...and so it begins.

Spring has definitely arrived and I have been doing nothing but cleaning up in the yard after the animals and garden after our long but mild winter. It would seem a mild winter does not make less clean up in an early spring! It is probably a tie between these carnation in the sun garden and the sedum at the top of the stepping stone steps for which is further along. But everything is coming. Including the tarda with several shoots I can not yet identify. I saw evidence of the dwarf iris and moved all the fall rock piles so I will be able to see when the tulips arrive. Things are looking up in zone 3.

Bonus

Look what my viola are doing!

The Little Engine that Could

I am really impressed by this little spiderwort. It has been dug up and moved 5 times in 2 years yet here it is getting ready to bloom for the second time this season. Apparently, it has forgiven me for my fickle planting habits.

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.

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.

Changes

It has been a week of change here. Last week this view was all iris. This week, the iris are just about done but the roses, poppy and daisy have started. The buds make me think that by next week there will be daylily and spiderwort added to these blooms. My garden has never looked better. All the early flood water and later sunshine have really made a huge difference.

Sea of Pink

There are days that I wonder if we are ever going to be ready to list the house. Today was one of them. Intermittent sunshine with rainy periods, or rain with sunny periods.... all day. In and out of the garden. Wait for the rain to stop. Out again. Wait. In again. Wait. Ugh! Then, of course, there is this sweet scented sea of pink that I have to walk by everytime I go out into the garden to work. It is hard to walk by quickly so there was once or twice today that I was caught standing beside it in appreciation when the downpour started. Between stopping to smell the roses and stopping to wait for sunshine, not much got done outside today. Good thing there was a lot to do inside. Maybe I should go do some of it...

Firepit Garden

One of the biggest jobs in getting ready to sell our property has been making the firepit garden smaller. This is what I have reduced it to and I am very happy with the results. The Iris entry to the 'Therese Bugnet' roses is the entire garden with the exception of two small circular beds marking the yard entry on that side. Each circle has a 'John Cabot' climbing rose, Iris patch and short lily.

On the far side I have planted the Weigela 'Rumba', white Lamium, Cerastium in the concrete block, Forget-me-Not under the slide, red and white Pinks beside the rock and two Clematis to grow up the slide ladder, one on either side. The hot pink rose with Baby's Breath growing behind it marks the yard entry to the inside of the yellow iris and there is a 'Hope for Humanity' red rose just behind the Siberian Iris from this angle. Between the two roses are 2 Peony, Carnation, Daylily, Viola, Poppy and I left two of the tulip patches behind, one patch of 'Zurel' and one patch of 'Gavota'. All done... next job is to finish the little house yard where I have pulled up all of the grass and am replacing it with groundcover. Not quite all done there!

Tulips Missed

Well, it has been a long winter but my garden is coming up for another season now. This season, we hope to move and in preparation for that, I dug up all the tulips last fall and shipped them off to Linda. I knew there were many that I did not get because I decided on the plan too late in the season. I only stopped digging them because the ground froze. I guess it was a faulty plan! The tulips I missed are all starting to come up now. It would seem that I missed most, if not all, of the Zurel so there are huge patches of them poking through. I did surprisingly well on the others though. Not too many coming up that I have to deal with this year. I am not sure which varieties they are so I will have to pull out my map. Regardless, I am taking all the tulips. They are easy to move.

Cerastium in the Sun

If I recall it was Linda who told me that I should move my Cerastium that was here when moved in, into the sun. Wow! Was she right or what? I can't believe that I saved a little piece back in its' original shady spot just in case it didn't survive the move. I'd say it more than survived. I guess I'll move that little saved back piece out into the sun in the Spring.

A Beautiful Day

We finally have beautiful weather and I spent the day cleaning up the Front House Garden. I lifted the 'Hot Lips' Dahlia and one of the Calla 'Flame'. I also planted Egyptian Onion in the Front House Garden and Lamb's Ears by the slide to the house side of the new Clematis from Calgary.I figure it should shade the root and it is far enough in front that it shouldn't interfere with the Clematis. Both the Lamb's Ears and the Egyptian Onion are divisions from Judy's Garden. Looking forward to another good weather day tomorrow when it is supposed to get even warmer!

2011 Sun Garden Dahlia

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

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.

Beautiful Gardening Days

The dogs took turns following me around the garden today, mostly finding shade to lay in that was close enough to keep an eye on me in case I did something exciting. I planted some of the Calgary Purple Iris in the Sun Gardens to the shop side of the variegated Dogwood. The rest of the Calgary Purple are going in the Front House Garden tomorrow. I should be done all of the Iris tomorrow unless I find more to dig than I have on my list right now. That is always a possibility once I start digging in the Nursery. I also started to clear out the front bushline along the sidewalk across from the deck. I think it was originally a couple of trees and some Juniper that was rediscovered today. We have decided to clear it out until we can figure out what it was originally or until we get down to something we like. There is the added problem of landscape fabric which seems to run all under that area. I have been cutting it out as I dig but it would be nice to just go right through the whole area and get rid of what is left of it. I hate landscape fabric and curse the unknown person who put it down every time I find more. My Dahlia 'Ferncliff Fuego' is budding up as is 'Wine & Roses' so it looks like I will see at least 2 more in bloom this year. Late frost would mean even more because there are a lot of them starting to form buds now.

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.

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!

Ta Da !

I am finished planting all 110 divisions from Linda and Kelly's Garden! I will be keeping my eye on all of them for the rest of this season but it is already clear that the Meadowsweet, 'Looking Glass', Japanese Painted Fern, Artemesia, both Liatris and all of the Hosta are going to be fine. I am looking forward to this Spring and the surprise of which made it through the winter. I am expecting that all three Spirea as well as the 'Annabelle' Hydrangea will not make it. They look terrible and I think shrubs may require a little more tender care than any of these divisions got. Chicks are mostly lost but I did find two pulled up that I have replanted since that post so there are 3 surviving. Not sure if any of them are the same or if they are all different. The rest should come along. The purple Liatris opened white today. No change from the bud colour. That is the only really strange thing that happened with the big Nova Scotia plant exodus.

Chick Flicks

Although hard to see, there is a little chick in the centre of that photograph. Me and chicks have a long and tumultuous history. In my city garden, the crows used to pull them up and then leave them laying in my rock garden, root upwards, to bake in the sun and typically be not-quite-dead when I found them. Chicks never did turn into hens in my city garden. Out here, I have faithfully added chicks every year because they are my favorite groundcover, coming in so many varieties that I can grow in this zone. I even managed a few hens here. But, alas, it was not to be. Chicks and I are in for a stormy relationship again. Baby Hammy (who is the not-so-bright child of Hammy the Garden Squirrel) arrived this Spring and seems to have been abandoned by Hammy. I think Baby is so annoying that Hammy ran away to keep her sanity. Baby is, aside from really loud, a little slow. He is trying to nest in a bird feeder but that is another story, for another day. Back to me and my chicks. Baby loves chicks too. Not sure why but he uproots them and leaves them. I had replanted three of them more than once after finding he had uprooted them. I even tried moving some but he has recently been joined in his chick adventures by a trio of Magpie. They are pulling them up and carrying them away. I have witnessed it with my own eyes. This year, I got several new additions to my chick list when I went to visit Linda and Kelly. Kelly graciously offered me divisions from some of his most prized plants which included his Painted Fern I am happy to say is doing well, and several varieties of chicks. The little beauty featured above is Kelly's red and when they are hens, they are groundcover to be envied. Chicks rock! She is, however, my last chick. Between Baby pulling them up and Magpies carrying them away, I am counting myself lucky Kelly's red is still alive. Barely. Now, I know there are things I can do to discourage the wildlife in the garden. For one, I could stop doing all the things I am now doing to encourage them. The crows in the city were the only ones that ever made me consider that as an option. Truth is, I will just stop planting chicks and start planting patches of hens. Hens in patches seem to be able to hold their own against the garden terrorists and I would miss the visitors if the wildlife left my garden. Even annoying little Baby Hammy who has really managed to grow on me despite all the screaming. He doesn't really like anyone else in his garden and does like to communicate that to all visible dogs, cats, birds and people but there is a real fuss if another squirrel should try and drop by! It is all very entertaining so I guess the ticket price is a few chicks.

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.