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!

Hosta for Kelly

Shipping tomorrow (regular mail); ‘Carol’, ‘June’, bonus dark, ‘Dream Weaver’, ‘Christmas Candy’, ‘Wolverine’, aberdeen solid and aberdeen variegated. Total 8 hosta.

Shipping next season because they are too small to divide; ‘Thunderbolt’ and ‘Guacamole’.

Never shipping because they are lost; ‘Fire & Ice’, 'Kabitan' and ‘Stained Glass’.

Note: I discovered aberdeen solid and danielle’s tall were the same hosta so danielle’s tall does not exist anymore. My flickr is updated for all of the above.

Front Garden

Being an avid gardener, I hate to admit that my front garden is a mess... and I really mean a mess! I have done nothing with it since we moved in except for going on a rampage last fall and chopping down all of the bush that was off the front deck along the path. We never spend time in the front yard so the back was always my first priority. Turns out, after 8 summers, it has been my only priority. Since I had dug up so many plants for our planned move, that now have to go back in, I decided that this year I will get some control over the front gardens. I have put in three new plantings in the last few days and I have the rest roughly planned out. I am hopeful that next year there will be beautiful garden photographs to post that are all taken in the front yard. Wish me luck because I have decided that next year is going to be the season that I don't move anything. So much has been moved over the last 2 years that nothing has had a chance to reach its' mature size. Next year, nothing moves unless it is way overgrown or dying. With luck, that will mean nothing moves once I am done this fall.

More Fall Garden Record Notes

Another busy day in my garden. Fall chores seem endless but it was a beautiful day for gardening again and forecast is for a few more of those yet. Good thing too because despite getting a ton of work done today out there, I probably have twice as much to go before I can say the garden is put to bed for the winter.

Lifted Dahlia 'Parkland Glory', 'Ferncliff Cameo', 'Hy Cutter', 'Taratahi Ruby', 'Yvonne' and 'Wine & Roses'. My Spring map was good but not quite good enough. I have two Dahlia tubers of which, one is 'Taratahi Ruby' and one is 'Hy Cutter' but I don't know which is which. Good thing 'Hy Cutter' is white so it will go with anything and I will figure it out next year when they bloom.

Lifted Gladiolus 'Passos', Border Gladiolus, Calla 'Picasso' and all the Freesia. Potted up two more Geranium cuttings. Planted Speedwell from Judy which is different than the one I have here already. I put the Speedwell beside the two patches of German Purple Iris at the rock edge towards the Knautia. Planted Bouncing Bet in two spots: beside the Stargazer Lily in the Bird Sanctuary (to the house side) and right off the front deck beside the trellis where the Euphorbia was planted this year. Planted Monkshood beside (lawn side), the Knautia that went in the Bird Sanctuary. Moved the 'Angelique' Tulips marked in Summer to two places: in front of the furthest Delphinium in the Front House Garden and immediately right of the sidewalk where the bushline was taken down. Dark came too soon today. I was on a roll.

Garden Record Notes

It would seem that between my notebook, my maps and my blog journals, I have once again lost complete track of my garden. No time to figure it out now though. Still things to lift and plant. Was a busy day in my garden despite the cool weather and wind today. I planted the Knautia 'Mars Midget' in the Bird Sanctuary at the start of the rock edge behind the chiminea. Planted another patch of German Purple Iris beside the first that went in that same garden next to the new 'Henry Hudson' Rose. Planted the last patch of German Purple Iris left to go in at the Saxifraga 'Purple Robe' in the Sun Gardens. Put four of the Geranium cuttings into pots to root. Lifted 'Kari Fruit Salad', 'Babylon Purple', 'Baron Katie' (all dahlia), the yellow Calla 'Flame' and several of the Calla 'Crystal Blush'. I would have got them all but it appears I have lost track of a couple for the moment. Time to read my notebook. Planted my new Explorer Shrub Rose 'J.P. Connell' which is a yellow climber from Judy, in the Bird Sanctuary top level towards the house from the yellow/purple Columbine. It needs something to climb. I need to remember that.

Calgary Divisions

The Calgary divisions, with the exception of the Clematis, are all going to make it. All of them have bounced back and have new growth. The Chinese Lantern has several pods that turned brown but many also turned orange and they have new leaf. The Lamium ended up being three divisions planted in two spots and has new growth in both places. The Iris are in and since I have never lost Iris, I can't imagine why they wouldn't come back but even if that happened, there are enough patches that I should have no worries. The Sedum 'Autumn Joy' ended up being three divisions also planted in two spots and looks like it is going to bloom in both spots. I have had 'Autumn Joy' winter kill on me before so I plan to mulch it this time and cross my fingers for its' survival. I won't know about the Clematis divisions until Spring. They look dead but the root should have lots of time to set before winter and I have mulched them well. I doubt I will see new growth above ground this year though so it will be something to discover when the snow melts.

Daylily Divided

I finished dividing Daylily today. There are no Stella D'Oro left in the Orange Lily Garden and no Combine Garden Daylily in the Nursery. I have Stella D'Oro in three spots in the Sun Gardens now and the orange is in three spots in that same garden as well as two spots in the Front House Garden. Tomorrow I will start dividing Iris. We are having company in the morning so I won't likely finish Iris until Sunday. I found the Dahlia above, 'Taratahi Ruby', blooming along the ground. She seems much happier since I lifted her up and another of her buds has opened in the last couple of days. The Sunflower 'Double Dandy' I seeded in the Combine Garden is blooming now. It is a dwarf Sunflower and could have been another layer closer to the front of the bed. Somehow, I was not able to imagine a two foot Sunflower when I was seeding. The darker hollyhock colours are starting to show up as well. I hadn't noticed last year that the lighter ones were early and the darker ones were late but that is definitely the way it was this year. I should try and remember to notice again next year. The perfect weather is still holding here and I am making the most of it in the garden.

Another Perfect Weather Day

I was digging all day. Dividing Daylily which is now all the way through the Sun Gardens. I have a little bit left to put in along the Front House Garden. I am really enjoying the orange out the front windows so I am going to add the Orange Daylily there tomorrow. I have a plan for finishing the Front House Garden this year but it doesn't quite include the pink Peony in the middle of it all. Somehow I will have to work that in with yellow but I have not exactly figured out how. I am sure it will come to me by the time I have planted out that far. I am so excited to be getting things done outside finally. The weather has really taken a turn for the better for me here. Tomorrow, I will be planting all the new Iris and dividing some as well. I also got the 'Kabitan' moved into the concrete block and the wilted division beside it is the Lamium from Calgary. It is already standing up and looking great now as is the white blooming I put next to the block with 'Fire & Ice' planted in it. The last garden chore on my list for tomorrow is to spread more of the groundcovers through the Sun Gardens and Front House Garden. I am spreading the less invasive ones into spots throughout now that all of the patches I have are big enough to divide. I decided to leave the Orange Daylily in the Combine Garden and am only moving the patches out of the Nursery. The Combine Garden Daylily are in full bloom and since I waited so long to see that, I don't want to dig it up. I was moving it from there into more sun so it would bloom, seems like I don't need to move it now. I will plan the other plants in that garden around the two patches of Daylily.

Settling In

I arrived home from Calgary a couple of days ago and all the dogs were happy to see me, particularly Penny and Summer. My garden is full of blooms and I have been wandering around in it several times a day.  I had a great visit with family, met the hawks that have nested in the yard there and the smallest frog I have ever seen. I brought home divisions from my cousin's garden, some of which are already in the ground. The rest will be in by dark today. I am waiting for the heat to die down a bit before going back out. I have planted Chinese Lantern which were given a huge space they can go nuts in. Also, Clematis which broke into two pieces on the trip home and will now, hopefully, be in two places in my garden. There is white lamium that is pink blooming, sedum 'Autumn Joy', dark purple Iris and something that looks similar to Brunnera with a pointy leaf which my cousin tells me blooms yellow. I have no idea what it is or if it is even my zone but she had a huge patch and it never hurts to try.