It starts with tulips...

It actually started with a little dried up crocus that bloomed about a mile from the house that I did not notice until at least one dog had stepped on it! But tulips are next and it is hard not to notice them. 'Chopin' was the season opener. A single bloom, left behind when I moved them last year.

Everything else is coming along. Delphinium, iris, creeping jenny, carnation, sedum, lamium and cerastium are all up with the tulips. Lily are not showing up yet, along with a long list of others that I am sure are coming.

I decided not to have a plant sale this year for my divisions. If there was anything you were looking for, waiting for or wanting, give me a shout. I am already dividing here.You can also check out the Asher Design stand at the Farmer's Market. I happen to know she is carrying almost everything I have this year.

A Permanent Home

The 'Loraine Sunshine' baby that came from Judy's garden this year has finally found a permanent home. I dug her up when she was quite small and I have been nurturing her along in a pothead all summer. Now she has her roots in the ground and a permanent spot. It is up by St. Francis in the bird sanctuary. In this spot, I can see her up close out the dining room window and she has lots of room she can grow into. I do hope she makes it through this winter!

Opus One

My 'Opus One' had three blooms this year and they are just finishing up, as are the 'Stargazer' which are the last of the blooming lily in my garden. Both are oriental lily which are not really hardy here. They grow and once established they will bloom well but they never get as tall as oriental lily are famous for. In fact, the only time I have seen an oriental lily blooming over my head was in Linda's garden in Nova Scotia. Oriental stay short in my garden. Funny thing is... I prefer them short. Not sure if it is a 'what I am used to' thing or not but I find lily blooming over my head is a little intimidating. Not sure why because I am certain they are not going to attack! Maybe it has to do with my aversion to spiders dropping down from above and how lily are great spider hiders. Regardless, I do love the orientals as long as there are not too many planted together. If they are all together, I find their smell cloying and cannot remain standing near them in the garden without feeling slightly sick. They also take some time to be established in Zone 3. This particular lily was brought from Linda's garden in 2009. Last year it had one bud that dried up and fell off without blooming. This year, it has three blooms and they all opened wide.

'Golden Wave'

My begonia 'Golden Wave' are blooming in the love bus now. I got them in really late this year and was worried they would wither before they bloomed so I was happy to find them today. I did not notice them right away because the flowers open small and hang under big, umbrella leaves. These beauties are my favourite begonia. The flowers are pale pink on the outside but open to reveal an all yellow inside. They hang in little bunches of three or four and they look so delicate eventhough the stalks tell a different story, standing thick and strong. They are well worth the over-wintering effort!

Animals, wild and otherwise...

I came upon Hannah sleeping in the bird sanctuary the other day and as I snapped a picture, she got up for this halloween stretch. The top of the ladder has always been her afternoon napping spot. In fact, that is why the ladder is still in the garden. It was right in this spot when we moved in and she used it every day so we have never moved it. Hannah can always be found napping in the garden. I had a more unusual occurance the other night when Gordon and I went into the city mid-evening. The road was full of frogs! It was awful. Impossible to miss them and they were even jumping up and making "thud" sounds as they hit the car when we went by. They were all over the valley bottom on the roads. The grids and the highway. They were gone by the time we came back from the city and I hope it doesn't happen again. It was no fun at all. On a better note, the 'Alexander McKenzie' rose I transplanted last week is doing great and the colour looks awesome with the speedwell purple that it is planted next to. Now I am just waiting to find out what colour the liatris planted with them is. Any day now it should open.

Embracing Change

Heliopsis 'Loraine Sunshine', monkshood and Linda's red daylily are just a few of the new plants in my garden this season. I also reduced the size of the sun gardens by more than half and surprisingly, I am really enjoying that because it has meant that it is almost always completely weed free! Taking the rock edge away where that garden meets the lawn has also made it easier to keep a clean edge. Overall, I am happy with all of the changes in the garden this year and am planning even more. Today I have been clearing out at the front of the house for my new rose garden. The excitement of the day, despite the blooming flowers, was the little female finch I had to save from Penny and Hannah on the front deck. She hit the window and by the time I got there, Penny had her in her mouth with just a wing sticking out and a high pitched tweet coming from inside. Fortunately, Penny dropped her as soon as I told her to but by then, Hannah was running towards us. It was a bit of a panic but I managed to get the bird into a tree and after awhile, she flew off. We spent the afternoon cutting up the latest tree brought down by the prairie winds. That makes 3 this year. Another change I made today was the blog background. I did that in honour of the awesome skies we have been enjoying here. We are in the land of the living sky here but the last few days it has been more incredible than usual. A very pure, bright, clear blue that I have been unable to capture in photograph and do it any justice at all. We see a lot of sky here. It goes out for miles and miles. So it takes something special to get me snapping the camera upward. The colour has been so crystal clear, I find it impossible to even describe.

Aster Blooming

The Aster is blooming at Judy's today. They are really pretty. I have to get the divisions she gave me into the ground tomorrow. I also got some Bouncing Bet she was going to compost for the new front garden that will need to go in tomorrow as well. There were Clematis blooming in her sideyard, Sweet Pea on the back fence and Geranium everywhere! She has a lot more blooming that I have out here. More about that on intwogardens.com later tonight.

Heliopsis helianthoides 'Loraine Sunshine'

Heliopsis helianthoides 'Loraine Sunshine', 30" X 30", full sun, Z2

In Judy's sideyard. From Leona.