With the continuing hot and dry weather, I haven't been able to keep pace with the garden this spring on the blog. This weekend, most of my gardening took place at Davey's Mum's place near Lake Huron, a good 3 hours drive from home. We did make it back to Toronto by about 1pm, so I was able to spend some time getting things somewhat under control in my own garden. My poor pink tulips, which have always been the highlight of my spring garden, had concerned me last year. They now appear to have been largely decimated by some disease or other, which has quickly withered the foliage and will preclude the bulbs getting a good store of energy for future blooms. I've had them since I created my garden from a lawn about 7 years ago, so they've had a good innings and I will be digging them up and discarding them. The other challenge is that our dry winter and even drier spring have left my garden absolutely parched. It's unusual for it to be so dry this early in the season, so I'm going to have to start watering already....ugh! On a positive note, my white tree peony has avoided being torn apart in the spring downpours we normally have at this time of year, and looks quite stunning, as does the creamy clematis clambering over the garage and the lovely delicate anemones in the front garden. The alliums which were intended to fill a gap between the end of the tulips and the arrival of mid-summer flowers, are already in full bloom due to the unusual weather.....but they do look rather lovely, so I'm glad I planted more last fall.
This beautiful creamy white clematis envelops my garage in late spring, before the roses come into bloom. Too bad I lost the tag, so I can't identify the variety for you.
Tree peonies are in full bloom now, a good 2-3 weeks earlier than normal.
The blooms are dinner plate sized, and pleasantly fragrant.
These airy anemones have spread and grown over the years, and are now scattered through several of my friends' gardens too!
These white tulips looked stunning this year.....
.....but my poor pink tulips, despite mostly coming up and blooming, are now withered and largely looking dead, so they will need to be removed this year. Need to think of a new scheme for next spring.
I planted several clumps of alliums last fall....loving their stately elegance.
Order of Work May 23
Planted out white cosmos seedlings
sowed larkspurs
sowed trionfo violetta beans at the base of the espalier supports. I was inspired to try these by a post on "You Grow Girl", so hopefully they will fulfill my hopes for something both beautiful and utlitarian
planted out "Arabian Nights" Dahlias, which had been started off a few weeks ago indoors
corralled the peonies. I didn't get around to making lovely twig structures to support them this year, but at least I've staked them before blooming!
Back to work tomorrow, which seems but "oh too soon". But it's been a highly productive weekend overall.....although I think my entire gardening budget for the year has now been exceeded!
Order of Work - April 8th
removed overgrown cotoneaster. This plant was already moved from the backyard, to fill up space in my front yard when I initially removed the lawn and couldn't afford to plant the entire space in one go. It definitely filled plenty of space, and I have a certain fondness for cotoneaster as my mother has a couple of absolutely beautiful cotoneaster horizontalis growing up against her house, which came from my grandparent's farm, Strathinver. They fan across the walls, and are covered first in lovely, tiny white, starry flowers, and then bright red berries. However, my cotoneaster did not thrive in the Ontario winter, and certainly didn't have the beautiful fan habit of the horizontalis. It's time, as they say, had certainly come, and after a considerable effort to dig out the roots....'tis no more. Replaced by two hydrangeas, "Wim's Red". These sound highly promising, blooming first in early summer in a flush of white, which progressively matures through pink, and finally magenta in the fall......really hope they live up to their promise.
hydrangea "Wim's Red": amazon.co.uk
dug up border to my driveway which was inundated with rudbeckia last year. Have removed highly invasive amethyst bachelor buttons, which get everywhere, and then thinned out other plants (keeping left overs for a friend who needs to replant a garden after a renovation squashed all life from their front yard. Have left spaces for the dahlias and cannas that I bought on Good Friday, and filled spaces in the meantime with some cheery pansies.
Removed the perovskias which were upsetting me last year. These have gone to the backyard (and may not last there either!). Have backfilled their spaces, which lie on the one sandy patch in my entire garden, with 6 vigorous looking eremus, or foxtail lilies. These were inspired by a visit to Larkwhistle about 6 years ago, where they were soaring throughout the garden in July, in the midst of a drought, and looking absolutely pristine. I have tried these for the last 3 years and achieved nothing, but I'm hoping the sandy site, and the fact that the roots I bought look much more substantial and alive than any others will equate to success this time. Fingers crossed please!
Fairegarden.wordpress.com
Other work included pruning the lavenders throughout the garden, all of which appear to be sprouting out nicely, potting up my seedlings (white cosmos, black kale, rhubarb chard and tomatoes), skyping with my family, roasting a leg of lamb and baking a lemon self saucing pudding.....yummy!
A spectacular weekend on the weather front. Barely a cloud in the sky, temperatures in the high 20's, with tolerable humidity and a light breeze off the lake. Evenings cooling down pleasantly to make for good sleeping weather. My only concern is that it has been quite some time since the torrential rains of April and even May, and my garden is parched. Have laid out a series of strategically located drip hoses to try to keep things in good health, with intermittent and deep soakings. It's been a busy weekend, but I did manage to get quite a few garden chores taken care of. Here's what in bloom this weekend, and my Order of Work for this week.
These peonies always remind me of the fresh cream meringues I loved as a child!
June is the peak month for Alchemilla molis.
I find these mallows get quite weedy after their first bloom, and mean to pull them all out every year. ....but they always re-seed and when they look like this, it's hard not to give them a reprieve each year.
The meadow rue I planted in the spring is blooming now, and complements the peonies beautifully .
I was weeding beside this dianthus for some time this morning.... the scent is just delicious!
Finally got round to putting up new, stronger brackets to hold the window boxes I planted a few weeks ago. I went "cheap and cheerful" with the planting scheme this year.
Clematis Arabella has been blooming beautifully for a few weeks now.
My yellow rose garden, planted this spring, is starting to come into bloom, and I'm quite pleased with the varieties I ended up selecting. It was tough to decide - so many to choose from!
I'd always thought Sweet William was strictly a biannual, but I've had this one in place for the last 4 or 5 years, and it merrily comes back from the same plants each year. They don't die back, but just seem to go dormant under the snow, in winter.
I had the Achillea "Moonshine" in the back yard for a couple of years, but it never got enough sun. I moved it this spring and it's repaid handsomely for it's new dry, sunny spot. I love the carriage of the flowers and that intense sulphur-like yellow.
The new salvias are a hit, and I love the dark leave geranium (whose name I can't recall right now).
The lavender "hedge" I planted last year is starting to come into bloom. It's still a little sparse , but hopefully next year it will be considerably fuller.
In an "over forty" moment, I cannot remember what this demure bulb is called, but it's quite pretty nonetheless!
Order of Work - June 18 & 19, 2011
much weeding
more spraying with insecticidal soap - both roses (aphids) and now gardenias (spider mites) needed attention
laying out of soaker hoses to provide relief from the drought we seem to be heading into
planted out a tray of Victoria salvias, and a few sunshine impatiens, to fill in some gaps
divided off a couple of pieces of Moonshine achillea, which is suddenly become one of my favourite things in the garden
finally hung up window boxes - better late than never.
Listening to:
Dame Janet Baker singing "Where corals lie" from the Sea Pictures by Edward Elgar. I love Janet Baker, partially because she was the public, or television, face of opera in the UK when I was a child in the early 70s, but I heard a recording on the radio of Canadian contralto, Maureen Forester singing this song, and it can only be described as "breathtaking".
Clematis Arabella will hopefully soon adorn this trellis
It's really not much to look at, but hopefully in a few weeks, things will be much more promising.
Order of Work for week #18:
Planted crinums (Powellii & Alba) and Brodiaea (Queen Fabiola) in 24 inch terracotta pots
divided geranium Rozanne
relocated clematis (name unknown) from backyard to front yard. Erected visually unappealing chicken wire cladding against municipal guy-wire, in the hope that the clematis will soon cover up the unsightliness
hauled dormant oleanders up from basement into a shady spot to acclimatize for a final position in a hot, sunny spot
planted lilac and pink moss phlox, pink rock cress and white alpine saxifrage, in hopes of gradually replacing at least some of the masses of creeping thyme, which really take a while to get going in the spring
applied wood ashes from toasty winter fires to plants that like such treatment (peonies, clematis, lavender, japanese anenomes)
fretted about bougainvillia, which was stored dormant over the winter in the basement. The initial signs of swelling buds appear to have faded, and all that's currently there is a thorny, gangly stick. The wood is green when I make an exploratory pruning cut, so I'm not sure what is needed to force it to spring forth, short of taking it on an all-inclusive to Barbados for a few days to shake of the winter blahs. Have put it in my sunroom (lots of lovely heat and sunshine) to see if that does the trick.
Rain all day today - just as well I didn't have a May Day ball to attend this year. Since my aim with this blog was to help myself keep some notes on my garden from year to year to help me plan, a good time to catch up.
Observations:
species tulips planted last autumn in full bloom - love them, and must buy more in the fall. And yes, I know they look pathetic in this photo, but my north facing garden doesn't get out of bed before mid-May;
muscari in bud - one good day of sunshine should open them up;
lavender hedge planted last summer now showing good signs of growth at the base - proper pruning can commence now, with less fear of die back in cold, damp weather. Much relieved, as they looked particularly awful coming out of winter, although this is unfortunately the way with lavender in zone 5;
pin-cushion spurges coming through at speed;
Anenome canadensis has spread like wildfire since last year. I'll let them bloom, and then will need to tame them;
Japanese quinces planted last year against north wall of house looking much perkier. They had looked very promising in late Feb/early March, with clear signs of swelling buds, but after more snow and a horribly cold spell, looked as though all signs of life had ceased and desisted. Am pleased to report that at least one flower bud is very close to opening. Am also excited to realize that these might also respond well to some more formalized training against the wall;
boxwoods showing signs of new growth, as well as some winter damage. Need to clean them up on next dry weekend;
Rosemary overwintered in pots in my uninsulated mudroom are in full bloom and seemed to have thrived, even though temperatures in the depth of winter consistently registered as low as minus 16 celsius out there. Whilst considerably better than out of doors, prolonged exposure to these temperatures still seems pretty tough for something from the mediterranean. I did keep the pots right by the inner door and perhaps they were marginally warmed by proximity to the house. Regardless, I've always lost rosemary when I've overwintered them in the house, so the fact that they survived out there means this is something I will plan to do again in the future. Given that I always enjoy rosemary more in rich, wintery dishes than light, summery ones, and that I was able to harvest throughout the months since last fall, has made this experiment a major success.
Order of Work:
finally sowed currant tomato "hundreds and thousands" and ornamental cabbage "Osaka mixed";
planted herbs purchased yesterday at Richters in strawberry pot. Selection included Blue Boy Rosemary (a trailing variety I was previously very taken with), stevia (something I've never grown before) and a Prince Rupert lemon scented geranium, whose leaves make an interesting addition to summer salads, as well as cake!
installed wire garden ornament "thingy" from HomeSense in 3 year old pot of variegated ivy - will train sprawling mass into a topiary;
inspected and fed worms. Vermicompost experiment started in October has been taking care of all of my green bin waste, with the exception of meat waste. Have harvested several trays over the winter, but have been keeping the compost in a bin, waiting to go out in the garden in spring. The worm factory is functioning well, and all 8 trays are being used. The worms have multiplied dramatically in number, and there are always lots of near microscopic baby wrigglers in evidence, so I think they must be a happy population.
Finishing the day with a cup of tea, listening to Delius' "On hearing the first cuckoo in spring", courtesy of BBC radio 3 "Breakfast" via internet. Very relaxing....zzzzzz.
