| Tezalizard Posted on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 12:55 pm: |   
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I am a new member to GardenBuddies and am thrilled to be able to start a journal based on gardening seasons. |
| Tezalizard Posted on Sunday, September 16, 2007 - 07:32 pm: |
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I awoke to frost this morning, and were it not for the beautiful pink tinged edges on a new polemonium 'Stairway to Heaven', and fallopia japonica 'Milky Boy', I think I would have cried! It is far too early in the season for temperatures to drop that quickly, but then again living in Fergus, Ontario, Canada (Z5) one never knows what to expect!
I have spent the season improving upon and adding two new perennial borders to a small subdivision property! I have always believed that perennial gardening is an exercise in autobiography! This was the year that gardening went from passive hobby to full blown obsession!
I added many new plants, the majority of them plants I never knew existed before I picked up a pair of catalogues from nursery and plant farms to the northwest and east of here. Its so easy to get caught up and carried away based on a passionate description written by another gardener!
I should have been warned that one should start off with easy-to-care for selections, in a wide range of colours, shapes and sizes before tackling some of the more difficult, less hardy plants! They say that you learn through experience - and this has been a wonderful gardening experience this year!
I dove in head first, choosing plants I had never before heard of, but after reading the descriptions, and having looked them up on the web for a visual, I was off and running with a mostly blues colour theme. It was easy at first: eryngium, corydalis 'elata' and 'flexuosa', lobelia, ceratostigma, caryopteris, mertensia 'siberica', campanula 'kent belle' and 'sarastro' and the beautiful Amsonia 'heubrechtii' and 'tabernaemontana' but to name a few. It was my seven year old nephew - who is developing an interest in gardening - who mentioned that while my favourite colour was "simply everywhere Uncle," there was a distinct lack of his favourite colour which is yellow!
Ahhh, but this presents a dilemma. The warm to hot colours simply have not won my praise and admiration. I detest red, and a yellow would have to be creamy or lightly filtered at best! So many yellows, so few that I could be happy with... and then I remembered that it doesn't necessarily have to be a flower or blossom colour... why not a foliage presentation with yellows, and maybe blues and pinks! I was so surprised with the results.
I have a wonderful oak leafed hygrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey,' whose chartreuse foliage brightens up the entire shade border where he has quickly become the brilliant centrepiece. The polemonium 'Stairway to Heaven' that I mentioned looks wonderful placed next to the dark foliage of a japanese anemone with almost burgundy flowers, and my fallopia japonica 'Milky Boy' will one day create the living hedge that will separate my work station and composter from the rest of the garden.
The lesson behind today's post is that one should never fence oneself in with strict boundaries and garden rules. It has become so much easier to look at the entire palate of colour available in all the various genres under the perennial canopy. My next post is about managing the obsession dilemma. How many of one species is too many? Corydalis elata, lutea, Canary Feathers, flexuosa, Blue Panda, Golden Panda.... I think you see what I mean. |
| Tezalizard Posted on Monday, September 17, 2007 - 04:43 pm: |
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I spent the day driving to my favourite plant farm where I purchased a chelone, an angelina sedum and a clematis virginiana, came home and stopped off at a bargain book store hoping to find a good gardening book - scored with a copy of The Well Tempered Garden by gardening master Christopher Lloyd. I am only disappointed that there were no pictures of Great Dix!.....
Alas, the problem with "obsessing over a specific plant!" I have three perennials in my gardens that have rendered me a hapless addict:
Penstemons: I have a weakness for the alpine ones with blue or purple hues. There is something about the tubular blossoms with their speckled yellow or white throats!
Corydalis: It started with a picture of GardenBug's corydalis elata! From there it went to the flexuosa's - the Blue and Golden Panda's, and then the yellow of Canary Feathers and then Lutea. I am still looking for Sempervirens - with the pink, white and yellow blossoms. I hope that the plants will be stronger and more floriferous next year. They are far and away my favourite perennial flower.
Euphorbia is quickly entering the danger zone as well! I love the chartreuse bracts juxtaposed against the purple/rust/pink foliage that most of the plants have. They are lovely when they form nice tight clumps! I think they provide so many opportunities for new and exciting colour combinations with neighbouring plants. I just planted my sedum represtre 'angelina' next to my euphorbia 'kalypso!' Awesome visual results!
Its interesting with so many perennials available that we seem to come back to our favourites time and time again! I wonder if these current favourites will weather the test of time, and twenty or thirty years from now become a new generation of 'garden classics.'
Alas, time to read! Next time I'll discuss the plants that are unfortunately on the 'Least Favoured/Least likely' to find a home in my garden. I want to see if there are other gardeners who may be able to change my mind. I try and remain open with my garden friends, but some plants just haven't captured my ever fleeting attention span, or perhaps they did but for all the wrong reasons!} |
| Charlenenj Posted on Monday, September 17, 2007 - 07:06 pm: |
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Hi. I've never read someone's garden journal before so I came by and clicked on the first one listed in the forum. Hello there. I skimmed your journal and saw you wrote this: "Corydalis: It started with a picture of GardenBug's corydalis elata!" LOL. Everything starts with a picture from Marie's Garden. It usually results in obsessing over a particular plant (in my case, yellow waxbells and caryopteris) and wanting most everything she has. Stay away from her pictures, as they are dangerous.  |
| Tezalizard Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 06:05 pm: |
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Today was a dangerous day! Was up and on the road at 7:30 because I saw that one of the local nurseries had a sale on perennials - and what gardener can honestly refuse such temptation. I had a list at the ready, but like many of my nursery visits, I ended up coming home with plants that weren't even on the list! I got a campanula takesimana, a blue agastache, a chocolate leaved rogersia and some bulbs - nectaroscordum, frittilaria and some spanish hyacynths that I hope to naturalize my shade garden with for spring! All of these for $45.00
Of course, not quarter mile away is another nursery. They didn't have any sales but of course they had plants, and well, you know the rest! I picked up a symphytum grandiflora, perennial comfrey( split into three plants as it thrives in shade)an ajuga reptans 'kaitlin's giant,' an astrantia - though not the ones I wanted, but needed one none-the-less, and a lysimachia - the white flowered goose necked loosestrife.
Of course, in my own town there is also a nursery so I had to stop off there.... fairness and all! Found a clematis heracleifolia - its been sitting on the same bench all season - quite a sturdy specimen now- but never bloomed and no pic to show what to expect. A meadowrue was in the $4.00 bin and a flat of ajuga reptans was only $7.00 I was very dirty by the time I got everything planted and watered. Tonight I have to add pages to my record of perennials. There are close to 100 for this year alone! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 06:40 pm: |
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I need to re-address this post! I said I would list the plants not likely to make it into my garden, when in actuality they have all made it at one time or another. I think a better caption would be, " What were you thinking? "
I am the first to admit that some of the choices I have made have been for all the wrong reasons. Here are a few examples:
Kirengeshoma koreana - in the nursery garden where I purchased it, it is a statuesque beauty with maple like leaves, and dark almost purple stems, followed with upright waxy yellow bell-like flowers. Perhaps it needs a couple of years to adjust to my garden, but right now it looks really pathetic!
Pulsatilla vulgaris - the pasque flower that only bloomed once and was otherwise a no show for the mid spring garden. Interesting foliage was what attracted this wandering eye in the first place. Not replacing if he decides to to make a return appearance next year!
Liatris pycnostachya - the gay feather that did its thing but it wasn't until I was actually looking at more than its stature and foliage that I realized that it really isn't an attractive flower in the least!
Physostegia - OK, this deserves a what the hell was I thinking warning! Invasive! Vigorous! Rampant! Another one that needs to come with a warning label for newbies like myself! In fact, so disagreeable that this was yanked by the roots today to make room for something new. I had to dig and then sift through the soil in a two foot radius around the plant site to ensure that there were no root pieces!
Achillea - I had one in the centre of the first perennial bed that I thought was going to be pink or burgundy, and it turned out bright yellow! Not a fan od bright yellows of any kind! It was a donation to the local Hort Society plant sale!
Tried a cimicifuga, a really expensive one but was horrified with the bloom! Gorgeous foliage but man, so so ugly flume of dirty white! Yuck! And they are all the rage right now!
I have one solitary hosta in my garden, He is a beautiful steely-blue upright plant with vase like foliage. I just don't understand the hype behind them. Lacklustre flowers at best and frankly a hosta is a hosta is a hosta! Sorry if I have offended anyone but I just don't get it... and its sad for me because they would thrive in my shaded garden, the same one that I have struggled to fill this past year!
Heucheras are a necessity in the garden, but my God, the colours, the leaf patterns, did I mention the colours? I have one that was part of the 'chocolate' craze a few years back. I much rather the tiarella - although it would appear that the same craziness is starting there as well!
Have or had them all! Not really a prickly relationship but if they were to perish tomorrow, they wouldn't be replaced! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 07:05 pm: |
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Was thinking about the fact that my mainstay for the past 6 months is slowly coming to a close. I have been feverishly making last minute nursery road trips to get all the plants that were on last years wish-list. I hope we have an Indian summer because I still have so many more to try and locate! I wanted to give thanks to the nurseries that provided me with endless hours of enjoyment,relaxation and 'work' but in the best possible sense!
Lost Horizons was the first nursery that recognized my 'green-ness' and helped nurture me to become the somewhat competent gardener that I am today. Open space, naturalized gardens and a selection that rivals anywhere I had previously been, or have been since for that matter, made it so easy to dig my feet in and get dirt beneath the fingernails! It started with a corydalis elata and will hopefully continue for years to come.
Wild Things Plant Farm - located north of where I reside by close to an hour, they have provided me with plants that I know will survive our sometimes harsh winters. They introduced me to their annual "Monster Plant Sale," where total strangers end up exchanging phone numbers as they mingle and converse among the benches. It was here that I purchased one of my favourite finds this year - a delicate and beautiful indigofera kirilowii. I can hardly wait to see him in bloom! The late great Christopher Lloyd describes in 'The Well Tempered Garden,' about his shock at the price of buying indigofera seeds some years ago! Its an honour to grow something that he was especially fond of!
Little Tree Nursery in Fergus has been very patient during my greening! Lots of questions, and days when they knew just to let me wander, picking up a plant, sitting it back down, coming back ten minutes later, and sometimes, leaving without a purchase. It was all about the stature and foliage... wanting to see it up come and real as opposed to a write up in a book or catalogue.
These are the main three suppliers of choice. Kudos to friendly and knowlegable staff, a selection of healthy vigorous plants, and for sharing a passion that few understand as well as the tried and true gardeners.
Coming up.... the 2008 Wish list. ( Can I possibly reduce it between now and then? ) |
| Tezalizard Posted on Sunday, September 23, 2007 - 06:09 pm: |
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Decided that I will forego the wish list until after I do some 'creative landscape designing,' in other words, find more grassed in areas to turn into perennial borders.
I was at work very early this morning and afterwards went to see what plants I could find that would give me colour in the semi-shade. I read the Globe and Mail for Marjorie Harris' column - and this past weekend she was discussing the shrub fothergilla gardenii - so knew if I was to find it there was only one place. Unfortunately they were unable to locate it so decided to walk through their hoop houses to see what else I might find!
Alas, I have a wonderful specimen with a low and sprawling habit whose branch structure was made specifically for my garden! It has the most beautiful golden, rust, burgundy and brown coloured foliage right now.... the only problem is I have no idea what it is! As has been my luck in the past, many plants that fall into my hands are without tags or labels. I will simply have to check the web to see what I can find. It isn't rare or exotic - will likely be something very common, like a ninebark!
Also found a lovely clumping disporum - with bright chartreuse foliage! It has wonderful white flowers in the spring. I have been 'obsessing' about them lately as some of the ones listed sound absolutely enchanting! I will be adding more next year!
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| Tezalizard Posted on Sunday, September 30, 2007 - 06:39 pm: |
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The days seem to be getting shorter, at least it feels that way by the time I get home from work. I watch the setting sun from behind the wheel on my 40 odd minute drive from work and am itching with anticipation of being able to spend even half an hour in the garden. I have taken to getting up in the morning and spending time, doing some weeding, some watering and turning the compost. Its so relaxing and rewarding seeing that some of the plants are still blooming as we enter October.
I wanted to see what sales were out there so stopped off at a nursery close to work, to discover that they had 50% off one gallon pots so brought home a campanula 'summertime blues' to add to the growing collection that I have. I was thrilled to see that it is not a seeder nor a spreader which is unusual with the genus. I wouldn't mind a bit of spreading as he has lovely dark burgundy tinged foliage.
I am going to get a new digital camera so that next year I will be able to add photos to these posts. It will be a test to learn more computer techno stuff but I am sure I will be able to master it.
I finally found the elusive'fothergilla gardenii' that I have been searching for after reading the Globe and Mail a week ago where Marjorie Harris highlighted it as a beautiful neon colour performer in fall. I went with the 'Blue Mist' for its arresting foliage - even if it isn't supposed to perform as well with fall colours.
A friend has given me her back-issues of Gardening Life so I have been paying close attention to the section where Marjorie suggests companion planting. I have moved the lamium closer to my corydalis 'elata' to see if I can achieve the same show stopping contrast in colours. What a wonderful idea! I am looking forward to spending tomorrow in the garden - need to do some mulching and watering, and perhaps some pruning back of some of the 'out-of-control' persicaria that indeed does thrive in 'better to good' soil. I am still deciding the fate of my euphorbia 'fens ruby' that so many people have said I need to eradicate from the garden before it takes over everything! I think I am going to leave it until next year and see if he goes berserk or not! Its so hard parting with any of the green family that I have adopted this past year. I also need to see what other great gardening books are out there... I would like to get more from Christopher Lloyd, I love the passion that was in his writing. There is also a good one by Alan Armitage that I am looking for. I know what my christmas wish list is going to be made up of. I was premature and ordered a subscription to Canadian Gardening - should have put it on the wish list, so am anxious for the first issue to arrive! Alas, I am calling it a night and going to see what else I can add to the 2008 perennial wish list. |
| Tezalizard Posted on Tuesday, October 09, 2007 - 08:06 pm: |
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Looking at the garden yesterday and discovered I don't like the gardening table where it is so have decided that spring 2008 will bring my removing the table, adding a bench and two urns with obelisks and lots of shrubs to break the current line of vision that ends with our more crooked than straight fence - one that the neighbor isn't interested in sharing the price of having repaired. Where there is a will there is a way. So, now I have started a wish-list for supplies. I know I can get the urns and obelisks at Home Depot (helps when you work there!) so will keep an eye and see if they go on sale as the season fades. (perhaps November)
I have been scouring the current issues of Gardening Life and Canadian Gardening as they both highlight shrubs for colour in the fall. I started with the 'fothergilla gardenii' and am now looking at Viburnums - they are spectacular to look at - and the ones with the blue berries are making it obvious which ones will be added to my shade sanctuary. I want to draw people into the garden, to the bench, where they can sit and look at the urns that will be filled with bright and unusual perennials.
I have a plant wish list of approximately six different shrubs, ranging from the viburnum to cornus sanguinea 'Cato' and even a hypericum 'Golden Tustan' and a mahonia - another ivy leafed shrub that has clusters of blue berries in the fall. I am also looking for some more brilliant foliaged plants as well, as part of the 'method-to-my-madness' is in getting rid of the table, I will have another five or six feet of space for more plants. ( I need to have the room for the plants that have already taken up two and a half pages in my Gardening Journal of Days - my 2008 wish list! )
Alas, I am happily planning. Need suggestions for a pathway - I have to remove an existing railway tie against the left side of the house that is currently taking up space that I need for plants. The dilemma lies in whether I use stone (crushed) or mulch (red cedar chips)or try some of the new slab patio stones that we carry at HD that are very costly but very aesthetically pleasing! The life of a gardener is never without querries and dilemmas! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 07:57 pm: |
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I think I must have slept through the new year as I have already made purchases from the 2008 Wish list! Terra has 40% off shrubs so went there yesterday armed with the wish list and was able to pick up three: Mahonia aguifolia, Itex virginica "Little Henry", and a Sambucas nigra 'Madonna' - now I only have to find the time to get them planted. I am very impulsive with my purchases and then find I don't have enough time to spend in the garden! More than ever I need to get in, get the area prepped and the new shrubs planted as its been noticeably colder here in the past two days! The heat came on last night for the first time of the 'fall season' and woke me! Had to scrape frost as well. Alas, I don't think I will be able to hold back the seasonal weather much longer, and to be honest I am looking forward to seeing what the architectural plants will look like covered in snow.... I have my fingers and toes crossed.... careful what one wishes for...
ta! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Sunday, October 14, 2007 - 07:37 pm: |
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Woke again this morning to rain... dare I say three months late, but alas, its keeping the soil moist and cool for the late planting season!
I love nursery tromping on a Sunday - seems that there are lots of people out hoping to meet other gardeners to share stories with. I have recently started frequenting 'Taylor Nursery' in Milton, Ontario and was thrilled to find them open on a Sunday this late in the season. I love the rural settings best of all with the hoop frame houses and a selection that has a hapshazard whimsical appeal to it - in other words, not in alphabetical order like some nurseries. The 50% off sign was like a magnet, but as I explained to the wonderful woman, its not the price that finalizes a purchase for me, its 'how bad to I want something!'
I went looking for a Physocarpus 'Dart's Gold' which I found but then found myself looking through a copy of Michael Dirr's Trees and Shrubs to see what else would work in my ever expanding shade sanctuary. (Not that I am boasting, but its taken on a life of its own, and I am ever anxious to keep the buzz alive!)I also ended up coming home with a Viburnum Dendatum 'Arrowwood' - not the 'Blue Muffin' that I was leaning towards but this one still has the amazing blue fruit but has a taller more graceful stature and what I think will be a more rich fall colour. It was a chore trying to get both shrubs into the back of the Grand Am, but where there is a will there is a way and they both made it home without any broken or stripped branches.
I was also looking for a 'Centre Glow' but it was one of the most popular of the Ninebarks and was gone by mid June. I have to get there in May next year to reserve one! (This means I also have to reserve a plot for it in the garden doesn't it! That will be hard to do!) I had found a Sambucus nigra 'Madonna' and wanted to continue the chartreuse colour theme as it is in rather deep shade, towards the rear of the garden.
I was planting in virtual darkness when I got home as I hadn't been able to plant the purchases from Friday and was adamant that they be transplanted by today. It was interesting.... I've done watering after dark but never actually planting! I had the holes dug and mulched this morning. I begrudgingly discovered that the whole 'bench and urn' project just isn't feasible based on the size of the space. I'm not sure that I could get a bench small enough, let alone two urns! I am not giving up though. The other side of the house, which gets the sun, and also has the garden gate is a prime location for two urns. I will not bow to defeat just yet!
Alas, I have to go and try and get the dirt from under the fingernails - as a Customer Service Manager, its somewhat embarassing shaking someone's hand and them seeing the dirt, but come to think of it, last time that happened they said, " I see someone enjoys gardening as much as I do," which initiated a conversation that lasted almost fifteen minutes!
Tomorrow I have to go and get some leaf and manure compost and a bag of mulch and finish levelling off the new plantings. I watered tonight but know that some settling is bound to occur. I have told myself that I have to take blinders or find a garden centre with a drive through so that I am not tempted to stop and look at the benches. Its not my fault that they all have SALE! SALE! SALE! on their boulevards!
I have been having a hard time finding gardening books... not that there isn't a plethora of them but I simply haven't found ones that justify the steep price. I want to find a copy of 'Seasons in my Garden' by Marjorie Harris, as I signed it out from the library and was in heaven - what a truly beautiful sanctuary she has and in an urban(e) location! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Monday, October 15, 2007 - 06:09 pm: |
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I found a companion to 'The Well Tempered Garden,' titled 'Garden Plants' also by Christopher Lloyd as well as a trade paperback of Marjorie Harris', 'Seasons of my Garden,' so decided that they were vital to my gardening library.... miniscule as it is, I think I now have five books!
It was another rain filled morning so had to forego going to the nursery to get my end of season leaf mulch and manure for the new shrubs... instead did my laundry. Talk about polar extremes - love the garden, hate the laundry! After finishing, headed for 'Little Tree' and came sooo close to getting exactly what I was looking for and nothing else...BUT... how could I pass by an Astrantia 'Moulin Rouge', an Adiantum pedatum, a Anemone 'Party Dress' with large double pink heavily fringed flowers that virtually dance in their stems, and a Lathyrus latifolius.... all for between 30 and 50% off so I can justify most of it...:)
I came home and did the mulching of the new shrubs, planted the new plants... I truly love the maiden-hair fern and the Anemone, both so whimsical! They say that gardening is but a form of autobiography, so I would have to say that indeed I am feeling 'whimsical' today. I tried to get some pictures of the new shrubs but had a really hard time with the camera! It acted up for my sister before she upgraded and now it is doing the same thing with me. I bought new batteries today ($10 for 4 ) only to have the camera shut itself down after four pictures. It was a challenge to try and get pictures of each of them without the camera shutting itself down because "the batteries are depleted. camera is shutting down!" Since when should a camera talk to you! Alas it took me three attempts but I managed. Now I have to see if my computer literate sister will show me how to download the pictures into my journal!
I miss my trips to the library - with the new shift at work, its only on my off days that I can manage to get there. Today they had a copy of ' Beth Chatto's Woodland Garden' waiting for me! It is a wonderful gem, with its focus on shade garden plants. I think I may put this on my Christmas wish list this year! I hope that we can get some dry weather in the coming week. I have to see what it will cost for seven paving stones - no, not the traditional ones, really nice earth toned, almost a slate texture with irregular edges that make them look as 'natural' as possible. I would like to get them in place before winter...if only to ensure that I do not trample on anything on trips to the composter after the snow falls...if it falls this year! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Monday, October 15, 2007 - 06:24 pm: |
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Top 5 Gardening Moments for 2007
I have to say that this has been the most memorable year of gardening for me! I look ahead and wonder what I will do to fret my time over the long, dark winter, but know I can come here. These are the highlights of the 2007 growing season:
1- Finding that one elusive plant that literally kick-started my gardening obsession. Thank you corydalis elata!
2- Discovering that Marjorie Harris is indeed our premiere authority on gardening in Ontario! I waited (im)patiently for her weekly posts in the G&M - and then ran like a schoolboy to the local nursery to find whatever plants she may have thrust the spotlight upon such as the Fothergilla gardenii that looks divine in my shade alley!
3- Discovering shade gardening and not succumbing to the 'easy way out' - mass planting of mundane and unattractive ground covers! At last count there are over 60 different plants settled in for a long winter's hibernation. I can hardly wait to see their growth next year!
4- The realization that shrubs are truly the foundation of a garden, regardless of the fact that the plot may only be 20'x 15' I truly lucked out with my first visits to the nurseries where shrubs were the focus of the trip - and then to find them at between 40-50% off was truly rewarding!
5- Having my nephews take an active interest in the gardens. I am truly blessed to have been given carte blanche freedom of expression and land rights where my sister's yard is concerned. She and my brother-in-law still shake their heads when they see me pulling more plants from the car, but they are impressed with the transformation - especially between the houses.
A fantastic year, filled with the joy of learning, the thrill of experiment and the comfort that gardening brings me closer to the people who are no longer amongst us. Sleep well my garden friends} |
| Tezalizard Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 06:07 pm: |
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Waiting... what was the word used for the ketchup commercial?.... ANTICIPATION! At last, I finally have Christopher Lloyd's, " Garden Flowers," in my quivering hands! So very well worth the wait!
I was surprised to see so many pictures, thankfully all from Great Dixter's many gardens. Not that I do not like pictures, but I was anticipating the nitty gritty of Lloyd's impeccable and discriminating criteria about the plants that make up the bulk of this true gardening tome. At almost 400 pages it is the whats what of perennials, bulbs, grasses and shrubs.
It makes a wonderful companion to The Well Tempered Garden, taking his witty anecdotes and applying it to Acanthus to Zinnia - and every imaginable plant in between. Its sometimes hard to gauge a plant based on the typical 'tag' description, and this is where Christo is invaluable. He tells it like it is or at least is or was in his garden. He isn't afraid to bash the plants that otherwise are heady with praise and over inflated value from nurseries that find a new bang for their buck every season. Its a wonderful compendium, and placed with my other books, it will be a permanent companion on my 2008 nursery road-trips! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 06:20 pm: |
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I was out this afternoon raking the leaves off the lawn, hoping to be able to store them until they are sufficiently dry to crumble and add to my compost pile. Its been so wet lately that I am actually starting to worry about "wet feet" syndrome! I can only hope that the amendments to the soil this summer will help reduce the risk.
My penstemon continues to shoot forth lush green growth, even though I have cut the plant back to 3" from the ground. The same is said of the Acanthus mollis - his 1-2' dark green leaves keep shooting forth from amongst the dried leaves that blanket much of the garden. It has averaged between 30-45 degrees (f) this past week and I have actually had to sweep light snow from the car more than once! I am happy to have a lot of evergreen perennials this year as I am not certain how much snow cover there will be between the houses! ( Always something that you worry about after planting for the first time.)
I have been making a list and checking it twice for Christmas - including secateurs and more gardening books. Bookcloseouts.com is a goldmine for gardeners wanting to expand their libraries without spending valuable money that could be used on new plants... I am waiting for Seasons in my Garden and Right Plant, Right Place - a wonderful book that lists different soil types, foliage and flowers... I am looking forward to this book in particular as I have decided to create a 'black garden' after reading about Tom Deacon's breathtaking example in his Mulmer Township gardens.I am hoping to be able to visit his gardens, or at least do a drive by next year as I want to add garden tours to my weekend gardening roadtrips. |
| Tezalizard Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 09:41 pm: |
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It started to snow yesterday after lunch and by eight the snowflakes were the size of my thumb. I was relieved to see that the new shade retreat between the houses was securely blanketed beneath snow - a wonderful layer of insulation that will protect the new plants as they rejuvenate until spring.
I was on Marjorieharris.com and discovered that she offers garden tours! Rejoice. I am sure that I will be able to find enough garden friends to plan a visit next year. I am actually looking to see if I can orchestrate visits in spring, high summer and fall, as after admiring the photos from, " Seasons in My Garden," I know I want to see the gardens throughout the year!
The new issues of Gardening Life and Canadian Garden were in the box yesterday and were a wonderful respite from the snowy weather. Gardening Life featured part two of Tom Deacon's brilliantly designed and planted garden. Check out the series ( so far, two of a four part series!) I am anxious to see the next issue (patience Teza!) for his 'black themed garden.' There was also a great article on holiday trees - working at Home Depot, I was hoping that there would be more available. I am still not decided on the 'real' versus artificial.
I have subscribed for my spring 2008 catalogues and have a new leather bound journal ready for the new year. I managed to completely fill the one I started for 2007 and now it is in the hands of a fellow gardener from work. I am rather pleased with its contents and look forward to retrieving it from the shell in the future to see the progress that will hopefully take place with each passing year!
I have puzzled the family with the Holiday Wish List. Secateurs, a pair of Crocs, a set of ergonomically correct gardening tools, a gardening cart and books. I think they are afraid of seeing me out in the garden in February!
Alas, I have actually rediscovered fiction and have been reading like a daemon this past week. I am midway through " Lauchlin of the Bad Heart," a wonderful read from the author of Cape Breton Road... another part of the country that I want to see in my lifetime! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Monday, December 31, 2007 - 09:24 pm: |
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Christmas has come and gone... so much prep work and its over in the blink of an eye! Its wonderful having children in the house to make it last.
I was up early this morning to a fresh blanket of snow - I am so grateful because the snow between the houses had melted and everything lay exposed. Perhaps I am like an over-protective Father but I am most satisfied when I know that everything is 'hibernating' beneath a blanket of snow! Its amazing to see my polemonium 'stairway to heaven' in its blushing pink glory, evergreen as he is, but I'd rather have him play hide and seek until spring.
I have been checking for new perennials for 2008 and am thrilled to see some amazing new selections that I hope I will be able to locate at my favourite nursery haunts in the spring. I haven't been able to locate the one perennial that I have at the top of my wish list: Acanthus - Tasmanian Angel - even though it is slated for z7-8. I have 'mollis' in my shade garden and he was a very healthy specimen, although it was only foliage this past season. I am looking forward to his magnificent mauve and white flower spikes next year.
There are two new heuchera's that I am looking for as well: Miracle and Tiramisu - both are from the villosa strain - I have the Autumn Bride villosa and it performed very well - fuzzy chartreuse leaves - almost reminds me of alchemilla mollis.
I have a friend north of here who has a wonderful woodland garden with as she says, ' an over abundance of erythroniums - I am itching with anticipation!
Alas, I have to be patient! I need to enjoy the winter wonderland that we have been blessed with this year. I have yet to take the nephews tobogganing, and would like to try skating this year. I haven't been on skates since.... lets just say I was a figure skater many many years ago.
Happy New Year one and all! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - 08:46 pm: |
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Arrrggghh!
How many of us are tired of seeing white, white and more white? I suppose that I am not the only one to find myself yearning for the true signs of spring. It was raining on the way home from work, at least it beats the s*** word!
I started my seeds indoors with a funky three tiered greenhouse from Home Depot. I've sewn a whack of honeywort - 'Kiwi Blue' as I am a late bloomer in discovering the beauty of them. I found some wonderful brass planters at Winners and know they will look lovely draped over the rim. Also started some Datura and scented night stock.
Went to Canada Blooms - am I the only one who thinks that perhaps they may wish to re-consider the name of the event? I was really less-than-thrilled! I did find a hard to find Roscoea and a beautifully dainty Hellebore, so I mustn't complain. It just seems like there is less and less plant presence and more in vogue displays - lots of container gardening displays.... I guess to each their own opinion! I was sadly mistaken on the day to go as I missed Marjorie Harris on Saturday!
Already planning the new garden and the new catalogues for 2008 are filled with wonderful treasures that I am aleady coveting!
Hurry spring, we gardeners aren't a patient group at the best of times |
| Tezalizard Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 - 08:02 pm: |
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This is indeed going to be a unique growing season for me. I am looking for a new career with a garden centre. I can only hope that my gardening passion can translate into a job that I will thoroughly enjoy. I am at an age that I want to be able to be passionate about the work that I do. Today was day three of going to the surrounding nurseries to see if they are looking for help. Its still very early for Zone 5 but with the weather warming with each day and the seedlings in my window growing like crazy, I am certain that I had better get out and get looking!
I have been doing a lot of research on Hellebores - specifically 'lividus' as this is the first one that I have ever owned. Of course the curse of picking a plant that really isn't rated for this zone was the first problem but I have since decided that I want to start doing container gardening as well with some of the more tender perennials on the market.
I am anxiously awaiting the new 'Digging in the Dirt' season with the local hort society. I have been given stewardship of one of the older gardens in town and have a growing list of plants that I want to add! I have thought about growing annuals this year and selling from the boulevard. There are a few people who are doing this in town.
I started to clear the dried up leaf mulch off some of the plants in the garden and was surprised to see the beginning shoots on two of my aconitums as well as many of the chionodoxa bulbs are peeking out of the soil. Its been warm the past three or four days but there was a new coating of snow on the ground this morning..... enough already!
I walked the cataract trail last night after dinner and was stunned at the sheer height of the snowbanks that are still lining the path. I was more than concerned about the fast running water run-off from the surrounding farms. I am afraid if the weather they are predicting actually comes to pass that there will be flash flooding in many surrounding areas. The level of the river is incredible... the water is a frenzied rushing madness beneath the bridge downtown! Alas, I hope that this will herald in the beginning of the spring season. I am almost afraid to guess what we will see for summer weather. It appears to be dry and hot summers and colder and unseasonably wet winters. I truly hope that the snowfall this past winter was a strange anamoly and that this is what we can look forward to. Alas, a weather forecaster is not a job that I would want.
Hoping to go on a nursery haunt the second week of March (even more hopeful to be employed by one before then) to see what is new for 2008. A lot of plants circled and underlined in the catalogues.... now its seeing what the Canadian availability will be. The trials and tribulations of a Canadian Zone 5 gardener.
Ta |
| Tezalizard Posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 - 03:47 pm: |
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The First Signs of Spring:
The sound of the birds in the trees - the 'cawing, cawing, cawing!' of the crows; the sight of the red red breasted robins as they prance and flutter from branch to branch, hoping to entice a mate; the bluejays with their almost vicious notice to other birds to avoid its territory.... such is the music that fills a gardener's ear!
The water run off, dangerous as it may be in open areas, still has a trickling beginning before surging forward to collect in storm sewers. The melting snow, collecting in pools only to be diverted by an over protective gardener who doesn't want his new plantings from a year ago to suffer from 'wet feet syndrome,'.... these are all the signs that spring has finally sprung!
I put out the first of the new plant identification tags - I've been wanting to do this for some time if only to ensure that I will have a permanent record of the plants that inevitably come home with the passing growing seasons. Its also a way of being able to skim through the catalogues and come up with new purchases based on the tag information even when the garden is in the throes of winter. I struggled with this for quite some time as I did not want to come across as a hoiti-hort - the term for gardeners who insist upon using latin names and always knowing each and every plant in their garden but have since decided that this isn't such a bad thing after all. I want to know what is in my garden and I love the latin names - so much more exotic as it caresses across the tongue. Hoiti hort I shall remain!
I was thrilled to see some of my choice selections from last year making their first appearance as soon as the snow had melted and the sun cast her earth warming rays towards the garden. I love the thought of my Mertensia Siberica and Corydalis Flexuosa 'Blue Panda' bursting forth with what will be beautiful sky blue flowers. REAL blue, not the purples that seem to be labelled as blue in the hort industry. My first Iris 'Reticulata' has blossomed, looking very alone and delicate, but surrounded by dozens of green spears that will soon keep him company. I am anxious to see the Camassia and Hyacinthoides as well as the Siberian Squill - last year was the first year that I actively chanced planting bulbs in the fall. So far, so good!
Alas, I added my newly purchased obelisk to the garden and will train an Aconitum and my Codonopsis climitidea to climb its sides this summer. I am now looking for a gazing/reflection ball as well as a small bird bath to add so that the wildlife will have a source of water throughout the summer. I only hope that this year we see more moisture and rainfall. Last year was one of the hardest seasons to attempt to garden through! |
| Tezalizard Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008 - 07:56 am: |
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Where is the summer going? I cannot believe that the last entry was in April and its now the end of June!
I have been working at a nursery for just over two months now and it has been truly inspiring! Out of doors all day, the sound of nature, the scent of pine after a rainfall (and there have been many rainy days of late - hurrah!) all add up to a sensory overload on most days! It still doesn't feel like a job!
The garden is thriving beyond my wildest hopes! Everything is its own unique vibrant green, every leaf texture seems to fit well with his neighbor's, and the few choice flowers that survive in the shade are beguiling to say the least!
I have been contemplating the whole 'To Make a Path or Not!' conundrum and have decided that with the increasing number of plants that I will undoubtedly acquire over the next while, it would be a waste of space to use valuable planting real estate for a path when I am really the only one who walks through the garden! *(Sad but true nonetheless!)
The abundance of rainy, warm weather has had amazing results in the gardens. The plants that were new last year are well into the 'creeping' stage which in more than one instance has meant that I have had to shuffle a few plants around to make space. I lost three or four plants over winter and have decided that they did not have a fair chance so have replaced them. ( Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey', Hypericum calcynium 'Brigadoon' ) but have foregone others that really didn't perform last year - most notably the Lobelias... don't think I provided them with enough H2O.
I was anxious to check out all the new additions to the plant catalogues and magazine articles, and working in a nursery has given me the first hand opportunity to decide if these plants are worthy of trying. I was sadly disappointed with the two hyped up Huechera additions - Tiramisu and Miracle! Both were small and weak looking and even now seem to be less than eager to live up to the gardening hype that surrounds them. Instead I chose H. villosa 'Brownies' which is perjaps the most vigorous villosa that I have seen. Beautiful rich dark foliage with a faded magenta reverse creates a wonderful exercise in contrast. I was also happy to see more nurseries offering the blue flowering Corydalis to customers. Flexuosa Golden and Blue Panda's both sold well with a little help in placement near the checkout line! My 'Elata' is close to ywo feet tall and is covered with the sky to cobalt flowers. A friend said they reminded him of seahorses so now I call him the seahorse plant. Look at the flowers closely, the analogy is indeed fitting!
I have been adding shrubs as well this year as I want to have some protection from the northerlies that can create a near wind tunnel effect between the houses. I was finally able to locate a Disanthus cercidifolius so have placed him in the centre of the woodland garden so that when he is his mature height of nine feet, he will cast a dappled shade for the understoried plants. His fall colours are supposed to be spectacular - rivalling the neighboring Fothergilla gardenii - lets hope that I haven't inadvertantly set the stage for a rivalry!
I am also considering a Sympharicarpos doorenbosii 'Amethyst' that seems to speak to me every time I walk past. There is something about the delicate shaped bluish grey silver outlined leaves that cause me to take pause from the busy day at the nursery to ponder this addition. The berries are supposedly stunning and I would love to add some fall interest for the nature that will one day notice my gardening efforts. I want to hear birds chirping in the morning, knowing they have found shelter and food. The bird bath will have to make an appearance soon!
The Asian woodlanders are making slow appearances in the garden this year but are rather pricy - and I am also not confident that my garden conditions will allow them the requirements they are used to. Slow but sure will be the motto in this area! I am still trying to locate the Arisaema fargesii that I relocated last year. I am afraid that he is buried beneath a spectacular growth of Nepeta subsissilus - of which I will soon have to divide and place some in the back garden as he is threatening to over run the front of the woodland garden!
I am excited to be in the throes of the gardening establishment, and look forward to adding new and exciting siblings to the existing gardens throughout the growing season. Stay tuned..... |
| Flowerfreak Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008 - 08:45 am: |
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Oh that sounds like such a fun job! If I were to win the lottery & didn't need a paycheck, I would probably work at a nursery. What fun! |
