| Posted on Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 01:38 pm: |   |
Springtime in November:
Rain, rain, rain, wind...ugh!
It's a dismal day. Too cold to work outside. This means laundry and housework.
Yesterday was a banner day. Got lots of work done on the front beds. Shovelled about ten loads of mushroom crap into the new gardens.
Reverend Ken made an appearance in the morning. He insisted on doing some of the manure work for me. It was very sweet of him, but I prefer to shovel my own shit. :)
Turned over the mulch paths in the backyard.
Brought in some little pansies and the last of the geranium flowers for a "spring" bouquet in November. Very pretty!
Ordered eight books from the library on autumn and winter gardening. Reading book about shade gardening by Derek Fell. Very good!
Am going to see "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" this weekend with Jen and Chantal. Should be fun! We love Bridget.
Had peanut butter on three korn rye bread for breakfast and some decaf. Wish it was an outside day. Feel somewhat claustrophobic after so many wonderful days playing outside in the gardens. |
| Posted on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 01:07 pm: | |
First day of very heavy frost. There are sparkling, glittering diamonds shining on everything outside in the morning sunlight. |
| Posted on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 11:06 pm: | |
"Miss" examines autumn leaves in the garden.
After heavy frost this morning, the sun burned through the mist this afternoon. Sweet rays of ancient sunlight suddenly shot across my valley like bullets of warm butterscotch, melting into the landscape, bathing everything in their path in an amber glow. Rejoiced in a perfect day for working outside.
Went with Reverend Ken to visit Miss Lucy.
Note to self: write chapter on Miss Lucy and her llamas very soon!
The purpose of the trip to Miss Lucy's place was the exchange of dahlia tubers. Lucy had boxes and boxes of tubers to exchange! My word! She also had potted up calla lilies for both Ken and I. Ken wondered aloud how we were going to stuff all of Lucy's generous offerings into his car? We ended up riding home in veritable jungle of foliage, squeezed in with the boxes of tubers and pots of callas flapping their foliage at us in annoyance. Should have taken the truck.
Note to self: Next time visiting Miss Lucy, TAKE THE TRUCK!
Went for lunch at Tim Horton's with Ken. Delicious beef barley soup and chicken salad sandwich on whole wheat - the usual Tim Horton's fare. Love it! Someone actually brings the food to ME and cleans up the dishes afterwards. What a concept.
Note to self: Buy fewer bulbs and go out for meals more often!
Note to self: Never mind...buy fewer bulbs AND go out for meals as well.
Note to self: Get another job or start a business to pay for ultra extravagant gardening and culinary lifestyle. :)
Brought dahlias home and tucked them away for the winter in the garage. Very satisfactory endeavor.
Inspired by the fine weather and the trip to Lucy's, took a quick trip to the garden center. Wandered around amongst the dormant trees and shrubs. Paid a visit to the crab apple trees.
Crab apple trees are so utterly charming, don't you think? They have such wonderful tiny crimson spheres that dangle jauntily from stiff brown branches. The apples look like minute red Christmas balls. Have you ever cuddled with a crab apple tree? If not, you must. Put it near the top of your "TO DO LIST". Highly recommend cuddling with crab apples at your earliest opportunity.
Note to self: Refrain in future from talking so crazily on Gardenbuddies about hugging trees and such or may get self expelled.
Bought even MORE daffodil bulbs today after swearing NOT to do so. Serious addiction alert. Help. Bags of 50 assorted scented daffodils were 30% off, so who could resist. Not moi! :)
Note to self: Pick up crab apple trees, forsythia, stellata magnolia, liquid amber sweet gum, and red currant from garden center tomorrow. Note to self: TAKE THE TRUCK!!!!!!
Came home and did some work in the garden. Oh joy! Planted the daffodils from the garden center in the back borders. Can't seem to stop planting daffodils.
Had fantastic (almost illegally fantastic) amounts of fun planting up a container for the patio. Put in 5 tulip bulbs (lily flowered deep pink "Marietta") in a container for the patio. Put 9 "Tete-a-Tete" daffodils on top of tulips, and blue pansies on top of that to give some color for winter.
Moved one dozen daylily divisions and an equal number of assorted primroses from holding beds and planted them in the front borders.
Dug up a small clump of snowdrops and planted them under a tree in the creek garden. Also planted a small stray light purple iris down at the creek.
Picked up three books from the library.
New plant addictions: hydrangeas, cyclamens, and iris reticulata.
Pineapple teriyaki steak with butter fried mushrooms for dinner. Yumbolicious!
Simply love Saturdays! |
| Posted on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 04:07 am: | |
Oh, frigginola, it's Monday again.
Weather: Overcast, threatening rain, and bone chillingly cold.
Thank goodness the heater in the car is fixed for those chilly morning trips to what my gang sarcastically refers to as "The Penitentiary" (school). A few days ago the car mysteriously stopped producing heat. Ugh. This coincided wonderfully with the first frosty cold days. Just perfect. A trip to the car mechanic produced the diagnosis - a dead water pump, dysfunctional thermostat, and 3 heavily cracked belts. All needed replacement. Oh goody. Lucky moi.
Good news: In very short order, the heat was working again. Wonderful!
Bad news: Six hundred and sixty some dollars to fix it! The poor Mastercard was smoking from the abuse. Ouch!
The mechanic grinned and, with a grand flourish, presented me with a keychain bearing their company logo. This was supposedly a gift to commemorate the thrilling event of having burned a hole in my credit card. Like a reminder was desired. Have strong suspicion the keychain was more likely a peace offering.
Note: Have never paid $600+ for a keychain before. Now feel ever so flambuoyantly wealthy in regal manner of Donald Trump or Paris Hilton.
Things had to improve for Monday, and they did.
There is a house on the corner that is being raised. The job produced a small mountain of very interesting looking large grey bricks. Hmmmmm....suddenly the light bulb plinked on over silly blond head: Those bricks will come in handy for something!
The man driving the forklift was most pleasant. "Yes!" he enthused. "Take all the bricks you want, but you gotta get them out of here within the next hour or they are GONE, baby!"
Note to self: Never again attempt to gather muddy bricks in the rain while wearing nice beige wool coat and no gloves to protect fragile female hands.
Mustering pioneer spirit, managed to gather fifty four very heavy bricks in less than a hour. The bricks made a terrific raised bed around one of the trees down by the creek.
Have formed a new respect for bricklayers.
Lord Snively, sassy stellar jay, was sorely pissed for the intrusion into his territory. He stared with his black, glass bead eyes and screamed "RAK RAK RAKKKKKK!" Obviously he doesn't appreciate the massive efforts necessary to complete the improvements to his home. Wait til he gets a load of the bird food Christmas tree that's planned for his winter feasting pleasure. Surely he will then change his mind and be a little more supportive.
In spite of being screamed at by annoyed fowl, managed to dig and transport about fifteen wheelbarrow loads of mushroom poo.
The first of two front garden beds is now fully loaded to the brim with with poo and ready for planting. Oh joy! Can finally retrieve crab apple and other trees and shrubs ordered from garden center and place them in their new home.
Reverend Ken stopped by to admire the creek and picked up some leftover wood shavings to use on his dahlia tubers.
Went to Walmart: vacuum bags, batteries,
printer paper, mop head, and a new iron.
Stopped at "Chocolate Cottage" on the way home. Highly recommend their sugar free chocolate!
Picked up three new books from library. Subject: cutting gardens.
Decided with Jody to spend 30 minutes per day at library doing "free reading". Oh glory! Something great to look forward to each afternoon.
Supper tonight: Stir fried tomato basil chicken with broccoli spears, served with wedge fries. Yum!
Went to the mall with John. Six foot four inch fourteen year old handsome son is promising basketball star. Woohoo...do I hear the words "full college scholarship?" :)
According to basketball coach, John now needs "professional quality" basketball shoes. Fourteen year old son also needs new winter jacket. Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Mastercard managed to wretch up another three hundred dollars. Sighhhh.
Back home again with three hours of homework with Jen. Math...BLECH! Socials studies project on medieval manors was much more fun than math. Anything would be more enjoyable than math. Would rather watch paint peel off the walls than do math. Am quite certain the pathway to Hell must be lined with math text books, assignments, and tests.
Bedtime Snack: Japanese orange! (One of the few enjoyable things about the over commercialized nightmare referred to as "Christmas")
Happy pre-Holidays to you, folks! |
| Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 01:54 pm: | |
The cat sits on the windowsill, eyeing the morning warily through sleepy blue eyes. Am wondering if she can see one of the crab apples from the window here with its lovely little red Christmas balls dangling from bare branches.
Highly recommend the movie "The Terminal" last night. Tom Hanks was brilliant. The story was charming and inspirational.
Am enjoying some coffee, eggs, and whole grain toast.
Current book: "The Garden In Winter" by Rosemary Verey, British plantswoman extraordinaire.
Learning alot about winter flowering trees, shrubs and plants. Have now installed a veritable small arboretum of winter blooming trees and shrubs in front yard beds featuring:
- 2 crab apples one "Red Jewel" other unknown variety (both with red fruit, white/pink flowers)
- 1 viburnum bodnantense "Dawn"
- 2 witch hazels "Arnold Promise" and "Diane"
- 1 liquidambar sweet gum tree,
- 1 forsythia
- 1 dogwood (no idea what flower color)
- 1 red currant
This is great progress, but still have to get several more items from Rick at the garden center.
Winter Plant Wish List:
- Corylus avellana 'Contorta' aka Corkscrew Hazel. (flowers with little yellow, sweetly scented flowers in January)
- Witch hazel "Jelena" (flowers orange in February)
- Winter blooming jasmine (flowers with showers of yellow bell shaped flowers from November all through winter)
- Camellia reticulata "Captain Rawes" (flowers with scrumptious pink double blooms in Nov - Jan)
- Lonicera X purposii (flowers with highly fragrant white blossoms from December onwards and grows in the shade! )
- Chaenomeles "Rowallane" aka Japonica (flowers from autumn to Feb with scarlet blooms)
- Callicarpa bodinieri aka Beauty Bush (bright lilac colored berries in winter)
- Parrotia persica (flowers crimson on bare branches in winter, bright golden foliage in autumn)
- Prunus mume "Japanese Apricot" (flowers with delicate peach blossoms in December)
Many of the above mentioned shrubs and trees are quite ordinary in summer with unexceptional foliage and nothing much happening. This shall be remedied by underplanting them with clematis that can be hard pruned after flowering, such as Jackmanii. The clematis will grow up into the shrubs and create beautiful flowers in June and then again, after cutting back, will rebloom in autumn.
Am presently torn between wanting to stay indoors and read or go outside and play. Marvelous that both choices are so very appealing. Lucky me! Hmmmm...shall read for half an hour while finishing up coffee and then strike out for the great outdoors.
Ohhhhh, the clouds have parted and there are patches of pale blue sky peeping through. It looks magnificent with the bare, tan and grey branches of the cottonwoods across the street.
There is a lovely little mist over the park across the street. Can see the little island that the children named "Carla's Island" after former neighbour Bob's cat. Carla the cat used to love to explore and hunt on the island. Bob moved away and took Carla with him, but the island retains the name in honor of the cat.
The creek has gone down somewhat after all the flooding of a few days ago. The children went down by the creek to have a look at the oak and dogwood Ken planted. They are impressed by the size and color of leaves of the oak.
Hopefully the oak will one day sport heaps of acorns which may appeal to the thug gang of squirrels dwelling here. Back neighbour Andrew insists on feeding squirrels which is great if you happen to be a hungry squirrel, but not so great for this gardener.
The peanuts put forth by generous Andrew seem to draw every squirrel within what must be a twenty five mile radius. Granted, the little pests are acrobatic and amusing to watch, but their presence causes endless worry that they may discover the rich cache of tulip and crocus bulbs hidden in the borders and make off with them...and then...eeek... no flowers (or maybe flowers in unexpected places!)
Perhaps it's all wishful thinking that the eventual hoped for supply of acorns will satisfy them and keep them on THAT side of the garden, away from the precious bulbs! One can only dream and pray.
Went to the library to pick up books and learned that there had been so much rain it had seeped through the walls of the library making quite a mess and, possibly, leeching up into the gyprock walls, which may have to be replaced. The librarian said she was happy they hadn't gone ahead with the renovations they were planning before: new painting of those walls, new carpet, etc. Everything would have been destroyed and need replacement - an expensive proposition.
Woke up early this morning to the wailing voice of Whitney Houston singing "I want to runnnnnn to you...oooooo ooooooo...." We had all fallen asleep last night with the tv on, and the movie "The Bodyguard" woke me early this morning. Some alarm clock.
Received early delightful Christmas present from Jody: "Apple Blossom" pink amaryllis. While at the garden center together, Jody went off on his own and purchased this treasure. When presenting it, he announced "Merry Early Christms, mother." What a joy he is! We shall have great fun together watching the amaryllis sprout and bloom!!
Off now to finish my coffee and then shoot forth into the day, thus replenished by both a tiny jolt of caffiene (it's decaf) and the words of Rosemary Verey and photos of her splendid garden to inspire the work outside.
Happy Saturday! |
| Posted on Monday, November 29, 2004 - 01:56 am: | |
Inspired by the cold weather and frosty mornings, am deeply into a study of winter gardening. Reading books galore and making new discoveries every day of incredible trees, shrubs, and plants to provide lots of winter interest in the garden.
New Plant: Oh joy! Thanks to books and online research, have chanced upon what could turn out to be the IDEAL plant for certain tricky situations in the garden: Sasanqua Camellias. These beauties bloom from autumn until spring. They come in a large selection of colors: shades of white, pink, apricot, yellow, red, and mixtures of those. Flowers can be singles or doubles. Best of all, they thrive in the shade. Can't wait to experiment with them on the north facing fence, the western wall, and against the house in the front.
Weather report: Very hard frost last night. Cold today with a sky of shockingly clear crystal blue.
Sparkles of dewdrops hung from each of the tiny Red Jewel crab apples. They looked like diamonds and rubies dangling from the branches. Such an unexpected and delightful great pleasure.
Worked with enthusiasm on the front borders:
- Hauled in lots and lots of mushroom compost
- Divided and planted daylilies and peonies to sit under one of the crab apples
- Discovered some snowdrops showing their green snouts - won't be long til they open their merry white umbrellas
Worked with cold hands and feet down by the creek:
- Spread ten bags of leaves on paths
Have become somewhat obsessed with bird gardening. Several books from the library are fueling this passion. Went to the "Wild Bird Center" yesterday and bought a bird feeder, bird bath, and a bag of black oil sunflower seeds. Installed them this morning in an overhang of the patio. They will stay dry and easy to access in any sort of weather.
Wish list: large pedestal cement bird bath with fountain and heater.
Coppiced tons of branches off the willows. These will be used to make trellises and arbours for nearly three dozen clematis vines.
Plants of interest: Boston Ivy and Virginia Creeper vines are currently under research. These both make lovely autumn foliage and provide berries for the birds. Hope to welcome them to the garden soon.
Note to self:
- Plant Boston Ivy/Virginia Creeper vines near the "Liquidambar" sweet gum tree. They have basically the same color and shape of foliage in autumn. They might be stunning together.
- Try interplanting Boston Ivy and Virginia Creeper with clematis. Vines are relatively boring during summer so clematis should provide a spark of color.
Removed ugly old scruffy looking pine tree from back yard. This is something that has been required for ages. The tree added nothing to the look of the garden and cast a large amount of shade onto the vegetable beds. It dropped very long, sharp, pointed, pain inducing needles. The tree hit the ground with a thunderous boom. Felt like cheering but refrained out of kindness as several family members were less happy to see it go.
Note to self:
- Install another platform bird feeder on what remains of the pine tree's trunk.
Had a well earned nap after all that outdoorsy work. Nap was interrupted by a phone call from my sister. My auntie's husband, John, has passed away. How sad. He was a wonderful man.
Helped Jen with social studies homework on women's rights.
Dinner: marinaded pork chops with peas and salad. Jen made sugar free muffins with blueberry jam for dessert. Mmmmmmm, so tasty.
And now...back to the laundry and then a well earned hot bath! :)
Happy Sunday!
Witch Hazel "Arnold's Promise" |
| Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 06:31 pm: | |
Bought my first "Sasquana Camellia" today. This variety of camellia blooms from autum til spring. This beauty has hot pink blooms (it is in flower right now!)
Also bought another witch hazel! "Jelena" flowers orange in Jan/Feb and gets bright orange/red foliage in the fall. This makes the third witch hazel (also have "Arnold Promise" - yellow, and "Diane - Red)
Couldn't resist 50 more mixed daffodil bulbs since they are 30% off. These will go under the newly planted trees in the front yard. Should be a good show in spring as the crab apples and daffodils bloom at the same time! :)
Snowdrops are beginning to emerge already!
 |
| Posted on Wednesday, December 01, 2004 - 09:15 pm: | |
Pretty much finished all the work on the new front gardens this morning.
Dismantled a hosta bed, divided the hostas, and replanted some of them along with mixed daffodils behind the hostas. Shared three hostas with Ken and the rest went into the new beds in the front.
The winter garden is progressing wonderfully! There will now be shrubs that flower from Autumn until late Spring. Still need two more trees to finish the project.
Wish List:
- Pink flowering dogwood
- Wintersweet
Very much like the name "Wintersweet". The new section of the garden shall be named Winersweet. Since there are four quadrants of the garden, each shall be named after a season. There is Summerlight and Wintersweet. Two other areas shall be Spring Song and Autumn's Joy. Such pretty names!
For now there is nothing to do but wait until spring to get the final pieces of my garden puzzle. The garden centers won't stock them til spring. Bummer! It would have been so great to have everything planted now in order to sit back in springtime and watch the show unfold.
Confession: After promising absolutely NO MORE BULB PURCHASES, went to garden center and got two more bags! The truck practically drove itself there. :) Planted another 100 mixed fragrant daffodil bulbs in the front beds. They are 30% off! Who could resist??
Note To Self: Next autumn plant purple, lavender striped, and white crocus corms over top of where the daffodils are for a double show.
Note To Self: Try overplanting daffodils and crocus with sweet woodruff or other groundcover.
Each of the winter trees and shrubs in the front borders will have two different clematis planted under them: one spring blooming clematis and one summer/autumn type. The clematis will flower and keep the shrubs attractive during their foliage periods. This nifty little trick will provide a non-stop show of something interesting happening all four seasons of the year!
Can't wait to watch it all unfold like a botanical fireworks display!
Two and a half weeks until winter break from school. Utterly love watching movies and reading late at night and then sleeping in the next day.
Chores: During winter break, work on willow ladders and arbors for clematis vine supports
Craft: Make reindeer from logs for yard with Jody like the one we saw at the garden center. Very cute! Get colorful plaid bows for their necks.
Craft: Get wire frames from Michaels for evergreen Christmas wreaths. Try making bird feeder wreath to hang on back fence for Christmas treats for birdies.
Speaking of birds, a very lovely rose colored sparrow type of bird was at the feeder today. Haven't identified it yet.
The snowdrops are already starting to emerge. Very exciting.
The first snowfall came the other night, but only about two inches accumulated. By the next afternoon it was all gone. There wasn't even enough time to build a snowman! The boys, however, managed to heave a few snowballs at each other. Men! ;)
Happy December 1st! |
| Posted on Saturday, December 04, 2004 - 02:31 am: | |
A pretty rose colored bird landed on the bird feeder. Think it was some sort of finch. Note To Self: Strive to improve bird identification skills.
Managed to find Ilex Verticillata at a garden center and snapped it up immediately. The variety is Sparkleberry.
Must return in springtime for Sparkleberry's male counterpart: Adonis. (A male and female are both required for pollination for the female tree to bear red berries.)
When Ilex "Adonis" arrives, there will be a sweet little botanical wedding ceremony in the garden. The crab apples will be the attendants and the forsythia and sweet gum shall serve as bridesmaids. The rest of the trees and plants will be guests, decked out in their spring finery in celebration of the marriage. All of us will then join in a prayer for a fruitful Ilex pairing.
Picked up ten "Salome" daffodil bulbs and ten more cantab dwarf iris to fill the last container to be planted.
No more snow since last week. It's been cold and dreary rain, rain, rain. Yuck! Hate this dismal weather. Would be so much merrier with this miserable freezing rain if there was a fireplace to curl up in front of with good books and purring cat.
The creek is flooding up again with all this rain. Spotted a huge salmon last week, lollygagging in shallow water under the bridge. Poor baby was all alone and no one to spawn with.
Ideas and plans for the woodland garden by the creek are shaping up nicely. Have renamed this area "Willow Wood" in honor of the row of willows that we planted there ten years ago.
The willows are thriving! Coppiced quite a large harvest of sticks and twigs from them for making trellis frames and arbors, and possibly some baskets for the spring planters on the patio.
Willow Wood shall become home to a collection of trees that leaf out with glorious colors in autumn.
The idea of the autumn foliage trees springs from the unlikely source of Prince Charles. Read about Prince Charles' garden "Highgrove" while at Chapters last night. What an outstanding and magical garden the Prince is cultivating.
Charles has built an arboretum of trees that leaf out in brilliant colors in the autumn. He refers to it as his autumn walk. Lovely name. The photos of it were glorious and so incredibly inspiring. Charles also collects large pottery containers that are scattered all over the gardens. It's very unique and creative.
Dream Job: Would love to work as a gardener for Prince Charles.
Note To Self: While working for Prince Charles, do NOT accept any of his multitudes of ardent marriage proposals.
(He's probably a very nice man, but just not my type!)
Future Residents of Willow Wood -
Trees: Dogwood, Oak, Sweetgum, Japanese Maple, Prunus and possibly magnolia.
Understory: Camellias (japonica and sasanqua) rhododendrons and azaleas, hydrangeas.
Perennials: Hosta, astilbe, japanese iris.
Vines: clematis on fences and up trees and shrubs, boston ivy, virginia creeper on the big fence.
Ground cover: daffodils, scillas, cyclamen coum, frittilaries, snowdrops, crocus and primroses.
This mixture of trees, shrubs, vines, perennials and bulbs should provide four seasons of outstanding color and interest.
Dreams of outdoor Christmas critter decorations has gone askew because the saw is broken down. No time to fix it, so maybe next year.
Will buy outdoor lights for camellia tree by the door and festoon it with little wooden folk art ornaments.
Tomorrow is the funeral for Uncle John. Also Ed's office Christmas party is tomorrow. Would rather stay home and read about gardens.
Dinner: sweet and sour pork ribs with shaved broccoli and peas, salad, and Jen's apple crisp. YUMBO!
Happy Holidays everyone! |
| Posted on Thursday, December 09, 2004 - 03:00 pm: | |
Went for a walk in the forest with Jody and found many wild holly trees growing there. Scatterings of baby hollies lined the forest floor. Dug one up and transplanted it by the creek. Placed the holly in a strategic spot with the hopes of keeping nosy and possibly destructive people out of the area. Once fully grown, the holly will present a very prickly obstacle at the entrance to my very own sacred "Secret Garden".
Have decided to plant with the color theme of red for winter. Have somehow managed to develop an absolute adolescent crush type of thing with the color red for winter. This is odd. Red has never held much of an appeal in flowers or otherwise.
This all started while enjoying walks in the forest last winter and discovering that there is something incredibly stimulating and highly thrilling about the sight of red rose hips and scarlet berries in the snow. Photographed them endlessly!
Such things have always been attractive and enlivening. The interest, or perhaps the re-awakening of fascinated childhood observations, during those long winter snowy hikes last year has now percolated and peaked into fruition with a sudden madness to duplicate the joys of these rich red blessings in my own gardens. The contrast between the red of fruit or flowers, bright snow, and cold winter blue sky provides a splendid jolt of very welcome color in wintertime.
The natural conclusion was this question: why not take these pleasures a step farther and consciously assemble a collection of plants that flower red or have red berries or fruit in winter so that they can be enjoyed all together in one enchanting space? The name for this wonderful place shall be "Wintersweet Walk".
The crab apples are red and are holding onto their red fruit very nicely. The clusters of berries on the new Sparkleberry Ilex are utterly splendid! Also, one of the witch hazels, "Diane", is red.
Note To Self: Skimmia japonica and cotoneaster would also be magnificent additions.
Have a camellia that is flowering red and white right now. There are two more camellias at the garden center that flower red this time of year. One is called "Yuletide", which produces red blossoms just in time for Christmas. The other camellia flowers in what is referred to as a "fiery red".
Note To Self: Simply MUST have the other two red camellias at the garden center. Go and fetch them ASAP!!! They need to meet here with the other reds.
Red, while intoxicating in its wintertime beauty, will have its brief, bold, starring season. All of this blazing red will eventually be ushered off the stage and give way to the fresh, soothing white and green of snowdrops in February.
March will bring the cheery easter basket colored clusters of yellow mini daffodils with purple and white crocuses.
This will be followed by an absolutely stunning crescendo of large yellow, white and apricot daffodils in April. This year's show should be especially exciting! Have planted a dozen new varieties of daffodils in the borders, and groupings of about 300 mixed fragrant daffodils in the front garden beds! Woohoooo!
May brings the bright pink, yellow, and apricot shades of tulips. At the same time, the crab apples will be in flower with their soft pink and white umbrella clouds of blossoms above. There will be a secondary cloud of white frothy flowers below. Candytuft runs in repeated pillowy cushions of white and green all along the front border. The primroses, in the exact same shades as the tulips, will be popping up interspersed with the candytuft all along the front border.
In June come the peonies with their rich strawberry ice cream shades of pink and white. These are accompanied by towering spikes of bright blue delphiniums, as well as pink and yellow roses, and blue lobelia tumbling over the front of the beds.
July is daylily time. The daylilies have been divided this past autumn, so not sure what the show will be like this year. May have to wait until next July to get the full impact of the daylily plantings. It will be worth the wait. They come to flower in an assortment of melon shades, like the delicious array of sherberts lined up in an ice cream parlour window.
Come autumn, sunset colors will dominate the scene. Dahlias such as "Just Peachy" and "Apricot Sunset" should bring their happy blooms to echo the colors of the ripening foliage on the witch hazels and the liquidambar tree. Also hope to have a Boston Ivy on the fence to add warm, rich, glowing colors in behind the trees.
Just can't wait to watch it all unfold!
Sadly, it is too cold to work outside much now. The damp causes a chill that goes right to the bone. Once that kind of chill sets in, it's impossible to get warm for the rest of the day. Am now forced to stay inside with nose pressed longingly against the backyard windows; stranded here watching the birds, wishing for a fireplace, and a never ending supply of garden books and hot tea with lemon!
The creek is so beautiful at night. It's delightful to pay it a visit every night during evening walks. It is every bit as lovely in the darkness as it is in the full light of day, albeit in a different, licorice black sort of way. Not being able to use your eyes forces one to employ the other senses more keenly. The water with its gentle, rippling, gurgling sounds running over the stones is like some ancient form of music that goes directly to the soul. Never really enjoyed the creek until this year. Have somehow sadly
managed to miss out on ten years of paradisical pleasures right next door!
The sun is trying valiantly to come through the clouds. It's a weak, powerless, watered down winter kind of sunlight. The rays of sunshine touching on the Ilex Sparkleberry tree manages to be so very pretty anyway.
The birds have been coming to the feeder by the dozens! Have to refill the feeder at least once a day. Many of the birds are ground feeders, so they get a handful or two cast onto the garden beds as well. It's fun to open the door or knock on the window and see them all fly up into the trees and shrubs in a big brown, feathery flock.
Put Christmas lights up on the house at last. It was a cold fingers kind of a job for sure. Jody helped. That is to say, he stood on the ground, pointing up at that one unreachable spot, shouting, "THERE! Put some lights over THERE!" He was a good audience at the very least. :)
Dishes, laundry and schoolwork are calling. Have a great wintery day, wherever you are! |
| Posted on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 05:05 am: | |
Very busy with life in general and home schooling Jody in particular. It's a big life and it seems to take up all my time!
Went to the art store in search of a projector for pastel work. The store in question indeed carries the projector, but none were currently in stock. They will call when they have them in. Can't wait to use this wonderful tool to produce great and marvelous works of art.
Note To Santa: All I want for Christmas (besides my Peter) is this projector and a "Yuletide" sasanqua camellia. :)
Have been experiencing an appalling and rather frightening lack of physical energy for the past two weeks. Perhaps putting in the garden beds, working at the creek, and dancing up a storm at that stupid Christmas party was just too much to take on all at once.
NOTE: Have decided that one of the greatest things in life is SLEEP!!! Am now eagerly awaiting Christmas break from school. Plan to spend two weeks staying up late reading, watching movies, and sleeping in!
Went for a walk in the neighbourhood tonight. Enjoyed all the Christmas lights and decorations that people take the time and trouble to put up. It's really quite fabulous.
In the Christmas lighting category, there is one notable exception to all the beauty on display (sorry, it simply MUST be said...someone has to take a stand on this): the absolute horror of those ubiquitous "icicle lights"
NOTE: Very humble apologies to any readers who have icicle lights!
Ok, to argue the case: the thing about icicle lights is this, and you have GOT to agree, folks - they look absolutely stunningly beautiful at night, no question about it. The trouble is, they look so totally tacky and disgusting during the day when all the wiring involved in gaining that spectacular icicle effect is clearly visible to the naked eye.
Ugh! Icicle lights in their current format are really, REALLY BAD and should be outlawed. They have the same effect as if someone were to stealth into a ride at Disneyland and strip all the coverings off the robots, thereby revealing all the secret ugliness hidden beneath the magic.
Some sort of icicle light revolt is definitely called for in order to thwart or stop altogether this decorating nightmare assault!
Somebody...anybody... PLEASE...come up with a brand of icicle lights that have CLEAR wiring...not those horrendous strands of white wires dangling down so starkly and unappealingly against the siding boards of countless neighbourhood homes all across the land.
Note To Dear Readers: Ok, you KNOW you are dealing with a true Spoiled Brat Canadian Ice Princess when the Ice Princess in question has nothing better to do than complain on an internet forum about than the sorry state of Christmas lights! hehe ho ho everyone!
Speaking of Christmas lights (you are wishing I would stop, aren't you? But, no, I won't...not yet anyways...) have you noticed that everybody and his dog seems to pull out all the stops with the tons of Christmas lights on display these days? Is this rampant installation of Christmas lights the latest form of "keeping up with the Joneses?" I feel sorry for the Jones family, who probably didn't mean to start all this!
When I was a little girl (admittedly light years ago...no pun intended) there were only two houses on the entire street that had Christmas lights: a neighbour down the block and our house. Yes, those were back in the good ole Neanderthal days when putting up Christmas lights was a unique and different thing to do. It used to be a real yuletide statement of personal identity. Now it just seems to be the latest form of neighbourhood competition.
Incidentally, we left our Christmas lights up all year. This was in direct response to the enormous laziness and lack of motivation inherent in all members of my childhood household (self included) but it had the unintentional serendipitous bonus factor that it was always very easy to give directions to visitors who wanted to locate our house: "Drive west until you see the Christmas lights on...that's our place!"
Serious note: am taking a break from garden books by reading "Laci: Inside The Laci Peterson Murder." Have watched the whole case unfold from day one and feel so sad for the Rocha family, especially at Christmastime when they lost Laci two years ago. It is a very sad story with no clear positive outcome rendered by a guilty verdict and a death sentence imposed. Am sad for all parties concerned.
Happy News: Darling Peter sent two pairs of ski boots that he bought on Ebay: one for me and one for Jen. He also bought skis, which are likely to arrive tomorrow. Peter is my best friend in the whole world. He is the best friend I've ever had, and the bestest friend I will ever have. Am lucky and blessed to have someone like him in my life, not just because he does such wonderful things for me (he does multitudes of great things!) but because he is such a fundamentally good person, a truth teller, and is my hero. He has rescued me in every way that a person can be rescued...mostly from myself.
Must get some rest now or will be absolutely exhausted again tomorrow.
A very Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night! |
| Posted on Monday, January 31, 2005 - 03:36 am: | |
Winter has come and gone, it seems.
The witch hazels that were planted in the autumn are now in bloom! Happily, they appear to have made it through the winter.
"Diane" is red, "Jelena" is orange, and "Arnold's Promise" is yellow. Arnold is the favorite. He looks like a very early forsythia in bloom. Magnifico!
Pretty little fresh looking green and white bouquets of snowdrops have popped up here and there, all over the garden.
Some of the primroses have begun to show tiny sparks of color amidst their unfolding umbrellas of emerald leaves.
Hundreds of bulbs, planted lovingly in the autumn, have thrust their green snouts out to sniff the air and view the clear, cold light of day. It is only a brief time now until the crocuses, daffodils, and tulips unfold their cheerful colors. It will be thrilling to see the results of all the plans, dreams, wishes, and hard work of last autumn's bulb planting sprees!
Spring is coming! Spring is coming! Oh, beautiful Spring...welcome!
It was a mild winter. At its worst, there were four inches of snow on the ground. On the heels of the snowfall came an ice storm. Freezing rain pelted down, coating and encrusting everything in sparkling costumes of ice. The morning after the ice storm brought the gift of wondrous winter walks in the garden, forest, fields and meadows and some spectacular photographs.
As the ice and snow melted, there were more days of rain. The creek flooded up to its highest level ever, making it very clear where it is safe to plant and where it is not.
Had a wisdom tooth removed. Oh glory! The wretched thing was an absolute horror to extract. Even the dentist breathed a sigh of relief when the stubborn thing finally gave up the fight and came out. The residual swelling made my cheek looking as if it had a golf ball stuffed inside it. The children took to referring to me teasingly as "Chipmunk Face". Nice. As the swelling went down, a nasty bruise came up, making the side of my face look as if it had been kicked by a small cow. Recovery is still excrutiatingly slow, with residual pain and daily headaches. Thank goodness that was the last wisdom tooth to be removed.
Spent today clearing up the backyard. After trimming the willows there were countless branches and twigs to get rid of. It took two full trips to the garbage dump to finish the job. This spring there will be new garden beds going in where the willow branches came out.
Tomorrow is my 43rd birthday. This leaves 57 years on the plant to accomplish all my goals. Better get busy. :)
Went to sister's for Chinese food and birthday cake. Watched an exceptionally good documentary on tv about Pompeii.
It's nice to be back on gardenbuddies.
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| Posted on Monday, February 07, 2005 - 07:57 pm: | |
Just when it seemed that springtime had made its official appearance, a surprise arrived this weekend in the form of two more inches of snow.
Saturday: Planted 4 new clematis vines and 20 baby heathers (Kramer's Red) in the warm spring-like sunshine. The heathers looked delightful in the front garden beds, lounging there like lazy pink ladies under the crab apples and witch hazels. The clematis looked like nothing more than twigs, but upon closer inspection, they are full of promise with green buds bravely clutching the stems.
Sunday: Something of a blizzard had descended upon the valley by morning.
The heathers seemed to sigh in resignation as they slowly disappeared under mushroom shaped mounds of snow. No doubt it was a pretty scene, but couldn't help wondering: "Where the dickens are those heathers NOW?!" All that work planting them and they had suddenly gone into hiding, the ungrateful traitorous beasts!
The heathers may have temporarily gone AWOL, but other treasures were waiting to be discovered as the snow began to melt and recede. On a sunny walk out in the garden this afternoon, made a beautiful little bouquet of daffodils, crocuses, and pansies in the snow. The flowers were accompanied by a musical symphony of a tink, tink, tinking sound as the snow melted on the roof sending tiny streams of water dripping down onto the sidewalk below.
Such are the ordinary yet magical moments in the life of a four seasons gardener who is blessed enough to live in the wonderland that is the Pacific Northwest.
(Shhhhhhhhh...Please don't tell anyone the secret of my own Cascadian Shagri-La...it's so nice and uncrowded here!) :)
Anyways, back to Sunday: With all that snow, the optimist had to find a way to "make lemons out of lemonade". Had already decided that a girls only ski trip was in order. When we saw the snow falling on Sunday morning, we contemplated canceling our trip...for about two seconds. Nahhh...we couldn't let a blizzard stop us, now could we? Nobody and nothing stops the Girls Adventure Team! So off we drove in the downpour of white stuff to one of our local Vancouver ski mountains.
Jen brought her friend Chantal along. We got to try out the skis, boots and poles that Peter bought us for Christmas.
Everything worked great and we had an awesome, fun, girlie time in the snow.
Only the rope tow was open due to a lack of sufficient snowfall. We got our tickets for half price and our arms sure got a good workout!
We concluded our little ski adventure with a driving tour around Stanley Park, Spanish Banks, and the University of British Columbia. We had hot chocolate on our drive and made some fabulous memories together.
While driving along English Bay, we noticed a series of palm trees lining the beach walk. Once again, experienced the feelings of marvel and joy that come from living in a place where one can ski in a snow filled paradise all morning, and then see palm trees on a drive that same afternoon!
The sun is shining now. In theory, it would be great to get out into the garden, but darn that snow! There is just nothing to do out there until it melts and the ground is ready for seeds.
Hmmm...perhaps a walk in the fern filled woods right now is more like it. :)
Bought some fresh tomatoes, so supper shall be tomato basil soup with black forest ham and cheese sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. :)
Have a great day everyone! |
| Posted on Friday, February 11, 2005 - 03:43 am: | |
As winter morphs into spring, unusual things are happening in the garden. The northern half the garden is still solidly covered in a lovely coating of snow. The southern half of the garden gets more warm sunshine and has thus begun to display some early spring flowers.
The snowdrops are still hanging in there, albeit they are now past their prime and look quite droopy and woebegone.
In the sadly declining wake of the snowdrops, a brave chorus of early crocuses have thrust their snouts up out of the earth and snow. The crocuses show off as little tapestries of color here, there and everywhere.
Cheerful "Tete-a-tete" miniature daffodils are now making an appearance as well. These early spring blooms stand out in stark relief against the harsh white of the remaining snow. It's a beautiful sight.
Kept peeking out the window today to look at springtime show that's slowly unfolding. Finally decided to get outside and capture the scene in some photos before it's gone. Springtime comes and goes in a flash. What's it's hurry?
Saw a Japanese Flowering Quince covered with buds about to burst open. They are just waiting for a couple more days of sunshine. The budding branches of the Japanese Quince would be marvelous to force inside the house. They're so inspiring!
Note to self: Acquire some branches of Japanese Flowering Quince for display and do a pastel painting using the colors of the quince flowers to accompany them. Look to Picasso for ideas.
Note to self again: Desperately need flowering quince shrubs in pink and red. Shall plant clematis under them for summer flowers.
Have started a new fitness program in keeping with lifelong goal to live to be one hundred years old.
Exercise program: Thirty minutes every morning on computerized exercise bike while listening to mp3's and watching slideshow of favorite photos on computer monitor. Bike ride is followed by a series of stretches, pushups, situps, squats, and abdominal routine.
Note: Have lost a whopping one pound after two weeks of this! Wooohooo.
Hmmm...seriously need to rethink addiction to chocolate covered almonds if any progress is to be truly made with weight loss and shape up program.
Note to self: STOP BUYING AND EATING CHOCOLATE COVERED ALMONDS!!!!!!!!
Made a delicious taco bake dish for supper. Everyone enjoyed it. Had salad with fake crab in feeble attempt at "dieting".
While eating supper, watched Larry King Live show about Prince Charles becoming engaged to his longtime love, Camilla Parker Bowles today. Thank goodness those two crazy kids are finally taking the matrimonial plunge. Just despise the last name of "Parker Bowles". UGH! It sounds so uppity and ostentatious. Camilla will soon be known as "The Duchess Of Cornwall" and, someday, HRH The Princess Consort. Even after marriage she will STILL be "consorting" with the King! My my my!
Went to Walmart after supper and bought a few sundry items.
Stopped at the bookstore and read a bit about Georgia O'Keeffe. O'Keeffe is fascinating, not so much because her art was so fantastic, but rather her lifestyle is intriguing in that she was determined to live her life by her own terms. Have now read about five or six books about O'Keeffe.
Tomorrow is golf day. As a reward for all our hard work during the week, we have taken to heading out to the driving range on Fridays to smack a hundred balls out as far as we possibly can. Jody has a particular fondness for golf after viewing "Happy Gilmore". Hitting those golf balls is fun and very stress relieving. Highly recommend it!
Have a great weekend! |
| Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 03:23 pm: | |
Have you ever been brokenhearted and crushed?
There are ten "Tete-a-tete" daffodils in bloom right outside the back window. They provide a tiny golden harbinger spark of promise, whispering that if I just hang on, there may yet be possible happiness to come. It's just enough of a miniscule slice of beauty to keep me moving and operational. Thank God for these daffodils.
My garden and the children are the only things that bring any comfort, hope, and stability to my life. Nothing else matters anymore. |
