the day and evening. As hotels go, it was great. They even upgraded the room -Thank you. So here are some pics that I think will interest you.

The ceiling in the lobby of the Belagio is covered in glass flowers by the famous Dale Chihuly of California. If I could have taken something home....

They had an area near the lobby that they called the botanical garden. That is stretching the truth, but there were some interesting floral displays.

Pretty Poppies

Foxgloves and something pink I do not recognize (too early for chrysanthemums?)

with Chihuly glass


An amazing artwork of real flowers !

Poolside there were a few mentionables

Fragrant peach hybrid tea

Red hybrid teas bordered by boxwood were in beds along the pool

This single red rose may be Altissimo, backed by, I think, jasmine

The highlight of the trip was the Grand Canyon. I have always felt that the best way to see it (or some of it) is by helicopter. Despite some fear and possible motion sickness I got in that helicopter.

up up and away

We flew over the Hoover Dam

And of course there were some desert plants that I can use help in naming. Any south western readers out there?

perhaps a sage of some kind?

two cacti and....


these beauties are also found in the hotel gardens

close up of flower

Joshua Tree

There you have a brief viewing of our trip. We were in the Mojave Desert as well as the Great Basin Desert and the landscape varies immensely. I would love to return some day.

We made it to Spring

2011-04-13T13:49:00.000-04:00

Last week Burlington made it into spring. I can no longer pout and feel sorry for the lack of life in the gardens. Nothing much up yet, but here are a few snaps of what has emerged as of today.


Sedum "Frosty Morn"

Sedum 'Frosty Morn' has been in my garden for many many years. Like all sedum it is an easy care (or ignore) plant as it is trouble free. Frosty Morn is variegated and it does revert from time to time. Needless to say I have a limitless supply of green sedum whenever I want. Propagation is a piece of cake: snip off a bit and into water and you have a new plant. Last year was the first time I found seedlings in the garden bed. By some miracle it got pollinated and made babies that survived -lucky me.

Thalictrum

I can't find the name of this Thalictrum but is has airy frothy pink flowers like its cousins. This plant (one of two) is new to me still, but is doing better than its sibling already.

Wild Columbine

Canada's Wild Columbine with the scarlet petals and yellow anthers. Always a beauty and a pleasure to see in my garden. I keep the Wild Columbine away from other hybrids to avoid cross pollination and so far it is working. They say it is attractive to hummingbirds but I have never seen.


Galanthus or Snowdrops

What garden is without the Snowdrop? I never knew how much it is admired and collected until I read many many posts on the Snowdrop earlier this spring. I was also ignorant of the fact that there are so many varieties out there. Perhaps a connoisseur of the Galanthus species might like to identify this one....

Lastly, are some mini daffodils. Two kinds. One I can't remember the name but the other is Tete-a-tete. I don't understand why, but I am not a fan of the large daffodils. They strike me as odd looking, and with the new colours available (peach) my thoughts immediately say, ugh.

So there you have it, my contribution to the early spring display. Finally.

Blue roses are coming - again

2011-04-03T19:20:00.002-04:00

A Columbian flower grower Suntory and the Australian company Florigene, are developing a blue rose. I know, we have heard it and seen it before, but supposedly they are on track to creating a real blue. Part of the problem has been the inability to create a blue pigment. It turns out that the genes in rose petals are not encoded to take the enzyme necessary in the blue pigment “Delphinidin”. In order to avoid this problem, Suntory has succeeded using the genes found in flowers like petunias and pansies to create the blue pigment and implanting them into roses. They are in fact creating a new rose, one with blue pigments instead of the traditional rose which have only red pigments. These new roses have almost 100% Delphinidin in their petals, which will allow the company to create a larger variety of blues.

Suntory hopes to have their first roses available in three years – but not to you and me. The company plans to market their roses to the Japanese. Apparently blue roses can fetch $500 USD in Japan, and a single blue rose $40-50. Columbia is the world’s second largest exporter of flowers after Holland, with the majority of their products going to the US and Europe.

My first reaction to seeing plants in non-natural colours is one of slight revulsion mixed with apprehension and trepidation, though I must admit I sometimes fall for their charms (if they have any). I wonder who else feels the way I do. Do you look forward to flowers and plants in all the colours of the rainbow? Please let me know.

Feeling under the snow

2011-03-28T18:05:00.001-04:00

I must admit that writing posts in winter ( regardless what the calendar says) is difficult. In real life I am an observer not a talker, and I guess that is how I am in blog land too. You will not find glorious photos of plants past or present on an ongoing basis. I am not good at small talk and so figuring out what to write about when life seems ever so quiet is asking quite a lot of me. Add that Canadians have winter a large time of the year and it makes me wonder about having a garden blog at all.

No it is not the blahs, the blahs happen in February. In fact it has been very nice weather-wise apart from the snow and the cold. The sun shines and the skies are a cloudless blue. But last week I had snowdrops poking their way out of the ground and on Wednesday they were covered again in 6 inches of that white wonder -where-the-heck-did-you-come-from-wonder. So if you are reading this, know there is a pout on my face, but be kind and don't judge too harshly. Spring will be here soon.

Bloodroot in April 2010

Big P.S.:

I have been asked to give a talk for a small fund-raising event this weekend on The Women and the Garden. I may post about it on that blog later.

Seedy Saturday at the RBG

2011-03-24T09:04:00.000-04:00

Back at the end of February I volunteered at the Seedy Saturday through my Master Gardener group at the Royal Botanical Gardens. It is a small event where seed enthusiasts can trade seeds or buy from local seed growers. It seemed to attract the vegetable growers primarily and the master gardeners were there to answer questions and give good solid gardening advice.

An interesting vendor was a fellow from Willow Creek who was selling soil blockers. I laughed to myself when I spied his table because I had brought with me some gardening books and a Fine Gardening magazine from last year with an article on soil blockers! The soil blockers come in a few sizes and are for creating small blocks of soil in which your seeds or seedlings are planted.

If you have the large sizes as well you can replant your seedlings in a larger size block of soil without removing it from the original, thereby reducing damage to the fine young roots. Pretty cool ! No, I did not buy a soil blocker.

Another vendor were the folks from Seeds of Diversity. From their website: "Seeds of Diversity is a Canadian volunteer organization that conserves the biodiversity and traditional knowledge of food crops and garden plants. Seeds of Diversity is the source for information about heritage seeds, seed saving, plant diversity, garden history and your own garden heritage." Here's the link to their web page. We could use more groups like this to protect our older seed species. If you have a seed saving project near you consider donating a bit of $$, it is for the future.

I picked up some arugula seeds and some purple orach. I had never heard of orach before, but it seems to be a purple version of an edible similar to spinach. Apparently it can be prolific too. We shall see. But first I want to find out how tasty, or not, it is. All in all a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

Tropical Island Infinite Photo

2011-03-04T09:27:00.003-05:00

The National Geographic posted an interesting photographic display of the various flora and fauna found on and around the island of Mo'orea located in the South Pacific.

Thought you might enjoy this.

Click here for the link.

Snow in Winter

2011-02-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

Another two centimeters of snow today arrived in the early morning.

We have had snow and melts and snow again. This only means that spring is on its way.

This is reassuring to me as I wait impatiently for some green growth to show.

Even a slip, a hint, a tease would suffice right now.

While I wait I read, write, knit, and warm my cold hands on my steamy cup of tea (Rooibos today).

But mostly I watch through the windows for birds, track the sun in the sky and watch the snow fall or melt on the grass.

Seed stash

2011-02-21T12:17:00.002-05:00

I've begun ruminating over what seeds to start for the spring. What should I start indoors? What will I finally seed outdoors this year? Do I still have those scarlet runner bean seeds I meant to grow last year? Upon realizing my stash was not in the coat closet as I believed, I eventually found my stash in its plastic bag under the desk in the office. You can tell I am an obsessive plantaholic in this regard.

Aha, seeds galore.

I am not one prone to boasting but I am sure that some of these seeds are true antiques. Take for instance the two packets of cleome, carefully picked from some beautiful plants in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario. I believe that was 1988.

And of course the packet of purple columbine has to be circa 1991.

You may notice that some packets have been opened. I realize this devalues them but I actually wanted to plant them and have beautiful flowers at some time or another. I think I must have gone a little batty.
I did steal some seeds from a neighborhood median street planting two years ago. I had been eying them for weeks waiting for the seeds to mature. They were some kind of heliopsis, about seven feet tall or more, with sunny yellow flowers. The right day came and I made my move. I could not resist, but my walking companion was somewhat taken aghast and kept looking over her shoulder until we turned off that street.

I am planting some veggies this year. I was neglectful last year and did not have a veggie garden, and rued my shortsightedness and lack of motivation all summer long. It was too easy. I planted seeds in rows, watered the bare earth for a week or two (there were times I felt ridiculous watering the bare earth - if someone asked what could I say?) and then presto veggies came up.
I don't know why it is not the same with flowers. Too hard? Maybe. There is all that scarification and stratification needed, especially if you are a native plant person like me. I'm lazier than that.
I think I'll leave that mind searching question alone, since I'd rather concentrate on building my antique seed collection.

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T11:10:00.000-05:00

A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.

Ingrid Bergman

The self drilling seeds of the filaree

2011-02-10T10:41:00.005-05:00

Nature sure knows how to take care of itself.

I am familiar with the common stork's bill or heron's bill or filaree (Erodium spp.) and even killed one in my garden many years ago. They have pretty pink geranium- like flowers (yes they are related) with ferny green foliage.

But what makes them interesting is their seed dispersal mechanism.

The plant flings its seeds away and the seeds then bury themselves by drilling into the ground with the use of its long tail. So how does this work?

Filaree seeds with awn

Scientists based at the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University have discovered that the inbuilt spring stores energy as the seed head dries and can flick the seed as far as 0.5 m. The tail, or awn (a hair- or bristle-like appendage) drills into the soil by twisting and untwisting in response to changes in humidity. According to the research "when humidity is low the awn dries, curls and drills the seed into the soil. When the humidity rises the awn uncurls, but backward facing hairs on the awn force the seed to move in one direction so that it continues drilling into the ground even when it uncurls."

If you would like to see a video of the 'drilling' mechanism visit this website at ScienceNow.

The downside to this particular plant is that the filaree has been very successful as an exotic invader. It was introduced into North America in the 18 century and is now an aggressive weed in the south western states such as California in the USA. They are found mostly in desert and grassland areas. The filaree foliage creeps along the ground covering the bare patches of soil ultimately smothering any native grass seeds.

Dried flower, spiral tail on seeds.

Addendum February 11: Grasses are the main plant family that have awns attached to their seeds. I could not find any other ornamental plants with awns. Awns can be quite troublesome for pet owners of cats and dogs as the awn will attach itself to the skin causing lesions. In the worst case awns can travel into the animals body. Sorry don't mean to scare the pet owners out there.

Provincial Post - British Columbia

2011-01-29T12:57:00.006-05:00

British Columbia is our most western province lying next to the Pacific Ocean. It is blessed with warm maritime weather and until the last couple of years saw more rain than snow. The winter 2010 Olympics were held in Whistler and for those who watched would have seen the majesty of the mountains, the Canadian Rockies. Gardeners in the Vancouver area of British Columbia are fortunate to enjoy zone 7/8.

British Columbia has chosen two trees (some may consider one a shrub) to represent the province; the floral emblem of B.C. is the Pacific Dogwood and the tree is the Western Red-cedar.

Pacific Dogwood

Photo from Wikipedia

The Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) is also known as Western Flowering Dogwood, Mountain Dogwood. It is a large shrub or small tree found at lower elevations of southwestern B.C. It prefers dry to moist, rich, acidic soils. It is an understory tree and therefore is well adapted to some shade. In full sun the bark is susceptible to sun scald. The dogwood is attractive to birds for the fruit, beavers for fruit and foliage and deer will browse the twigs. It can also be grazed by mule deer and elk.

It grows to a height of 15 m (50 feet) tall. The dogwood flowers in spring and sometimes again in the fall, like its many relatives. There are four to six showy bracts or modified leaves that encircle the actual flower, which are in clusters of 30-40 small green flowers. These flowers will form edible red fruit in the fall. The leaves are dark green, oval with a pointed tip and are held oppositely on the branch. They can be 4-10 cm long and may turn red in the fall. Pacific Dogwoods reproduce both vegetatively and by seed.

This dogwood is prone to dogwood leaf blotch or Anthracnose a disease that may have been brought over on the Japanese Dogwood (Cornus kousa) in the 1970's. Anthracnose causes dieback and death. It is also known to be susceptible to a native Discula non -virulent pathogen, which attacks young seedlings and trees in cool, wet weather.

The wood of Pacific Dogwood has been used by the First Nations peoples in the form of various implements, such as, knitting needles, bows, arrows, handles and clothing hooks. It has been used medicinally for stomach ailments, and as a blood purifier. It takes its name from the Sanskrit word dag which means skewers.

Western Red-cedar

Western red-cedar

Western Red-cedar or Thuja plicata is actually not a true cedar but is an arborvitae (from the Latin 'tree of life') like its cousin Thuja occidentalis. It is an evergreen conifer found predominantly on the Pacific coast and in central and southern B.C. and northwestern U.S.
It often forms pure stands on floodplains and wetlands and can be found with western hemlock, Douglas fir, amabilis fir and spruces. It prefers cool, mild and moist climates and is tolerant of shade. The western red-cedar is very long lived and can live over 1,000 years, with the oldest verified being 1,460 years.

The western redcedar grows to 60 m (200 feet) tall, with drooping branches and a trunk that is fluted and buttressed at the base. The foliage has flat sprays of scale-like leaves that are quite aromatic and can smell of pineapple when crushed. It blooms in spring and produces small brown seed cones when mature. Its pollen cones are tiny, reddish and numerous which shed yellow pollen.
The aboriginal peoples of the Northwest coast have a long history with the western red-cedar and it holds great spiritual significance for them. All parts of the tree were used most notably for dugout canoes, totem poles, house planks and smaller items such as bentwood boxes, masks, paddles and a variety of tools. In fact woodworking tools have been found that date back 5000-8000 years. Red-cedar was used to make dugout canoes, or monoxyla canoes, to take out to sea to hunt whales. Many of these canoes were over 18 m (60 feet) long.
The aboriginals also harvested the bark from living trees that would be made into rope, clothing, mats and baskets. This could be done without harm to the tree until such point that the tree would be felled for other purposes. The harvesting of the tree was often accompanied by ritual ceremony and was most often harvested by the women, who climbed 10 meters (32 feet) in order to do so.

A ceremonial dugout canoe

Today red-cedar is used in house siding, decking, fencing and outdoor furniture. It is light and very durable and is resistant to insect damage and decay due to Thujaplicin a natural occuring fungicide in the mature wood.

Where is British Columbia ?


courtesy::http://www.map-of-canada.org/about.htm

B.C. is the orange province on the far left

Blog Carnival - New Years Garden Resolution

2011-01-22T17:43:00.000-05:00

I realize I am late with this entry but if no one sees it I will at least hold myself and my resolution accountable this year.

We have a long back yard and it is divided pretty much into three areas; backyard 1, 2 and 3. Back yard 1 is the one in need of lots of work. Presently it is overrun with forget- me- nots and dandelions in the grass, in fact, the grass is slowly disappearing due to their spread. I have not been adding many plants to this area as the beds need to be reworked, re-sized and rearranged (not in that order :). As well, two years ago we had the house stuccoed and despite the great work and a new clean look, cleaning up after a renovation is still necessary. I have had a plan in mind for quite a few years and I truly hope to make it a reality this summer.

This is the front corner of the house. The terrace has stairs that lead down the side towards the back. Some of the route to the back is gravel and some is grass. At the end of the house is a door with side windows. There are original stone steps down to the door. One small project is to link the stone stairs of the terrace with those of the steps to the back door. I would simply like to put in some flagstone to link these two areas. Then, the idea is to continue the new flagstone path to the back garden where we would put in a flagstone patio.

Side at steps to door. Rose of Sharon in flower.

This is the back of the house.

Here is where you will have to use your imagination.

This yard is surrounded by trees except for one open area that leads down to yard 2. Presently in this space is a concrete table and three benches that will be removed as they are disintegrating, and the remains of an old apricot tree that finally died last spring. We will have to do some regrading of this yard. And with the aggressive forget-me-nots which I will never forget, probably replace the topsoil.

I am considering growing either native hydrangeas or viburnums in front of the windows, in an arch, so that they will provide a backdrop to the new patio. I would like to add a small native tree to the right of the house and am thinking of a dogwood (hopefully the Anthracnose is not in the city).

I can not find any photos that show parts of this garden, however looking at the photo there are 3 rhododendron on the right sitting in front of a cedar hedge. Across from the house is a garden bed that needs to be enlarged and moved closer to the house as it backs onto a variety of trees that continue to grow into the bed. To the left of the house is a garden shed, another future project. Across from the house and to the left is the opening to the rest of the back yard.

view to yard 2

Project number 2 starts here as I believe the next step is too large to take on as well. That step is to change the slope from yard 1 to yard 2 into stairs or terraced stairs down. The forsythia in front of the black walnut tree would be removed. New plants are needed especially on the right side to help control erosion. But that is for another time.

Naturally if anyone has some ideas or any kind of input I would love to hear it. Winter is a great time to think about the garden.

Many thanks to My Little Garden in Japan for hosting the blog Carnival. Please visit the site to see what resolutions other gardeners around the world are making.

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-18T18:09:00.000-05:00

Just a few snaps of the gardens in the last little while.

Who is this coming from the wall?

It's mouse tracks

Squirrel tracks under the hemlock

Rabbit track

Sustainable Horticulture

2011-01-10T12:16:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I was at a master gardener technical update ( a fancy term for a one day conference/seminar) regarding sustainable horticulture. A reader, One from Onenezz, very thoughtfully asked me to elaborate further on the subject and so I will do my best.

"After the establishment of sustainable agriculture in the early 1980s it was some time before the emergence of Sustainable Horticulture (as sustainable production horticulture) at the International Society of Horticultural Science's First International Symposium on Sustainability in Horticulture held at the International Horticultural Congress in Toronto in 2002. This symposium produced "conclusions ... on Sustainability in Horticulture and a Declaration for the 21st Century".

(Wikipedia)

It is the...

... design, construction, operations and maintenance practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

by attempting to:

...protect, restore and enhance the ability of landscapes to provide ecosystem services that benefit humans and other organisms. (The Sustainable Sites Initiative)

To the best of my knowledge sustainable horticulture is another way of phrasing various other 'green' terms we have come to hear about over the years. In essence it is a philosophy of how we should be living our lives in harmony with the natural environment. With sustainable horticulture we are looking at gardens and landscape in particular but not exclusively.

Ever since the creation of cities the majority of populations lived in the rural areas of any country worldwide. Up until the 19 century 80% of the population lived in the country, today that 80 % now lives in the city. Imagine what changes have occurred in the last 200 years. We have gone from living in small separate communities with nature all around to enormous land grabbing cities, with people living in such close quarters and nature trying to survive in the nooks and crannies that are left to them.

Living in large cities is hard and stressful. Noise, pollution, crime are part of daily life. The worst of the cities are concrete jungles. Neighborhoods exist with little green space, schools have few or small windows and their playgrounds are concrete slabs. How do we expect children to grow up living in a box with no access to anything natural. According to one statistic raised at the conference, 40% of neighborhood crime decreases if children can see a tree outside their window. An amazing figure ! How do we create the access to more natural areas for these children?

Part of the idea of sustainable horticulture is to find ways to allow to allow animals large and small to survive in the cities and the more natural areas left to them. We forget that animals migrate, have territories, build communities. They, like us, need food, shelter, water. We are upset when the raccoons invade our garbage and our koi ponds, when the mice get into the house, when a hawk scoops up our small dog or cat. There is a need to look more closely at how are cities and communities are built with animals in mind. One idea is the need to create animal corridors in the cities and corridors linking cities and towns. If we want to continue to live with animal life we must provide space for them to move freely and place to live safely. What value to do place on animal life?

Water. Some places in the world are in constant drought. The ice caps are melting and the arctic north is greening and not in a good way. Floods are happening frequently elsewhere. While the effects of global warming are difficult for the average person to alter we can make better choices in our communities. New systems of preventing water runoff to the sewers are just starting to be implemented, the use of rain barrels for the average homeowner is on the rise, downspout runoff can be transformed into small bog gardens or diverted to cisterns for future use. Consider what is in the water that runs off your property into local streams or lakes. How can we clean it before it reaches these areas?

Another part involves plant life. For a decade now we have been on the green bandwagon (and rightly so) and trying to get back to nature or finding ways to make our gardens more natural. The question arises, What is natural? Are gardens planted with native only plants natural? What do we think about all the new plant cultivars or hybrids that are introduced every year? Are they natural? How do we deal with invasive plants in our national parks, city gardens, and our home gardens.

The trend is to encourage native plants in your gardens and I am a firm believer in this. Growing natives makes sense although it is not foolproof. What garden is truly natural? As master gardeners we must be aware and make others aware that planting natives is not foolproof. We must steer away from the holy platitudes that they are tough, need less water, fertilizer etc. While this is partially true, ask yourself, is the soil in your garden untouched from centuries past? Can we expect all native plants to survive easily where the topsoil has been removed, where pesticides and herbicides are used, where the soil has been trampled on and compacted over time? The use of natives is important but there are many wonderful alternatives to suit "the right plant in the right place".

Following this idea is the importance of invasive species. No matter where you live you are probably putting up a fight with some plant from another country or region of your own country that is taking over your garden. Tighter controls are needed when importing new plants to help avoid this problem. The same applies to the importation of beneficial insects for control of pests.

A lot has been in the news lately about pollinators and beneficial bugs. How can we attract them to our garden? How can we keep them safe ? Again the importance of native plants plays a large part here as they provide the necessities that our local insects, birds, animals need for survival whether it is food or shelter.

I have only touched the surface of this broad subject. It is extremely involved and of course quite complicated as everything in the world is connected somehow. It is because of the recognition of this connection and seeing what we are doing to our planet that conferences on horticulture sustainability are now taking place. I hope that I have raised questions to make you think. Think about what is important to you, how you want to live, how you would like future generations to live.

For more information please visit this website: Canadian Institute for Sustainable Biodiversity

Back to the Park and other things

2011-01-09T15:51:00.001-05:00

Over the holidays while driving past the park I caught sight of a white goose nosing about the park grass. On a hope that it was still there I went back on a brilliant sunny day to capture him/her on camera.

Isn't he lovely !

and friendly !

I spotted some Canada geese out on the water

That's the closest I could get without the camera jumping out of my hand.

And looking toward the west were some geese and mallard and three swans preening themselves.

Nice photo except for the green bottle. That's the reality I guess.

Bye bye from the ducks.

Yesterday morning I was up early to go to the Toronto Master Gardeners Technical Update. The theme of the conference was "Sustainable Horticulture". The conference and its speakers tried to make us think about what sustainable horticulture means, and how do we as master gardeners provide the right advice to the public. We listened to three very good speakers, Dr. David Galbraith of the Royal Botanical Gardens who spoke of Exploring Sustainability and Naturalization of Urban Gardens; Dr. Rebecca Hallett on Are you Bugged? Getting to know the Good Bugs in your Garden; and Sean James who spoke of the everyday loss of water to sewer systems and the need to use more permeable friendly materials. A very good day with a great lunch as usual.

However what we were not prepared for on the way into Toronto was the snow. No snow to speak of in the forecast, and yet by the afternoon we had 15-20 cm of snow on the ground. Terrible to drive through but lovely to look at. So here are a few pictures of what caught my eye in the garden.

Mushrooms in winter?

I have a thing for these cement mushrooms

That's it from snowy Burlington.

Territorial Post - Nunavut

2011-01-03T15:57:00.065-05:00

With winter here I got to thinking about the snow or lack thereof in my part of the world. I thought it appropriate to choose one of Canada's northern territories for my provincial/territorial post. Despite being so far north some areas in Nunavut do not appear to get all that much snow in winter. Something more in common with southern Ontario.

Nunavut is Canada 's largest and newest territory found at the Arctic circle. It separated from the Northwest Territories on April 1. 1999. It is populated almost exclusively by its indigenous people the Inuit who are know to have lived there for 4000 years. While it is one of the largest territories geographically it is also one of the least populated with a population of just over 33,000 people.

The climate is considered "modified maritime Arctic"with an annual mean temperature between -9 and -18 Celsius at the northernmost point. Nunavut does not have a summer as we know it. In July it is known to get to 7 C but warmer temperatures are kept in check by the ice-filled polar waters which have a surface temperature of -12C. Precipitation is a scant 50mm annually. About 50-80 % of it falls as snow, however the snow flakes are so small that they do not adhere to the ground leaving it bare all winter.

As Nunavut is mostly above the tree line they do not have a territorial tree. The land is tundra and meadow with little soil and dry difficult conditions upon which to grow and survive. You can expect to see alpine flowers such as cinquefoil, mountain avens, dandelions, winterberry and saxifrage. The flower for the territory is the Saxifrage or saxifraga oppositifolia.

Saxifraga oppositifolia photo from Wikipedia

Purple mountain saxifrage

Purple saxifrage grows as a matted plant to 3-5 cm high and creeps or trails along the surface. The leaves are small and rounded and scale-like. The flowers are solitary and grow on short woody stalks in colours of purple or lilac. It is one of the earliest to flower and can be found blooming in the snow. Saxifraga oppositifolia is a circumboreal plant and can be found in northern British Columbia and Newfoundland, as well as, Norway and Northern Ireland.

From Wikipedia: The Latin word Saxifraga means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin saxum "rock" or "stone" + frangere "to break". This refers to certain saxifrages' ability to settle in the cracks of rocks, which they may in fact wear down by bioerosion to the point of splitting.

Where is Nunavut?

Nunavut is the teal green at the north.

courtesy::http://www.map-of-canada.org/about.htm

Merry Christmas

2010-12-20T19:28:00.000-05:00

This is my last post of the year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Patty

Winter Walk

2010-12-14T18:33:00.001-05:00

I got what I wished for. We received a few centimeters of snow on the weekend. So this morning I went for a walk down to the lake to see what it looks like and to see the swans that I heard were around lately.


On Lakeshore Road

Many small parks along Lakeshore and at dead ends off Lakeshore Rd.

Across the lake is the Niagara area of Ontario - wine country


Not zoomed in


Zoomed in - Hamilton or Steel City south west of Burlington

Where the creek empties out


Burlington has many creeks that empty into the lake

They come south from the escarpment, a long rise that is great for hiking

I did not see the swans. There were some mallards and buffleheads and of course the Canada goose. I think I walked for an hour and was quite cold. I could have used my long underwear today with that wind. And just so you know taking pictures in winter freezes your fingers. Welcome to winter.

Death becomes you

2010-12-08T19:07:00.002-05:00

I have been reading many blogs lately and seeing lots of beautiful photos of snow covered plants. Where I lived in Canada is close to the most southern region of Ontario. We get snow. It is happening all around me, an hour north, two hours west, but in my neighborhood, nothing.

I like snow.

I like it as gardener and I like to walk in it and watch it fall from the sky.

And so while I wait for the snow to come

I must be patient

and try to enjoy

what I have.

Blog Carnival day

2010-11-30T15:44:00.001-05:00

My Little Garden in Japan is hosting a blog carnival today and has asked those interested to post about their favorite plant.

The Peony

I decided to do a little research on their history and have found some interesting facts I certainly never knew. It appears the peony started in China as plants were found as early as 1000 BCE. They were used for medicinal purposes. The roots, barks, seeds and flowers were all thought to have some medicinal benefit, for example, the bark cools the blood and may have antibacterial properties. It was only in the 7th century that peonies were grown for ornamentation. During the Tang dynasty, peonies were very popular in the imperial gardens and many commanded high prices. In fact they were used as part of a woman's dowry.

Chinese horticulturists developed the large double tree and herbaceous peonies and used grafting techniques to reproduce valuable cultivars.

Peonies were introduced into Japan about the 8th century. The Japanese preferred simpler forms and created what is known as the Japanese form; a rounded center made of small petals with wider petals surrounding this center.

Peonies are known to have made their way the Europe sometime before the middle ages, and again, the use was medicinal. Europeans brought peonies over to North America when they started settling here. We have always grown them for there ornamental beauty.

Both China and Japan have a long history of using the peony in their poetry, art and gardens.

I love peonies for their fragrance. I only buy fragrant ones or why else bother?

Many thanks go to La Pivoinerie D'Aoust for their information on peony history.

Provincial Post - Newfoundland and Labrador

2010-11-23T16:37:00.002-05:00

Purple Pitcher Plant

Photo from Link

Purple Pitcher Plant

The North American Pitcher plant or Sarracenia purpurea is a cool plant being it is carnivorous. At 30 cm ( 12 inches) long, it is not a big plant. The pitchers are at the base of the plant and the flower stem grows up through the middle.

Each pitcher is actually called a hood because the lid does not cover like a flap as for other pitcher plants. Instead the hood curls in on the sides and traps insects with its tiny hairs and digestive fluid. The hoods are beautifully veined. Each pitcher is filled with a fluid that contains digestive enzymes produced by the plant. A new pitcher relies on most of its nutrients from trapped insects like flies and spiders. By the second year of its life digestion is aided by organisms that actually live in the pitchers. These organisms or commensals include the mosquito Wyeomyia smithii and the midge Metriocnemus knabi (apparently very big names in the pitcher plant world). The carnivorous larvae of these two insects do not attack each other, however the midge will attack other mosquitos species !

Sarracenia plants live about 2 years unless damaged by fire or extreme cold. They are found throughout the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States. They grow in marshland and bogs and enjoy lots of sunshine. The pitcher plant is named after Dr. Michel Sarrasin de L’Étang (1659-1734), Canada’s first professional botanist.

Black Spruce

Photo from Flickr

Also known as the Bog Spruce (Picea mariana), the Black Spruce is widespread throughout North America's boreal region. It is found on soils with little nutritive value such as bogs and swamps. The Black spruce is a small to medium size evergreen tree that grows to an average height of 7 m to 15 m (20 - 40 feet). It is often confused with the white or red spruce but can be identified by its quadrate, dark green needles, small cones and rigid, brittle cone scales.

In the past, healing salves were made from the gum, antiscorbutic and diuretic beverages from twigs and needles, and ropes from the roots. The Black Spruce is used for Christmas trees but its main use is for pulpwood because of its long wood fibres.

Where the heck is Newfoundland and Labrador ?

Far right in red
courtesy::http://www.map-of-canada.org/about.htm

Big Brown Bug Identified

2010-11-17T18:02:00.004-05:00

What is it you ask ? No need to be so impatient I will tell you. The big brown bug is a "Dog-day cicada nymph" or Tibicen spp. for the entomologists among you.

According to Garden Insects of North America by Whitney Cranshaw (which arrived on my doorstep today), the dog-day cicada is the largest cicada in North America. They are commonly heard but less commonly seen, which I take to mean I was lucky that day in the garden.

The nymphs need 2 to 5 years to complete development. Once hatched from the egg the new nymph burrows underground near tree roots ( they sip on the sap from the roots) for several years while it develops and molts. Once it is fully developed the nymph returns topside and finds a place to sit (like a Culver's root plant). Then it undergoes its final molt and the adult cicada leaves the brown body casing through a slit in the back.

Male cicadas rest on tree trunks and branches and "sing" to attract females, by means of two special vibrating membranes in the sides of the abdomen. Females do not sing. Adult cicadas do not feed on leaves, and may suck juices from tender twigs. They are not considered garden pests, unless you don't care for the singing.

Adult Dog-day cicada - Photo from Hilton Pond Center

Here's the link to the original post.

Foggy Day

2010-11-13T09:57:00.003-05:00

Fog again today.

It was supposed to be sunny, but then we are close to Lake Ontario and that affects the weather from time to time. It seems to me it was foggier than the photos show but how does one show masses of tint droplets of water? Certainly not macro setting.

Facing the street


From the side


Towards the back

No flowers in this post - FINCA

2010-11-10T10:53:00.006-05:00

Last night I attended the 2nd fundraiser for FINCA Canada. Here is a bit of information for those who may be interested in a charitable group who do what they say and then find a way to do even more.

FINCA is a charitable organization that provides micro loans to women in developing countries. This year is the company's 25th anniversary.

FINCA stands for the Foundation for International Community Assistance. Established in 1984, FINCA is best known for having pioneered the "Village Banking method"--one of the major forms of microcredit--and for leadership in microfinance overall.

The mission of FINCA Canada is to provide financial services to the world's lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living.

What is FINCA’s overall loan repayment?
Despite the fact that we’re working with some of the world’s poorest, the repayment rate is outstanding. Globally, our average, on-time repayment is more than 97 percent--as good or better than most commercial banks expect.

Thank you for reading this far.
Go to the FINCA website in Canada

Provincial Post -Alberta

2010-11-04T17:00:00.002-04:00

Rosa acicular

The Wild Rose and the Lodgepole Pine

The Wild Rose or the Prickly Rose was adopted by the Province of Alberta in 1930. It is a shrub rose that grows to about five feet tall (1.5 m). True to its name the stems are covered in prickles. The Wild Rose grows throughout the province and is circumpolar to the boreal forest.

The fragrant pink flowers are single, with petals 3-5 cm in size. The blooms last from late May to early August in Alberta, but may bloom for a longer period in warmer climes.

The Wild Rose is fragrant and attractive to bees and other pollinating insects. It puts out red or orange-red hips in the fall that are high in vitamin C. Jelly, jams, syrup and tea can be all made from the hips. Even the flowers and leaves can be used in teas. The aboriginal peoples of North America used the plant for medicinal treatments of stomach aches and diarrhea. The roots were used in compresses and solutions for sore throats, swellings and nose bleeds.

The plant takes some shade, germinates well by seed and is moderately resistant to fire (both the plant and the seeds). It is a source of food for many animals in the wild such as deer, moose, bear and rabbits.

Photo courtesy of USDA Forest Service

The Lodgepole Pine has many other common names: Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine, black pine, scrub pine. In Alberta the Pinus contorta is found along the western border with British Columbia. It grows along the west coasts of North America.
At 30 m high this coniferous tree can live as long as 200 years. It has a thin bark, orange-brown to gray in colour and fine scales. The branches curve upwards and when grown in tight conditions only grow in the top third of the tree. The male cones make the pollen. They are small and reddish green and in late spring fill the air with clouds of pollen.

Lodgepole pine grows in a variety of soils. It is one of the first trees to colonize an area after a fire due to the amount of seed it makes. Large stands are then common and being so crowded are called 'dog hair' stands.
These trees provide excellent habitat and food source for birds like nuthatches and woodpeckers but also for small mammals and insects. Bears will eat the inner bark.
The pine is bothered by certain pests, such as, mountain pine beetle and the pine white butterfly. It is also susceptible to the comandra blister rust.

Lodgepole pine has been used by the First Nations Peoples as poles to support teepees and lodges. It has been a fuel source and has many medicinal uses. A use has been found for almost every part of the tree. Today it is primarily used for timber to make poles and railway ties. The oil, resin and bark are used in commercial cleaners.

Where the heck is Alberta?

courtesy::http://www.map-of-canada.org/about.htm

Colour on a sunny afternoon

2010-11-02T08:30:00.000-04:00

It was a bright and sunny day yesterday. I raked leaves for an hour and a quarter. While doing so I noticed some great colour happening in the garden as well as a few surprises.

Salvia "Hot Lips" an annual survived the first frost


Itea "Henry's Garnet" is now a bright burgundy

Variegated Sedum flower head

Plumbago ceratostigma in red

Willow Blue Star's yellow foliage


Out of focus "Max Frei" Geranium


Multi hued Oakleaf Hydrangea


"Rozanne" Geranium

Ninebark "Dart's Gold"


European Copper Beech is starting to colour

Bouquet

2010-11-01T18:28:00.000-04:00

My dad brought me a bouquet of flowers from the florist in the grocery store. Nothing fancy. I thought I'd rearrange them into a bouquet of another kind, for fun.

Houseplant killer on the loose

2010-10-28T21:14:00.001-04:00

I have a tendency to kill my houseplants.

I used to have a Shrimp plant :

Now it is dead.

And then, I recently brought in my rosemary in from the garden to overwinter,

and my sister in-law gave me a very cool plant called Dorotheanthus Bellidiformus Mezoo "Trailing Red"

which gets these tiny fuzzy bright scarlet flowers.

And a dear friend gave me another plant with cool foliage that will overwinter but I got lazy and didn't

plant it soon enough in the garden. BTW, I have no idea what this is called so if you recognize this plant tell me its name.

Needless to say I live in fear of killing these plants during winter.
Just thought you should know.

Provincial Post - Ontario

2010-10-25T19:15:00.006-04:00

As the garden season is coming to an end around here I've been trying to decide how I am going to get through the next little while with this blog. So once a week I will tell you about the flowers and trees that are symbols for each of our provinces and territories. Each Canadian province and territory has a flower, tree, animal, bird and mineral symbol, as well as, a motto. For those of you who don't know, Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories. Yup, it's a big country. I begin with my home province, Ontario.

Ontario - White Trillium and Eastern White Pine.

The White Trillium or Trillium grandiflorum is in the lily order. There are 40-50 species of trilliums but the grandiflorum is found in Eastern North America and Asia. The white trillium is a woodland plant that flowers in spring for a few weeks, usually in June. The flowers are large with three petals (about 3 inches across) and sit atop a whorl of three leaves (Tri - three - Trillium). As the flowers age they turn a light pink. White trilliums have been found with green streaking, which while attractive, means they are virus-ed. Trillium seeds are spread by ants who like to eat the elaiosome in the seed and then compost the rest. Germination may take place in this ant garbage area as it is full of rich nutrients.
Growing your own trilliums from seed is known to be a lengthy process. The rule of thumb is not to expect flowers for 7 years. Once germinated, the first year is spent putting down roots. The second year you may get the seed leaf and the third year a true leaf. Then you wait for the flower which may take another 5 years or longer.

Photo from UBC Botanical Garden

The Eastern White Pine or Pinus strobus is one of my favorite trees. This is a magnificent evergreen conifer that can live up to 200-250 years and reach heights of 80 feet at maturity (180 feet/50m in the wild) and a diameter of 2-3 feet. Pyramidal in shape when young the white pine is known to develop a ragged windswept look with great age. The Group of Seven are famous for their paintings of the white pine. The needles are bluish green and grow in bundles of five. They are soft to the touch. The cones are long and slender and the scales open up and are reflexed. Cone production peaks every five years. The seeds are wind dispersed.

Once, this tree covered most of eastern North America. Now only 1% of the original trees remain from the intensive logging that took place between the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. White pines were used as masts on sailing ships for the British Royal Navy. The marking and seizure of the white pines by the king of England was a point of contention for the (Canadian and American) colonists and their removal played a part in the American Revolution. The white pine is used for lumber and has been prized for lengths of knot free wood. Today it is farmed commercially in areas where it grows naturally.

Growing a white pine in your garden requires a lot of space so you might prefer to find dwarf varieties. They grow well in full sun to part shade and ordinary soil. They can be used for hedging or windbreaks.

Last Blooms of the Year

2010-10-21T22:25:00.004-04:00

For the past month I have been slowly and happily discovering new garden blogs through a wonderful sight called Blotanical. I am visiting gardens across Canada and the USA, Japan, Norway, Malaysia, France, Britain and many others. I am fortunate that some of these same bloggers are checking out my site as well. It is a lot of fun for me. That is the up side. The down side is that I am seeing wonderful gardens all over the world, with fascinating new plants I have never before seen. AND while their gardens continue to bloom on mine is coming to an end.

So I am toasting the finale of my garden blooms today. Feel free to join in.

Garden Fashion Statement

2010-10-17T17:05:00.006-04:00

The Pomona Garden and Co. is having a big year, celebrating the 10th anniversary of their business. What better way to move forward than with an almost all-metallic collection?

Persicaria is modeling what can only be described as a refreshingly straightforward gutsiness:

While the Spigelia twins are just dazzling and the fabric is neither prissy nor showy:

Baptisia is making a comeback with a vampy, campy lassitude in the boudoir-ness of it all:

Another duo of femme fatale proportions are the Black chokeberries. Here they are with those elusive touches of femininity; embroidery and lace:

It would hardly be a Pomona Garden outing without it, the fab leopard print modeled here by one of our favorite guys, Epimedium:

No one does it better than Goatsbeard - an undone, sensual quality, in a crinkled metallic twill safari jacket:

To finish: more lace smothered in clear crystals for a sparkling evening look modeled by Aster nova-belgii:.

This show didn't necessarily have the emotional impact of last season, but it certainly showed the designers in top form, keenly aware of their strengths (has there been a season in recent memory in which more editors have worn PG and Co. in the front row?) and making the very most of them. The collection had a sharpness to it, though beautiful, and rather reflective of how much dress codes have loosened up in the decade that Pomona Garden and Co. has been at the forefront.

(my apologies to Dolce & Gabbana and to fashion writer Nicole Phelps from whom I unabashedly have stolen)

Some minor renovations

2010-10-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

Earlier in the summer I realized I had to do some renovating in a flower bed we created 9 years ago. The ninebark now leans towards the sun to the south west and is impeding my peony 'Falcon' from flowering. It is also getting in the way of a switch grass. It is a minor nuisance along a stone path in the bed. But what needed to be divided and moved was the rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' which was growing between the stones. So a couple of days ago I began removing and replanting the rudbeckia. Then I shifted the direction of the path so I could actually walk through. I only thought of taking a few photos at the end of my hard labour.

When the leaves fall from the ninebark I will give it a haircut. This one is 'Dart's Gold', and it is a lovely chartreuse in early spring. It darkens over the summer but does retain some lime-ness in colour. Right underneath it is the peony. Needless to say it is now overwhelmed and did not flower this year. The chartreuse of the ninebark with the burgundy of the peony are a sublime combination, so I would like to keep them near each other. I am trying to figure out where to place it, preferably without having to transplant the Itea 'Henry's Garnet' as well.

See the peony tucked under the ninebark? That's the Itea in front with all that colour. Other peonies on either side, one is mildewed....

Paeonia 'Falcon'

It is also about time to do some fall cleaning before the winter. As you can see the peonies need to be cut down, and with all the rain we have had there are bits of branches down everywhere. I am not one who really cleans, instead I tidy, leaving winter interest where I can. I am also somewhat lazy. Interpret that however you like.

A Garden in Ottawa

2010-10-12T18:44:00.000-04:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers. I had hoped to say that prior to Thanksgiving but I was preparing to visit my in-laws for the holiday this year. I ran out of time. I do hope everyone had an enjoyable time with family and ate some delicious food.

So, we were in Ottawa for the holiday, I took many opportunities to enjoy my sister and brother in-law's garden. Michel and Cathy have worked very hard at creating a lovely garden. During the first few years in this home the garden grew in leaps and bounds. Every visit I was filled with envy for their enthusiasm and energy to accomplish what they have done. Michel is a plantaholic who knows no limits at the garden nursery while Cathy is more practical about choosing the right plant for the right place. Before we left for home Michel confided he will be enlarging one of the berms. Apparently there is never enough room....

I thought you might like to see some photos of their back garden.

View from house to back yard

Back yard with bright orange blueberry bushes, Smokebush, crab apple tree in behind grass


End of berm Michel is planning to enlarge


Other side of yard

Locust tree and serviceberry

A whimsical touch

Fall asters

Interesting textural combo

Loved the planter

You may have got the impression that there are quite a few trees, and you would be right. I think they planted at least 6 trees. It is just your typical suburban lot size but it seems larger with the amount of plant material in it and because they created pathways (not all of them obvious) to lead you around the yard.
Thank you Cathy and Michel for allowing me to show off your wonderful garden.

A game

2010-10-04T15:11:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I was invited by DeniseNoNiwa to play a game along with 9 other garden bloggers.

The rules of this game are:

Inform who invited you
List the 10 things you like to do
Invite another 10 bloggers

She also says ' I bended the second rule slightly. I hope that is allowed. In stead of listing 10 things I like doing, I will list ten garden-related things I like'

I am not usually one who takes part in chain letters but this one is of interest to me. I get to find out about some bloggers I don't know at all and I will be checking out more blogs I have never visited. How bad can that be?
Here we go:

10 things I like to do in the garden:

1. I like to smell my flowers, especially the peonies and sweet autumn clematis

2. I like to sit on the patio and watch and listen to the birds

3. I love watching the European beech tree turn gold in fall and in the spring watch the new leaves become that translucent green burgundy.

4. I like weeding the gravel driveway after a rain.

5. I like watering the flowers by hand. This way I keep in touch and see how everyone is doing.

6. I like to sit and read garden magazines or books of fiction.

7. I like to do sudoku puzzles

8. I like getting my hands dirty

9. I love walking the garden with my cat Sushi

10. I love to touch the white pine tree. It's needles are soft. It is the provincial tree of Ontario. However I can't find the right place in the garden to grow one. One day I hope that will change.

I am inviting the following 5 bloggers to join in:

Gardening in a Sandbox

Liz and the Professor

Jardim Formoso

Tobacco Rose

The Floralbum Blog

Fall is here

2010-10-03T14:33:00.000-04:00

Fall is on its way after all. As of last week it still looked pretty green around here but today tells a different story.

Black Walnut


Paper Birch

There is some colour too as the Itea 'Henry's Garnet' shows.

The False Solomon's seal has also joined the festivities

along with the burning bush

Nope. No denying now. Happy fall everyone.

Other peoples words for the end of September

2010-09-29T16:33:00.004-04:00

"September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret."
- Alexander Theroux, 1981

" 'I grow old, I grow old,' the garden says. It is nearly October. The bean leaves grow paler, now lime, no yellow, no leprous, dissolving before my eyes. The pods curl and do not grow, turn limp and blacken. The potato vines wither and the tubers huddle underground in their rough weather-proof jackets, waiting to be dug. The last tomatoes ripen and split on the vine; it takes days for them to turn fully now, and a few of the green ones are beginning to fall off."
- Robert Finch

"The golden-rod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

The gentian's bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest,
In every meadow nook;
And asters by the brook-side
Make asters in the brook,

From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes' sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer's best of weather,
And autumn's best of cheer.

But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
Is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.

T'is a thing which I remember;
To name it thrills me yet:
One day of one September
I never can forget."
- Helen Hunt Jackson, September

"Shine on, shine on harvest moon
Up in the sky,
I ain't had no lovin'
Since January, February, June or July
Sno Time ain't no time to stay
Outdoors and spoon,
So shine one, shine on harvest noon
For me and my gal."

- By Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, 1903

"Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh so mellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain so yellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a young and a callow fellow
Try to remember and if you remember
Then follow--follow, oh-oh."
- Try to Remember, Lyrics by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt

Look Wabbit tracks!

2010-09-27T14:28:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when you lower your guard:


NOooooo!

Bunnies. Dirty rotten nasty Baptisia eating rodents. Of course it is all my fault. I removed the bunny-proof barrier. Who knew they would eat the mature shoots? Darn them wascally wabbits!!

Watching grass grow

2010-09-23T10:56:00.001-04:00

Well the autumn equinox was yesterday and we're are officially in fall. It does not look much like fall around here yet though there are some early signs. One fall activity we never do, until now, is some lawn care. I am not much of a lawn lover. I do appreciate it under my bare feet and my bottom and of course cool green is comforting on the eyes. But I don't feel the need to get out there and make my far from perfect lawn a perfect lawn to keep up with the neighbours. Besides I am getting rather good at identifying the weeds in the lawn (black medic and dandelions are the worst culprits). Our city recently implemented a new pesticide bylaw banning the use of many herbicides and pesticides for the home owner, so I foresee many more lawns that will look like mine in the future.

Having said all that, hubby and I decided to do some lawn improvements this fall. The lawn is quite bumpy and uneven and since hubby is the lawn mower in the family (and a push mower at that) the lawn needs some care to help make the mowing easier. So the soil order arrived and I purchased the eco lawn grass seed. We have used this seed before and I am quite happy with it. The new seed mixtures includes primarily fescue grasses. They have a nice fine blade, grow slowly and therefore require less frequent mowing, and tolerate dry periods better. This grass has remained green in mid August when other lawns are going brown. So here are a couple of photos of week old grass:

Look at that will ya

Can you see the morning dew?

A growing concern of mine is our grub problem. The last few years the Japanese beetle has really eaten up my roses and this year they went after our young birch trees. There are also the telltale signs of digging in the lawn by various larger pests. I had planned to apply nematodes this fall but with the seeding of the lawn my plans are out the window. I couldn't figure out a) if we apply some nematodes now or wait till the spring. And, b) if I did it this fall do we apply them before the seeding or after or what? Can these two activities be juggled simultaneously and if so how? Since it is getting late to apply the nematodes this year I guess I will wait until the spring, but I may have the same dilemma then. So if anyone has some input please write in with your suggestions.

Last of the Summer Flowers

2010-09-15T10:17:00.000-04:00

Getting towards the end of summer is kind of bitter sweet for me. I look forward to summer and its warm sunny days for months and then before you know it it's over. If you have been following, you would have some inkling that hot humid summers are not for me. As I have said I'm a 26 C with a nice breeze kind of gal. So when fall is poking its nose around the corner I welcome it with open arms. For most Canadians, fall means warm/cool sunny days. It means there is a slight nip in the air, a sweater on your back and a cup of something hot in your hands while sitting on the patio listening to the neighborhood. It means leaves of yellow, orange, burnt umber, red, burgundy and green. But I don't mean to push. I can wait and I will do so. Not everyone is ready.

So that brings me back to the last of the summer flowers in my garden.


Turtlehead


Woodland aster


Blue-stemmed goldenrod


Bugbane


Sweet Autumn Clematis

Also hello to some sedums, new york asters, switch grass and the colouring foliage of Sweet Henry Itea. Farewell to the troopers helianthus, cup plant, shasta daisies, black eyed susans, coneflowers, Rozanne geraniums, gaura and phlox.

I think it is Verticillium Wilt

2010-09-09T19:26:00.005-04:00


Dead leaves and 2 tomatoes

Last year the tomatoes had blight, this year I think it is Verticillium Wilt. One day the plants looked good, then the leaves drooped, started to get dark spots and then the next thing you know the whole plant looks dead. However, the tomatoes continued to mature on the vine.

The plants were not in the same bed from last year to this one. Brand new bed brand new plants. And it's only the second year of growing vegetables. We must have the tomato curse.

Who really knows what is in their soil?