for Andrea...

Oh, you are so lucky, Andrea but first... where are you going to store 700 of them for the winter? What a nice problem to have. Remember not to store them in a refridgerator with fruits and vegetables. It will ruin the glads by spring. I am new to glads myself but I really like them. I plant mine like tulips; 3, 5 or 7 all in one hole. That way they grow like tulips - in a patch, although, they look more like iris coming up. I find patches makes it easier to stake them too. I can just use a peony ring or tomatoe cage. I am not that fond of staking. Since glads bloom later in the season and last to frost, you can put them all through the garden just like spring bulbs. It makes it easier to lift them if they are planted together in big patches or in rows but I don't have enough to worry about that yet. I put them throughout my garden and have no trouble rounding them all up when it is time to lift in fall. If I had 700 though, I might consider using them for a border or even in a wavy line through the middle of the bed or border. Enjoy your glads and post photographs next season, I'd love to see them.

'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!

Three More Glads for Judy

Her's really did last so much longer than mine. She had three more blooming stalks today :)

Lift in Fall is Lifted!

Easy record notes today... it's done! Whoo Hoo!! Everything lift in fall is inside. All that is left is a few Iris and Lily to get in and a couple things to move if I don't run out of time. Then, of course, general clean up and the garden is put to bed for the Winter.

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.

Nerine Opening

My Nerine Bowdenii is opening and there are two!

Sunday, Fun Day

Today was an awesome day. The weather was beautiful as we seem to be getting our long awaited Summer this Fall. Better than +30 today but I wasn't keeping track so I don't know how much better. We went into the city for my Dad's Birthday Bash. A good time was had by all and I got great photos of smiling faces. Then we popped over to Gordon's and took photo's of Herb for him. Sean was there so we visited for a bit before heading home. I did manage to get the Henry Hudson Rose cutting in the ground, watered and mulched so now it is just cross my fingers until Spring on that one. Still drying Dahlia, Calla, Begonia and Ranunculus. Still more to dig. If we have many more days like this, it will be no problem. It has been absolutely perfect gardening weather for more than a week now. I am lovin' it!

Fall Work Begins

Well, I finally got started in my garden today with the Fall work. I got about half of the dahlia in pots lifted as well as the 'Raeann's Torch', 'Hot Lips', 'Ferncliff Fuego' and all of the gladiolus in the front garden and bird sanctuary. I planted the Lamb's Ears in Benedict's upper level where the Coleus 'Coco Loco' was pulled out. I also pulled out the Diascia that was with the Japanese Painted Fern and covered both Benedict's upper level and the Painted Fern with leaves. I started covering the lower level boardwalk garden with leaves as well and when it gets a little colder, I will put mulch bags on the Painted Fern and on the Boardwalk lower level Coral Bells.Tomorrow we have a brunch in town for my Dad's birthday which is the same as Sean's birthday so it will be a dual celebration. Sean is working all weekend so it will be our only chance to get together with him.

Garden Schedule Reminder

By Wednesday, all my lift in Fall tubers and bulbs need to be lifted. Not that I need a reminder but at this time of year, I tend to try hard to deny Winter is coming and have been caught digging in the snow in a previous Fall or two. This is to keep reminding me that there is a deadline that is not mine to set. I need to dig potatoes as well. Today was beautiful. +26, sunny and hard to imagine snow.

2011 Sun Garden Dahlia

Plant together: 'Ferncliff Midnight', 'Wine & Roses' and 'Kari Fruit Salad'

Frost Arrived

Good thing the Fall foliage is still so pretty because frost destroyed the garden last night. Spent the day cleaning that up. Dahlia will have to be dug next week. Calla will come in tomorrow.

Sunshine Today

No frost last night and sunshine today. The reward in my garden was that 'April Heather' opened all the way. The first bloom and a little beat up but I might not get a second bloom. It is getting much colder at night and there were at least 20 bees dying in the dahlia today. Only cold makes them slow down to a stop right in their tracks. I am grateful for every day now though. If we can manage no frost again tonight, I might see another new dahlia tomorrow.

Frost

Looks like my Dahlia story may be over for 2010. I picked today to watch the news and they say that if we don't get frost by the end of this weekend, we will definitely get it by next Friday. Apparently our current cold front is to be flollowed by a colder front. Unless we get at least 3 days of sun between then and now, I won't see any of those in bud before they frost kill. I was waiting for 'Ferncliff Midnight', 'April Heather', 'Sandia Showboat', 'Holly Huston', 'Yvonne', 'Hy Cutter' and 'Parkland Glory', all of which are all in various stages of bud today.

Lost Dahlia 2010

I have identified the first of my lost Dahlia. Bonesta was found in a pot that was not draining properly, of course rotted out. I am sure there are more to come because at least 2 more pots have nothing coming up.

Lift In Fall

I have always avoided `lift in fall` plants because of what I thought would be work. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that `lift in fall` didn`t mean more work, it just meant different work. That realization came with my first purchase of Dahlia that I decided to try and overwinter along with many varieties of Geranium. That was two winters ago. Both were successful for those two years and inspired me to go bigger this year, which is my usual reaction to success. I have been very happy with most of the new `lift in fall`plants performance in the garden. Calla Lily, for example, are beautiful and bloom for the whole season. All but the purple seem to change colour slowly with many of the yellow and orange becoming red by now. This makes them fit in with both the Summer palette of flowers and the Fall palette of foliage in my garden. I already know where all of the Calla are being planted next year. The welcome container above is being repeated to greet all visitors to the house. The `Crystal Blush` will be going in a single patch on the lower level of the bird sanctuary where I am plannning a pink and white colour scheme.

The Begonia `Golden Wave` have filled up the love bus quite nicely and the tubers produced three different flower forms and colours which all look great together. As well, I have only good things to say about all of the Dahlia. For all the success, there was also disappointment. Ranunculus had a poor showing in terms of flower numbers, Freesia has produced a lot of green but only one flower bud stalk and there are three or four others that didn`t show up at all beyond green. Anything that can be brought in, will be. I will hope for a better display of many next year before I decide to give up. Everyone deserves a second chance. The Begonia, Dahlia and Calla though... I hope they multiply quickly because I have lots of spots where I can see them growing. The bonus is that `lift in fall` turned out to be less work that some of the garden chores I do to maintain perennials. It is much easier than dividing Daylily, for example! Of course, dividing Daylily is not as critical. If I don`t get it done, the Daylily will come back next year for me to find the time then. The `lift in fall` plants would not survive the winter if I had a lazy Fall moment. Still, for this year, it seems worth the time.

Ranunculus and more

I lifted the Ranunculus today. It needs lifting as soon as it dies back or the claws will rot. Not sure I like that. Seemed like asking Fall to show up when I was lifting them. Although the flowers were pretty, there were only two of them. I will store them now and hope to get them in earlier next year. If that happens and the sun shows up next Summer in a way it didn't this Summer, maybe I will get a few more flowers from them. I also planted a seedling of the silver-leaf white blooming lamium and a division of the variegated sedum at the 'Fire & Ice' concrete block. Still have not got the Kabitan planted in the other block but I did find some Bouncing Bet which I had thought was lost. It showed up at the bushline along the back of the Orange Lily Garden. I am going to move it out into the Sun Gardens. Was a cool day in the garden and a little wet. Perfect day to weed though and I did plenty of that!

'Golden Wave'

I am really taken with these Begonia. So far, each of them is a different colour. The Coral and Lemon Yellow is amazing. This one looks pink and white but when I peek inside, it is solid lemon yellow. I can hardly wait to see what it is going to open into. They are tall and heavy so the wind has taken its' toll on them the last few days. I may have to stake them yet but have been resisting that so far. The problem is that if they drape down much more where they are, they will be encroaching on a dog path and that will have them broken pretty quickly. I am keeping my eye on them. Today was a perfect day for enjoying the garden without actually gardening. It was cool but not cold. Although there was a good amount of wind, there was no rain. The ground was wet from the last two days of rain though so no digging again today. I took advantage of that to run into the city so I don't have to do that tomorrow. It should be dry enough then if we don't get any rain tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

Last of the Calla Updates

The last of the Calla 'Flame' opened and it is pink. They were supposed to be a red, orange and yellow mix. Not sure how I got pink but Calla do seem to change colour as they age so I may see red, orange or yellow on it yet and if not, pink is a bonus. The lemon yellow in front is turning red and a new lemon opened in one of the deck pots. Unless I have forgotten one somewhere, this should be the last surprise for Calla this season. Since they were all new this year, this will be their first winter in storage here. I have not tried to overwinter Calla before so wish me luck. I would be overjoyed if they all made it. I have a big plan for next year involving a patch of Crystal Blush that is going to look spectacular.

Hot, lazy days

The Calla 'Flame' red and yellow at the boardwalk continues to change. It is getting more red in it and where the colours blend, it is turning orange. Another hot day today. I couldn't even do the entire garden tour with the camera in one go. Had to break up the enjoyment. The coreopsis decided to open. It is as tall as the pinks now. Hopefully next year, it will gain some height.

Deck Views

Two views from the deck. Well, actually two angles of the same view. The one above is the view from my chair on the deck. There is a tree that blocks my view of the 'Hope For Humanity' rose in the second shot. The dahlia all got in very late this year due to the rainy season. They are short but starting to open now. Another week or ten days and everything to the left of the roses will be covered in blooms of almost every colour. I was feeling impatient today so I thought I'd take a 'before the dahlia' shot.