Slow Spring 2018

Spring has been very slow this year, very cold with a lot of snow. It's as if Old Man Winter just doesn't want to let go this year.

Carola's garden is still covered in deep snow, April 9/18

On March 28 I finally got the chance to plant some seeds in the laundry room.
I usually end up with far too many tomato seedlings (which I am so reluctant to cull) so I often end up with so many tomato plants all vying for space in the greenhouse and later in the vegetable garden or deck. I do give many of the away, but this year I am making a concerted effort to limit that number, thus less work involved.

All the tomato seedling have sprouted successfully (Lemon Boy was first followed the next day by Early girl).
On April 5th we turned the heater on in the greenhouse to start warming it up, (later than last year.) A few days later (April 9) we took the seed tray into the greenhouse and carefully took each seedling out of the starter tray with a teaspoon.

We have 3 or 4 of each tomato variety:
Lemon Boy
Early Girl
Beef steak
Super Sensation
Purple Russian
Tumblers
Patio
The Patios were too small to transplant yet so they are still in the tiny seedling cells until they grow big enough to transplant.

I also managed to germinate 2 English Cucumber plants, but as per usual, the zucchini seeds did nothing. I do have 3 spaghetti squash seedlings that are growing like weeds though! This year I will try and buy zucchini seedlings and some other types of squashes too. (I like the butternut and the kabochas.)

I also started 4 Lavatara seedlings and some "Ocean Foam " sweet peas.  Two Lavatara sprouted quickly but got too long and leggy in the house. The other 2 were slower, but developed a larger set of leaves and a shorter stem.  None of the Sweet peas germinated but thats because I forgot to soak them overnight as the package said. I am in the process of soaking some sweet pea seeds that I collected from my flower bed in the fall and will be planting them today (April 12/18) along with 3 or 4 more Lavatara and maybe a blue columbine from some seeds I got from a friend ( Thanks, Chris W!)

April 10 was a beautiful sunny spring day and the temperature on the deck was close to 20C. :D
I took my dahlia bulbs out there to plant in the warm weather. Yah, spring!
Re: Dahlia bulbs, I overwintered some Firebird tubers, some Tahitian Sunrise tubers and what I think is my longstanding red "Thompson" dahlias ( which I have been growing and overwintering for about 14 years now!)
I saw some beautiful healthy Dahlia tubers at Wal Mart and bought 2 new varieties, A dark purple "Thomas Edison", and a beautiful pink called Yarra Falls.

I had managed to dig up and keep 4 Gladiola bulbs from last year, 2 red and 2 white (planted for Canada's 150th birthday) sentegenarian, which I put in a tray with a half inch of water to start root development. I also added a dozen new ones from a variety pack of Red, yellow and purple gladiolas.
I still have 23 or 24 left in the package so I will just give them away. (They are hard to keep for another year as they usually dry out if you don't plant them. If there's a trick to that, I don't know it.)

Now if we could only somehow convince Old Man Winter that he's overdue in the southern hemisphere and to take a hike (please!), we would all be much happier here in Canada. :)

Lots of snow to melt yet

My 3 main flower beds are still deep under the snow. April 12/18

Lucious Lillies and More

Lucious Lilies and More

2017 was a great summer for my garden!

Blue Persian cornflowers and Tiger lilies starting to bloom

Tiger lilies with cranesbill (perennial geranium) in background

Lupines and white daisies

I love my clematis!

This pale pink peony is so fragrant!

Easy to grow sedum

Ancient garden elves that I made in 1982 at a ceramics class

Tangerine Solaria with white Bacopa in tub; Pink geraniums on steps

Purple and white bearded irises and my Pink Julie peony

White columbine with pink Bleeding Heart

My sweetheart Brandy!

July Roses 2017

Morden Centennial Rose with pink Zinnia

After the Morden roses had a slow start this spring, (very late in their growth in early spring as most of their stems died over the winter, )  they are all growing well now.   They have outdone themselves with blossoms and are so beautiful to see.

John Davis climbing rose

John Davis rose bud

My John Davis climbing rose was the first to sprout this year and the first to bloom by almost a week. It continues to open bud after bud and has not stopped blooming for even one day! I love my gorgeous pink John Davis climbing rose!  It is outshining the rest of the rose bushes, although they are all doing well, except the tiny Winnipeg Parks rose.

The Winnipeg Parks rose was growing in a bad spot where the False Spirea was creating too much shade. At first I thought the Parks Rose was dead, but it finally sprouted a tiny sprout from the roots. I dug it up and moved it to my Round/ Angel bed where my Royal Candles perennial used to be. It is not the sunniest spot in the garden, but it has room to grow there.
(I moved the Royal Candles to the opposite side of that bed, near the lilies, next to the John Davis rose.)

Morden Centennial July 6/17

Morden Centennial- Pretty as always and such a reliable bloomer. It was the second rose bush to open its buds this year, followed closely by the Ruby.  The Centennial is a reliable bloomer and after a short rest in late August , it usually blooms a second time.



Morden Ruby- 3 feet tall now and has large clusters of beautiful red roses on it. It took a while to grow but is covered in small red roses and buds now.

Morden Blush

Morden Blush- it looks so pretty. The buds are baby pink and the flowers open to a pale pink, fading to white, but it is gorgeous and blooms well once it starts. This year the Hollyhocks have started to grow too close to it so I had to trim some of them off.

My new white JP Connel rose stopped blooming for a while (after lots of beautiful white blossoms in the spring), but is staring a second bloom now. It is in my Belle's old spot, but this year the red poppies that I seeded there have grown so tall ( and so beautiful) that they are creating some unwanted shade.

The new Morden Sunrise which I planted in my round?Angel bed has been blooming nonstop since I got it. It has grown tall and healthy, mush taller and fuller than the last 2 Sunrises that I had.  I hope it over winters well in that location.

The Morden belle (which I had dug out thinking it was dead ) is growing well in the pot by the greenhouse.  In September I will move it to a permanent spot. I have decided to dig out my white peony next to the house and plant the Morden Belle there. It is a sunny, but rather dry location so I will have to make a point of watering it well especially in its first season there.

Very hardy Hansa rose

Red Hansa rose- this is a tough rose that needs no fussing at all. It is extremely hardy and after a slow start, it has a lot of flowers on it. It is so big though and has a tendency to try and dominate the location. The former owner planted it there next to the house, but I wish it as in a spot in the yard where it could grow freely. It would be far too much work to try and move it now because of its size.


1 note for next spring:
Dig up the dead Turbo rose. It grew so fabulously well for 3 or 4 years and had beautiful dark pink blossoms, but it was the only casualty this spring. The thorns are large and wicked, so leather gloves will be a must. 

Hydrangea- Invincible Spirit and Guillardia blanket flower 

June 29/17 Tiger Lilies and more

I am always so thrilled to see my tiger lilies blooming. I love these beauties and wish they lasted longer. My red "pot" lilies in my stack stone bed are growing really well, too. On June 29 the buds were big and red, getting ready to pop open (and they started opening on Canada day, the 1st of July.)

June 29 red pot lilies

Top of rock garden

Top of Rock garden: One of my big blue sages (May Night) died back this winter but I had 2 small plants that had seeded themselves which I moved together to replace the old one. I love their purple spikes of flowers.

There are also liatris, yellow sedum, white daisies, pink cosmos, pink verbena (annuals) a small dianthus and a big plantain growing here. 

Lupines and Daisies

Morden Sunrise again, daisies and lupines. The Monkshood in the background is growing tall.

I love this pretty sedum

Last but not least, the vegetable garden.

Next post :  vegetable garden news. :)

June 29 Jewels

Julia Rose Peony

I am so thrilled to see my beautiful peonies blooming. The first one was the Dominion Day red peony at the side of the deck steps. That little beauty was in a poor location for about 4 years and had stopped blooming, but it is much happier where it is now. 

Julia Rose buds

The Julia Rose Peony is very hardy and relatively deer resistant. The deer no longer have a direct path past my flower beds in the spring and summer, now that so many trees have fallen over in the environmental reserve next to us.

This pale pink peony was struggling to grow underneath a canopy of trees.

A few years ago I dug this peony out of my wild bed at the end of the yard where it was struggling to survive and was not blooming. I moved it to my sunny triangle bed and it broke my peony curse. It was the first peony to bloom for me after being planted by me. So pleased with its 11 blossoms. :)

Rhubarb and Garden

This giant rhubarb plant has been here in this location for a long time. It has provided abundant fruit for numerous recipes every year for rhubarb jam, muffins, crisps, cakes and squares.

Bleeding Heart and columbine

My main bleeding heart plant did not survive the winter this small shoot finally made it's presence known about the time I was going to plant a new one. it is blooming quite late but I'm pleased it survived.

Our sweetheart Brandy age 2

Clematises

The pink Ville de Lyon on the left is new this year. (I lost patience with my Nelli Moser clematis which had only 1 flower last year and none the year before that. It ended up in the compost.) The Ville de Lyon flowers are relatively small, but I'm hoping that once it gets established, and with the addition of some more blood and bone meal in the soil, it will improve the size of the leaves and flowers. 

On the right is the purple Integrifolia Durandi clematis which is growing really well and blossoming so beautifully. That clematis is about 3 years old. 

Integrifolia Durandi Clematis

Roses

Hansa Rose

The first Hansa rose bud opened on June 29. This is such a hardy, no nonsense rose bush.

Morden Sunrise new to this flower bed

This is my third attempt at growing a Morden Sunrise rose. I don't seem to have any difficulty growing other Morden Rose bushes but I have had this variety die on my twice now. I recently read that the Sunrise is susceptible to winter kill in locations where the snow melts off in early spring. 

Ah ha! The Stackstone bed where I had planted each of the other two are exactly that type of location, near the house and losing the snow cover early. 

This time I plant Sunrise in my round bed down in the middle of the yard where the snow lasts a lot longer. Maybe the third time will be the charm! 

My other Morden roses suffered a lot of winter kill and most had to start again from the root ball. Last year my Morden ruby was blooming on June 23 but this year it is several weeks behind that. (It has a ton of beautiful buds, though!)

My other new rose this year is my Explorer rose, JP Connel. JP has pretty yellow buds which turn into gorgeous white roses when they open.  I dug out my Morden Belle rose (the most beautiful pink colour imaginable!) thinking it was dead and I planted my JP Connel white rose bush there (Stackstone bed).

Turns out the Belle roots were not dead; it had a small shoot on it, so I planted it in a pot outside of the greenhouse. It still only has one shoot but is growing, so we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping to plant it at the side of the house in the fall. (To replace my white peony which is not doing very well.)

Winnipeg Parks Rose bush, which I thought was dead, has sent up a small shoot, but it is severely shaded by my Spirea now. It will need a new sunnier location soon. There's a spot in the bed next to it, but I have to monitor the sunlight there to see if it's suitable. 

And at last, my Morden Blush is popping open its buds now! Photos soon.

Lupines and daisies

Deck Step beauties:

Selenia Begonias, Bacopa, and euphorbia

Geraniums and Georgie

Many more beautiful blossoms to come! Happy gardening!   :D

More Signs of Life, May 2017

Pasque Flower May 2/17

May 2/17

May 2 the rest of the Tree Swallow flock showed up in the back yard, swooping and diving around like they had never left. It is always so exciting to see them as they mean that spring is truly starting! :)

It was great to see the peony shoots peeking out at the side of the house (pink peony) and in the tiny bed at the bottom of the steps (red Dominion Day ).

Day lily- rock garden

Autumn Joy sedum

Also showing through the ground:

yellow day lilies ( bottom of rock garden)

bearded irises, ( side of house and triangle bed)

Monkshood ( round/angel bed)

Monkshood and campanula bell flowers are up

Siberian irises ( side of house)

Holly hocks

Forget Me Nots (Stackstone bed)

Autumn Joy sedum ( rock garden)

Maltese cross 

and my Pasque flower is blooming beautifully. 

Forget Me Nots

Maltese Cross (Campion) sprouting

I cleaned up my stackstone bed again today. There were loads of sneaky quack grass roots trying to grow there again.

Roses

I also unwrapped my poor rose bushes on May 2. They had so much winter kill!

The Morden Ruby is usually full of buds by now but it was showing no signs of life at all. The only rose bushes that appeared alive was the John Davis rose in my round /Angel bed and the Morden blush.

 As May progressed the Morden centennial and Ruby started sprouting very low down near the roots. Many of the upper branches were dead. 

I lost my Winnipeg parks rose and my pink Turbo rose. I thought that my gorgeous Morden belle had bit the dust too. I bought 2 new rose bushes at Canadian Tire Garden centre, a Morden Sunrise (yellow, orange single blossoms) and a JP Connel hardy rose, ( yellow buds that turn white when the flower opens.)

The damage seems to have been caused because we had an early cold snap in October, but then the weather turned unseasonably warm again in late Oct/ early November and the roses continues to bloom especially the Ruby and the Belle. I have never had roses blooming that late in the year like in 2016. The rose bushes were unprepared for the cold when it finally did arrive. They had not started shutting down for the winter. It took its toll.

May 6 we finally put our goldfish back out into the little pond, 12 of the biggest ones. ( 6 spares are left in the house.) The weather has been too chilly to put them out before now.

I dug up some white ox eye daisies to give to my daughter Tricia for her rock garden in Penticton. BC.

May 8

I dug a 2 foot Manitoba Maple out of my flower bed and planted it behind the playhouse in the area where the old poplars are dying off.

I also transplanted my herbs into a big pot in the greenhouse. Unfortunately my cilantro did not like the move and it all died.

I potted some cucumber seeds and Bunny Tail seeds, but none of the sprouted at all. :(

May 9-  I planted 2 new raspberry bushes , Boyden Raspberries (bought at Peevey Mart Garden centre) outside the vegetable garden fence (SW side) and they are doing well.

I bought a reblooming lilac bush and planted it next to the big lilac in the front yard. It might not be the best location, though….

I dug up my Nelli Moser clematis which was not doing very well and replaced it with a Ville de Lyon clematis.  My integrifolia clematis is growing really well.

Nahla and Tulips