Fall (autumn) is almost here. We have had actual rain in the past week, and more is predicted. I am no longer a slave to the hose and watering can.
Here are some photos from August, which is usually a dismal month in the garden–tired, seedy, and dry. This year, despite the heat dome of June and hardly any rain, the scene was blessed by three plants: the rose “Fragrant Cloud,” happy in its new big pot, two plants of the dahlia “Bishop of Llandaff” (also in pots), and a couple of late-blooming white lilies (grown in half-barrels). That’s the secret: pots (and the gardener with the watering can).
We’re roasting through another heat wave on the west coast. Here are sights from the garden in July and so far in August. First the strange…
Flower of rose “Fragrant Cloud” bleached by the late June heat wave.This is “Fragrant Cloud’s” normal colourThe weird dryland mushroom Battarrea phalloides is back again this summer. (The trowel is there as a size comparison. It’s about 8 in. or 20 cm.)Borage flowers viewed from above. Sort of an art nouveau effect, I think.A wind-sculpted cirrus cloud (or maybe a contrail.)
And now the wonderful…
Borage flowers
White Lychnis coronaria and beach pea (Lathyrus japonicus). Two quasi-weeds having a moment.
This Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum) has outdone itself again this summer.Heuchera “Timeless Orange” showing leaf colours other than orange.Another lily from the impulse buy mixed bag of bulbs.Dahlia “Bishop of Llandaff.” The flowers glow wonderfully just about sunset, but the camera doesn’t pick that up as well as I’d like.The Nameless Dahlia in fine form.
That’s it for now. Tomatoes are ripening; with luck they won’t roast on the vine.
Lily season is drawing to a close here. When “Golden Splendour” bloomed several weeks ago, I decided there was no point in taking photos again, because I already have many from previous years. But I couldn’t resist.
On impulse, I bought a bag of unnamed mixed lily bulbs in spring. Here is one of them.
I only wish it were possible to include the fragrance of these lilies in the post!
Another garden post! The truth is I can’t think of anything to say about writing that I haven’t said already. So no rule-quibbling, nothing about the WIP, and no buy-my-books message (although you can find out about those via the menu at the top or in the sidebar).
Roses are in bloom now. Here is a nameless (to me) white climber held up by the Norway maples I’m always complaining about, and (in the foreground) the red-leaf rose (Rosa glauca).Close-up of red-leaf rose foliage and flower.Blue delphinium with standardized privet in bloom behind it and dahlia foliage in front.Blue delphinium with white “bee” (the bit in the middle of each flower)Lavender-pink delphinium. This was a volunteer seedling I identified and encouraged to grow. I’m quite happy with it.Campion (Lychnis coronaria a.k.a. Silene coronaria). This is a quasi-weed that does well almost everywhere. The white form is quite elegant, especially when it’s just starting to bloom. Hellebore and bergenia foliage in background.Long-spurred columbine with hellebore and heuchera foliage in background.
Hopefully I’ll have something worthwhile to say about writing by next week. Suggestions are welcome–from writers, readers, or gardeners!
Plants are green. Everyone knows that. But green isn’t a single colour; there are a million shades of green. Throw in texture and an all-green planting is anything but monotone.
But many plants have leaves in colours besides or other than green. Combinations of white and green, for example. Or colours such as orange, red, purple, or even blue. Blue leaves–imagine that!
Here are some plants from my garden with colour variations.
Green and white variegated hosta
Green and white grass
Japanese painted fern
Heuchera “Green Spice.” Note the similar colours to the fern!
Heuchera “Key Lime Pie”
Heuchera “Timeless Orange” and grey leaved plants
Brunnera “Looking Glass”
The last one is my favourite. Cerinthe “Pride of Gibraltar” starts out with leaves of pale green, but as the flower buds develop, the leaves close to them turn a bronzy purple, and then a pure blue. Some are almost navy blue. The flowers are those little purple tubes sticking out at the ends.
My garden photos are often closeups of individual plants or groups of plants. So I thought it was time to post some wider views, in the form of a tour. The garden is at its best right now (early May), when it’s still lush and green.
A nice conjunction of bloom next to the driveway–laburnum tree and wallflower (Erysimum) “Bowles Mauve”
Up the front walk… Perennials on the left, magnolia on the rightPerennials on the left (west) side of the walkAlong the west side of the house. More perennials and the lilac in full bloomThe back garden. The part to the right of the path used to be a vegetable patch, but is now a mixture of herbs, refugee plants, and volunteers. The pond area is behind the trellis and the shed is in the right hand corner, hidden by the apple tree.The pond is at the end of the main path in the back gardenLooking east over the pond toward the shed. The ladder is there because of work on the shed’s roof, but I issued a stop-work order because chickadees are nesting in the birdhouse under the eaves.Looking west from the shed to the cedar stump bench by the pond, which is hidden by the fernsLeaving via the west side pathHeuchera “Key Lime Pie” and potted hellebores wave goodbye.
Finish winter pruning and haul brush pile to curb for collection
Clean up beds, cut down dead stalks, etc.
Uproot or cut suckers of lilac, snowberry, and Oregon grape from spots where they’re not wanted
Dig up or at least cut down plants of invasive Italian arum (aka Arum italicum or lords-and-ladies)
Pull up maple and laburnum seedlings, shotweed, and other weeds
Lay out soaker hoses. (They won’t be needed until June, but it’s much easier to wrestle them into place when plants are small)
Edge the beds that adjoin lawns
Acquire materials for mulching mix: bagged manure, lime, slow-release fertilizer, kelp meal, bone meal, alfalfa pellets
Mix above materials with compost to make Alfa-Omega* mix for mulching, and distribute among the beds
Repot potted delphiniums and hostas to larger pots; ditto the rose “Fragrant Cloud,” which was grown from a cutting and therefore is on its own rather feeble roots, rather than grafted onto a vigorous rootstock
I’ve already done some of these things; others are in progress. Pruning was easier this spring due to the acquisition last fall of a ladder designed for use in gardens, as opposed to home maintenance.
This ladder is way more stable than the four-legged type, and can be adjusted for uneven terrain. Pruning the Photinia was much easier this year! (Photo taken Feb. 27/21)
While racing around doing the tasks on the to-do list, it’s nice to stop and admire something that looks wonderful.
Iris reticulata (Photo taken Feb. 19/21)
Hellebore “Pirouette” in its new pot (repotted last September)
Until last week, the winter of 2020-2021 was a mild one here on the west coast of Canada. That’s the way it should be, right? A couple of weeks ago, I was anticipating spring.
But this is a La Niña winter. You know La Niña–she’s El Niño’s evil twin sister. Her style is to hold back until spring is just around the corner, and then to descend on the unsuspecting saps who’ve been busy sending photos of stuff blooming in their gardens to folks in places that always get real winters.
Early daffodils in 2019. This year they didn’t quite get to this stage before the snow.
Last week, temperatures as low as -9C (16F) were forecast. I raced around the garden, lugging pots into the basement and moving other pots into what I hoped would be sufficiently sheltered spots to withstand the predicted northeast winds that were supposed to produce a wind chill well into the minus degrees. Then I covered up plants that couldn’t be moved with odds and ends of pruned twigs and things like old bath mats and car seat covers that I keep in the shed for these weather eventualities.
I kept hoping it wouldn’t be as bad as predicted, and it wasn’t, but a low of -4.5C (24F) is pretty cold, especially with a wind gusting to 70 km/hr (35 mph). Having done what I could for plants, I worried about how birds were faring. I made sure the two hummingbird feeders went out first thing in the morning. On Friday, February 12th there were three Anna’s hummingbirds tanking up at the same time at one feeder, a sight I haven’t seen before, since each feeder is usually hogged by one aggressive dude who chases any others away.
Anna’s hummingbird tanking up.Keeping watch on his (or maybe her?) feeder.
On Friday night, snow began and fell steadily until after noon on Saturday. Total was 30 cm (1 foot). Fortunately, the wind diminished and the temperature rose to an almost tolerable -1C (30F). Rain is predicted for next week, and a return to normal temperatures, meaning lows of 2C (36F) and highs of 8C (46F).
Returning to plants, I would have been happier if this wintry blast had turned up in December or January, before plants were starting to sprout and even bloom. Now the hellebores, which were in bloom, have gone limp. I know they’ll rebound once it warms up, but it’s still depressing to see them lying on the ground. Buds of Clematis armandii, the evergreen clematis that’s the first to bloom, may have been blasted to the point of no bloom at all by that cold northeast wind. Some of those potted plants may have suffered as well.
Pots near front steps. You can see limp hellebores hanging over the edges of the pots on the left.
While distressing, this sort of snow and cold event is by no means unheard of here. We get one every couple of years. I just wish La Niña had better timing.
