October has Arrived

Autumn is here without a doubt and October seemed to sneak up on us! Where has the summer gone?!

Fall beauty- Mountain Ash tree

September was a blurr in passing. Sadly, my mother passed away and we had to travel back to Manitoba for 2 weeks for the funeral service and to deal with all of her affairs. We packed up  and gave away most of her belongings and we vacated her apartment. It was all very sad and extremely stressful, but was necessary to do.  Now we can deal with the grieving.

Crabapple splendour

Now that it's October, the fall clean up is happening in earnest.  We had some frost in September, but luckily we had picked most of the tomatoes off the plants beforehand.  The garden is all rototilled now except for a few areas where there are still some carrots and some red beets.  I planted 2 iris plants there last week (which I have been caring for in pots all summer for my daughter from the garden in her old house,) into our vegetable plot temporarily.  She wants to plant them in her new garden next summer. I also planted, pot and all, a big Mojito mint which I want to keep. Because of the hard frost that we get here on the prairies, we can't keep anything alive outside all winter unless it is in the ground.

Cleaning up fall flower beds- ready to wrap burlap around the roses

For that reason, I also dug 4 raspberry dianthus plants out of my flower pots and found them homes in my flower beds. They are quite hardy and should make it through the winter to bloom again. I hate to let things die!

For that reason I also dug out 4 geranium plants, potted them, clipped them back and brought them inside to make a total of 7. The dahlia tops were black after the frost last week, so I dug the tubers up and left them out to dry overnight. Now they are in bags in the laundry room waiting for me to add some peat moss and put them away for the winter.  I have 2 big clumps of Firebirds (which bloom orange and yellow) and only 1 clump of red Thompson dahlias, which I have been over wintering for 11 years now.  Next year I plan on finding some additional exotic dahlia bulbs and growing a lot more. Starting them indoors and then transferring them to the greenhouse in early spring gives them a head start to bloom.

Chickadees getting ready for the cold weather.

The big winners of the "Gigantic category" in my graden were the cosmos! I have never grown them 6 feet tall before! They were covered in numerous blossoms and bloomed all summer in spit of the fact that I neglected to deadhead them. A gardeners dream!  Because I grew them from seed I was especially partial to them. I harvested some Cosmos seeds so I will try and grow them again next year.

Fall asters defying Jack Frost

One of the few things still blooming in the garden are my fall perennial asters. I'm so pleased with them... at last! They were so puny and half dead, barely growing at all for the first 3 years I had them. I moved them twice in the meantime, but finally found a spot where they would not only grow properly, but actually bloomed for the first time last year. Now they are looking really magnificent. Another added bonus: the deer don't like them! :)

With the colder weather we needed to drain our small pond for the winter. We rescued the goldfish out of the pond to bring into the house. Their new quarters, the 2 fish tanks in the laundry room, are very small compared to the freedom of swimming all summer in the pond. We hauled out every last goldfish that we had put in, (no casualties all summer- a first!) plus 4 tiny grey goldfish babies that managed to avoid getting eaten.

The fish had grown a lot and I don't want to overcrowd them in the small indoor tanks. It causes stress to the fish (causing disease), plus you have to clean the filters more often, I job I dislike. Rule of thumb is 1 inch (2.2 cm) of fish per gallon of water in a fish tank. My fish are close to double that amount...

So..... I took 4 big white goldfish (yes, I said white) and released them into our nearby lake!   They will likely become a meal for a big lake pike, but at least they have half a chance of survival. (The gold ones would be spotted too readily.) Now, imagine the surprise on the face of the ice fisherman who catches one of my goldfish this winter!!! :D



Next job:

Add leaves to the compost around the rose bushes, and wrap them snuggly in burlap and string. That should help to protect them from the coldest winter weather and allow them the chance to bloom again.

(I am up to 6 rose bushes now, 2 pink Morden Centennials (1 in my long perennial bed, west end), 1 Morden Ruby, 1 Morden Sunrise, 1 Winnipeg Parks, and my newest addition, 1 pink and white John Davis rose.  We will skip mentioning my huge Hansa rose and all the wild rose bushes that keep popping out all over the yard and flower beds.)

Angel bed -half trimmed; The tall grasses will be left till spring.

Patio Pests- Wasps and Ants

 We had company a few weeks ago and wanted to have a picnic out on the deck. We had put the food out on the patio table and were about to put the umbrella up when we discovered a big problem. WASPS! They had built a huge wasp nest inside our patio umbrella and they were very angry about being disturbed. They came buzzing out in a stormy cloud looking to do battle!

Fast-thinking husband grabbed the umbrella and threw it out on the back lawn as far away from the deck as he could manage, then he dumped the nest out of the umbrella and stomped on it. I don't know how he managed not to get stung! We all ran into the house for a while until things settled down...

The wasps continued to circle around the corner of the deck where the umbrella had been stored looking for their nest. Then they proceeded to start a new nest at the same spot in a metal waste bin. Determined or what!  Diligent husband put on his long sleeved coveralls and a cap and proceeded to put the can in a large black plastic bag. He tied it shut and left it out in the hot sun by the garage. We think they all got baked in there, although many of them had escaped earlier.

We made a wasp trap out of an empty 2 litre pop bottle. We just cut the bottom off about 6 inches tall (16 cm) and filled it with cocoa cola; Then put the top spout part in upside down. The wasps are attracted to the sweet drink instead of the food on your patio table. They crawl down the spout to the coke, but can't get back out so they drown.

We went to town the next day and bought a new fake wasp nest at the hardware store to hang in that corner of the deck. We also bought a wasp trap and some bait cubes to attract them to the trap if our homemade version isn't sufficient...

We have a lot of ant nests around our property and for once they were being a benefit. The ants found the squashed wasp trap on the back lawn in no time and they took care of all the wasp larva, carting them away (to their own nests as food, I guess.)  :)

September is here!

I love the fall!

Firebird Dahlias with pink Lavatara

My garden doesn't look nearly as gorgeous now as it did in July and early August, (less blooming going on), but I love the cooler nights and the more pleasant daytime temperatures- At least it's SUPPOSED to be cooler daytime temps.  Unfortunately it has been close to 30C for the last week or so and expected to stay that way for another 4 days without a drop of rain in evidence!

Normally that wouldn't be too much of a terrible problem; more of an inconvenience because of all the extra work to water everything.
This week however, it could be problematic: Sad to say, my mother passed away 2 days ago and we are in the midst of funeral preparations. We are travelling back to Manitoba for 10 days to 2 weeks to honor my mother and get my mother's affairs in order.  I'm afraid that we will come home to mostly dead plants and flowers. :(
We do have someone feeding and looking after our pets, but non-gardeners really can't give the place the same TLC that it normally gets from me who planted, nurtured and love every leaf, stem and blossom.
We have been harvesting green tomatoes galore and composting most of the smaller plants to try and downsize things before we go. The 8 or 9 big plants that are  left will just have to take their chances, I guess. Old Jack Frost is not expected to visit yet, thankfully.  I may still have the chance to dig up some of my beautiful geraniums to bring inside for the winter.

Morden Ruby Rose is blooming again for the 3rd time this summer. :)

Debating about my tall hibiscus tree... I re-potted it yesterday to bring it in the house eventually. It still has mega buds on it, but no one will appreciate its blooms. Do I put it up close to the house under the deck roof where it will be safe from potential frost, but run the risk of drying out? Or leave it on the deck where it may get a sprinkle or two next Tuesday but Jack Frost could have his way with it? What a choice! :(

The Mountain ash trees are full of fat red berries and the leaves on the other shrubs and trees are starting to turn colour. Flocks of geese fly overhead each dawn and dusk practicing their V formations in preparation for a long migratory flight south.  I hope that we will still have some beautiful fall weather to enjoy when we get home again in 2 weeks.

The day lilies outdid them selves this summer with the size and number of blossoms

Late Summer Gardening

Oh, man! I have been neglecting my garden blog this summer! I have been taking photos fairly regularly, but have not always made the time to upload them. I admit, as  well, that my flower beds have not been getting as much attention as they deserve either.

Self seeded sunflowers, tall and stately

Mother Nature has been sporatic in her watering in the last  month and a half. Rainy days have been few which means more work for us keeping the flower beds and vegetable garden watered.

Speaking of vegetable garden, it has been an odd summer veggie-wise. For the first time that I can ever remember, the potatoes did not sprout very reliably. The majority of the potatoe hills did not grow at all in our the first attempt.  Not sure weather the wet weather in May and june caused the potatoes to rot, or if there was an underground rodent at work eating them.  Diligent husband re-planted most of the potato hills and we had a bit better luck with them sprouting, but there don't seem to be a lot of potatoes there under the earth yet.

The carrots, on the other hand have grown the best crop that we have had in years here! The beets are doing well and we enjoyed one feed of small beets so far which I pulled up in order to thin them out. I think we might be ready for another feed of beets now, though.
The swiss chard did well, particularly the 'Bright Lights' bedding plants.

We have harvested 2 small spaghetti squashes so far. There are still a few acorn squashes trying to grow but they seem to be quite slow. Not enough fertilizer maybe...

The tomatoes are doing okay in the veg garden, but not nearly as well as the huge monsters growing in the pots OUTSIDE the greenhouse. The 4 tomato plants inside the greenhouse are starting to ripen some fruit as well, but they are not as large.  The 4 5 pots of tomatoes on the deck are doing very poorly. I think the trees around the deck have grown so much in the last year or two that there is not a lot of direct sunshine on the deck anymore. The Tumbler tomato plant has done really well on the deck, though. We have been harvesting little mini tomatoes for 3 months now. It is a sweet treat to be able to  pick a few tiny red tomatoes to pop into your mouth as you walk by the Tumbler


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July's Lilies, Roses, Clematis and More

Morden Ruby Rose bush

July 24th Flowers
July is always the most beautiful time in my flower garden. I always hate to be away then, and this year is no exception. With so many family things going on, I have missed 2 weeks of the best of the blooming time and enjoyment of the fruits of my spring labours.  Most of the roses have finished blooming now except for my Morden Ruby which continues to out do any of the others. Admittedly, it was the last rose bush to start blooming.
My Morden Sunrise has opened more blossoms now, too, its second batch but it has only a few compared to the first round of blossoms in late June.

Morden Ruby rose

The first Clematis flowers opened the first week of July, a bit later than most years, but it seems as the trees are growing in the yard, the sunlight is diminishing to the side of the house where the Clematises are growing; Plus we have had an inordinate amount of rain this summer and nowhere near as much sunshine as a result.

July 14th Clematis blossoms:

July 14 General Sikorska Clematis on left, Jackimanii Clematis on right

July 24 Hollyhocks on left, Clematises in centre, yellow false sunflowers on right

My first dahlia of the season bloomed on about July 14th as well, the Firebird dahlia located in my stack stone bed near the house. As of July 24th, it is looking even more spectacular. My other Firebird dahlia which is planted in the big tub planter in the yard, is much taller than usual and has started blooming as well. (photos soon)

First Firebird Dahlia blossom of 2013

My yellow day lilies are looking so huge and gorgeous. The 2 clumps at the foot of my rock garden are covered in numerous beautiful blossoms. I wish they would last longer. They were at their most beautiful on the 24th. The day lilies near the pond are opening up now, as well as the 2 smaller clusters in my triangle bed.

Yellow day lilies

View from the deck July 24/13

Red pot lilies-July 14, 2013

The red pot lilies in my stack stone bed popped open almost all at once on July 14 and they looked spectacular, but they were all finished by the 24th when I returned home. I'm sad that I missed seeing their spectacular show for the most part during my absence. 

Red Maltese crosses and purple monkshood in bloom. 

The Monkshood is tall and steely and the red/ orange Maltese Cross is at its best. The butterflies and hummingbirds are enjoying them. Next week I will have to start cutting the maltese crosses down though since they like to spread their seeds all over the flower bed given half a chance. 

The white daises are all but finished now and I ruthlessly cut most of them off to try and prevent a massive seeding. I know I have missed cutting some of them though, and I always get far more tiny re-seeded daisies than I want. The pretty columbines are finished blooming now as well. much of the maltese cross has fallen over on top of it and will need to be cut off.

I am also still putting mulch on the flower beds. Yes, it's rather later than it should be, but it seems the summer is speeding by faster than usual, especially when a person is away for part of it.

Hardy hollyhocks

Last but not least I want to mention my gigantic gorgeous hollyhocks. They started to bloom just before we left on vacation( again about the 14th or 15th of July) and now they are massive and stunningly beautiful, covered in numerous healthy huge flowers. I have never seen my hollyhocks look this thick and this fabulous! :)

Looking forward to the rest of the summer!

Non-stop pink tuberous begonia

July Beauties

 The sunshine we have been finally getting in the last week has really helped things to burst open in a beautiful way!

The campanula cluster bell flower is looking really beautiful.  It is rather invasive and does try and take over your garden via its root system so as long as you are aware of that and you ruthlessly remove it where you don't want it to grow, it is nice to have in the garden.

Campanula cluster bell flower

Tiger lilies are one of my favourite in the garden. I had numerous clumps of them in our previous home in northern Manitoba, and I often gave bulbs away in the spring or fall  to whomever wanted them. I did try to bring some and grow them here when we first arrived. Unfortunately the little black moles under the garden liked them, too! :(
Only one bulb survived after the first summer, but I managed to get 3 more bulbs from the kind owner of the Lily farm out on Hwy 11 west, out towards Rocky Mt House.  She got them from her own mother's garden and gave them to me free. (I did buy some beautiful oriental lily bulbs from there as well which are a bit more temperamental and difficult to grow. More about lilies later.

Tiger Lilies

Pinks ( dianthus)

The clematises are growing well so far, but no blossoms yet.

The Jackmanii clematis and General Sikorska are growing well but not blooming yet. My tiny white Alba is growing and hopefully will set a few buds for the first time....  The Jackmanii on the right is taller, but the General has more branches and usually more flowers as well.

Blue Sage

The bees love my blue sage  perennials, May Night. Personally I think they have an unpleasant smell but I love how they look. Remember to cut them back right away after they bloom so they don't seed themselves too much. They like to try and take over if you let them. I have given the youngsters away to a number of people (aquaintances, friends and my daughter) and sometimes to the Plant Swap held in May in town.

American Gold Finch

The gold finches are nesting nearby and they enjoy the nyger seeds in the feeder.

Stone crop starting to bloom

Poppies and daisies

A sea of white

The white daisies are in full bloom along with the white potentilla.  I have been cutting a lot of the daisies away from my rose bushes to make sure the roses get enough sun and air movement around the.

Almost time to chop the daisies right down, though. They are shading the Lavatara and the 4 O'Clocks that I started in the greenhouse and planted in that bed.

Lychnis Splendins

I moved the Splendins over a few feet to amore central spot and it didn't seem to mind as it has bloomed its little heart out regardless. It was kept well-watered by Mother Nature, though (and I think that's the secret to a successful move.)  We had rain almost every day for 5 weeks in a row!

Goldfish pond

Lupines

The lupines suddenly opened their buds and started blooming all at once. I think they were held back by the lack of sunshine in June and now were making up for lost time. :)

Time to cut the purple ones back as they are setting seeds and I already have half a dozen young ones to move or give away.

Swallowtail enjoying the end of the lilacs

Wild roses in bloom everywhere here at the Lake

I LOVE my roses and they have thrived this summer.

Roses and Roses!

My roses are loving the hot sunny weather after having wet feet for 4 weeks!

The first to bloom was the youngest, my newest addition to my rose garden, the gorgeous Morden Sunrise rose.

It was followed closely by the oldest rose bush, the very hardy hanse rose that grow as wild as a weed and needs no fussing whatsoever.

Close up of the Hansa rose

A rose between two thorns... I mean daisies. :)

Morden Sunrise rose flanked by daisies.

Morden Blush is the first rose bush that I planted 6 years ago after I arrived here at our new home at Buffalo Lake in central AB.  It usually had the first buds and the first blossoms, but was 3rd this year. It have a prolific amount of buds, though and will bloom a second time if I deadhead it.

Morden centennial

The Centennial rose bush was my second addition planted about 5 years ago. I love the colour of the blossoms! It has an abundance of buds this year too. It also will bloom a second time if the conditions are right.

Last summer I bought a second Morden Centennial rose bush at the end of the season. It was hot and dry in its little root bound pot and was calling to me to take it home... So I did! :)

It has a good number of buds on it for being so new to my garden and getting crowded out by the false Spiria shrub next to it. Won't be long before they open, though...

My Morden Ruby rose just opened the first bud late yesterday! It is a stunning deep red and I will add a photo soon.

Winnipeg Parks rose

This Winnipeg Parks is a small rose bush, but the flowers are so beautiful. It has the least number of buds,of any of my bushes, though. It is hardy however, and can survive Alberta winters.

Last garden season I had rose rust on all the wild roses on our property and my garden roses were no exception. I had to trim them all quite severely but they have all recovered this year, quite nicely. Because of all the rain we have in June, the rust came back but again, I cut quite a lot out. I also spray with Neem Oil which seems to keep it from spreading.  It also seems to look after the aphids that weak havoc on my red current shrub as well.

I love the Morden roses as they are hardy to the cold prairie winters and they can survive -40C!  I do mulch them in the fall, though, right after the first bad frost, usually in early October. I pile peat moss around them and add some plant cuttings on top to hold the peat. Then I wrap them with burlap and string. It's a bit of work, yes, but they repay me all summer long with their beauty.

I added an Explorer rose bush to my collection this year. It is a beautiful soft pink climbing rose called John Davis. It's my first climbing rose. Not sure if I have to cut it back in the fall or not, but I will give it a whirl! Right now it is parked on the deck still in its pot, entertaining me with it's beautiful blossoms...

 All the Explorer roses are all very winter hardy as well.

Still debating where its permanent home will be. I think I will dig up the perennial geranium in my Angel bed, once its done blooming and plant John Davis there,  near my favourite Tiger Lilies; my first rose bush in that bed.   :)

Dahlias, Peonies and Other Blooming Things

I finally took my red cactus dahlia out of its pot and planted it in the usual spot, my big circular 'angel bed.'  I started all my dahlia tubers back in April and pinched them back a couple of times to hopefully grow nice and bushy.  I have been growing these particular tubers for about 10 years now. I dig them up in the fall and over-winter them inside till the following spring.

My 2 Firebird dalias are growing really well. One is planted in my old stack stone bed near the house and the other is in a big half-wine barrel in the yard surrounded by yellow Bidens, and purple and yellow pansies. This is my 3rd year growing these tubers. The blossoms are such a beautiful colour, orange and yellow like fire.

Firebird dahlia, yellow Bidens and pansies

I am so thrilled to see the buds developing on my peonies!!!  I have been "peony challenged" for many years and never seemed to be able to get one to bloom after I planted it. :(  
Last year I planted a white peony Festiva Maxima which I had bought mid summer and I also transplanted a young peony from the back of my wild bed which had been struggling to grow in the shade under the trees there.  I moved that one to my newest bed, (my triangle bed) which gets hours sun. That little peony not only has lots of new shoots now, but flower buds as well!   I think I finally broke the peony curse!  I am looking forward to seeing what colour those flowers are. :)

Long perennial bed with Festiva Maxima peony sprouting at near end; Also delphiniums, Monkshoods, columbines, creeping jennies, pink Malva, a hosta and one Morden Centennial rose bush at the far end.

The monkshoods are growing like gangbusters with all this rain, but I see a need for some Neem Oil spray . I found a few inch long caterpillars wrapped up in the growing tops, which I squished with my gloves. :{

John Davis- hardy 'explorer' rose bush

I bought a new rose bush this week. Okay I'm a sucker for roses. I went to the greenhouse with the intensions of buying a small shrub, a "Little Devil" Ninebark, but ended up with an pretty medium pink Explorer rose bush full of buds! It is a climbing rose so I bought a narrow climbing frame as well. I decided to put that in my long perennial bed instead of another delphinium. Right now  the rose bush is blooming away in its pot on the deck and I might just leave it there for a week or two to enjoy the blossoms, before planting it out into its permanent home.

Did a major clean up / trimming of my red currant shrubs yesterday. Took out a lot of dead branches and a massive amount of 2 foot tall new quack grass as well as old brown dead grass tangled in the branches from last fall. It took over an hour and it's still not completely done. I trimmed back the potentilla shrub as well to give my Hostas in that bed a bit more sun.

Blue Persian Cornflowers and a few late tulips blooming on west side of stack stone bed. Potentilla bush behind them and lilies growing on the right.

East side of stack stone bed orange poppies are blooming and daisies are getting ready to open their buds.

 The Lychnis Splendins in the front centre of my triangle bed is full of buds that are justing starting to open. It is a short perennial that should bloom most of the summer (supposedly).  The False Spirea behind it is doing well as are the day lilies at either side. I planted 9 little Durango marigolds and some Rocket mix snap dragons.  I started the marigolds from seed in April and learned my lesson from last year when they kept getting eaten. I put the beer traps out early and only caught 1 slug so far. (Last year I drowned over 100 slugs!)  But with all this rain, I am not going to get complacent.  I am going to renew the beer in the traps when it stops.

One final thing: a reminder to self: Bobbex the heck out of everything again!  The little bunnies living nearby don't like that and the deer seem to have crossed me off the lunch list. :)  
 Now if only the dogs would be successful in catching the little varmints living under my huge juniper bush by the house my garden might be safe...