Quick Note....

The Phlox is 'David' and is blooming now. The lily from Linda are all planted and mapped. Orange are in the nursery. Prairie Coneflower seeds are harvested and half are delivered, just have to mail to Linda. Watered today because I stopped believing the forecast since this is the fourth day of forecasted thundershowers and not a drop of rain. Decided the sprinkler would be more reliable in the heat we have been having in the afternoons. Everything is wilting out there and the river is overflowing so we can probably swing a little guilt free irrigation.

Frogs!

With all the flood waters this year, I have had an unusual number of frogs in my gardens. I have always had the odd frog show up in the sun gardens which are the closest gardens to the river. This is the first year that I have had frogs in the bird sanctuary garden and at the little house. The little house is normally a good distance from the river. Far enough that frogs don't venture there. This year though, they are everywhere and I come upon them often in the garden. When I get close, they get perfectly still. It makes taking photos of them easy and they love it when I am watering. Sometimes I talk to them quietly. I don't want Summer to notice them because it usually shortens their life expectancy pretty severely.

Jake on the Glass Truck

His favourite thing to do is climb in or on vehicles and he especially likes it when a new vehicle stops by that he can explore so I am not sure why he is looking so angry. Unless it is because I was trying to get him down just before I grabbed the camera. The glass truck didn't seem the safest place for him to explore but once I discovered he was too high for me to reach up there, taking photos seemed to be the next best option.

King of the Castle

Sometimes it is important to be king... even if you are the only one in the castle!

What's Missing?

The big space in the middle at the back will be an Ostrich Fern patch next year. I just planted all the root last week. It should fill that space nicely and make it so the Solomon Seal is not the only tall plant back there. So I have named this previously unnamed path... path to the fern. Seems odd this year when you can't actually see the fern but it works for me and it will remind me next year not to step on them before they are up.

The path to the fern is made of Bill's painted stepping stones. The sun is the first stone and is my favourite of the painted stones. Although the columbine stone runs a very close second.

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.

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.

'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!

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.

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.

More Roses

It is definitely the season for roses and both Judy and I have many blooming in our gardens now. I have 5 rose shrubs that need to be replanted so I have decided to start a new rose garden in the unplanted circle at the end of the house at the front. Right now the circle contains two peony; one light pink and one dark, both double. Since all the roses I have to plant are pink or yellow, I am going to add them to that spot and have a new rose garden. It should solve the yearly weed problems there too. Today I finished the fence side of the path in the bird sanctuary and I also did about half the weeding in the Combine Garden before it was too sunny to keep working and I abandoned it until tomorrow morning. While I was weeding there, I came upon an empty hummingbird nest. It was just like the one from last year... full of Suzy and Sandy's molt hair forming a fuzzy, downy bed inside. Too cool. I found a mutant hollyhock in that garden too but did not get a picture before I lost the light. I will try to remember that for tomorrow when I am over that way.

Roses & Coyotes

We finally finished uncovering all of Judy's roses and found this little beauty today, rose 'Remember Me'. It is my favourite orange rose to date and if it ever sends out a sucker, there will be one in my yard. I am willing to wait. It was also a day of Coyotes. I came around the corner after the metal shop to see 5 Coyotes with breakfast. One of them grabbed the breakfast and ran North while the other 4 took off South. I am sure they got back together after I drove by or one of them had a really big breakfast! It was very cool though. I often see them in pairs but never before in a pack.

Dragonfly

I love dragonflies! I think it is unfortunate that in most cultures where they appear, they are associated with evil and the devil, often seen as sinister. I prefer to agree with the Japanese culture where they are held in better regard, being seen as symbols of courage, strength and happiness. The shape of the archipelago of Japan, as seen on a map, is said to be that of a dragonfly. One of my favourite songs is Ziggy Marley's Dragonfly, which is worth a listen for the lyric alone but the music will have you bopping. Of course, the benefit of the dragonfly in a garden is obvious. Anything that feeds primarily on mosquitos is always welcome in my garden. That is why I was so happy this morning to find dragonflies swarming in our yard. It started yesterday when was walking Mikaela and it seemed like there were a bunch of dragonflies following us all along the summer road. Then, this morning on our walk, I realized that it was not that they were following us but rather, that they were everywhere. Not just along the summer road but all over the acreage. I am sure they would have been counted in the thousands. Brown-gold with translucent wings shimmering in the sunlight.  Although there were several powder blue damselflies among them, the dragonflies definitely stole the show.

A job complete!

Since we decided to move, my "to do" list has grown to 8 pages. 6 of those pages are big jobs that require a lot of time. Many of those jobs are the kind that need to be done in a specific order. A few of them also involve waiting on tradesmen and ordered materials. So it is rare these days that I can say I have completely finished a job. The excitement of that has me madly typing a post on my coffee break before I go dig up more tulip. I am happy to say that the sun gardens are completely finished. Nothing left to do but stay on top of any new weeds and since that can't be done before new weeds grow, I think I can officially say we have one job complete.

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.

Lone Agastache

When we moved here, there were several Golden Agastache planted in the lower level boardwalk. This spot was mostly shade with very little sun shining through to it. After the first season, all that came back was this lone plant growing out from the crack between two rocks. I have tried to move it to a happier place several times but it never comes back where I move it to and it always comes back in this spot. Again this year, he has appeared here. Apparently this is his favorite spot in the garden and if he is going to stay, this is where he wants to stay. So now I have resigned myself to accepting that and all I do is wish him luck each spring when he starts to poke through. At least his flowers fit in here.

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!

Field Fish

This is our back field right now. The bushline on the left follows the river and is just on the other side of the river from where I am standing to take this photograph. The tank on stilts in the back centre is on the same side of the river as I am standing so the river winds back from the bushline. Typically, you cannot see the river from where I am standing because the bank is deep along here and you would have to be at the edge, looking down, to see the water. Recently, I mentioned that the flood waters have brought water wildlife into the yard. I never expected that it would fill our back field with fish!

They gather in groups of more than 4 and then create quite a spectacle with their splashes. They are beautiful and not shy about getting up close and personal either.

We spent the afternoon wading in the water and taking photographs and video. It is incredible and I have never seen anything like it. They are very distracting because even when you decide to stop watching them, everywhere you go in the yard you hear their splashes calling you to come watch some more. Seems were are destined for all kinds of new memories before we leave.

All Grown Up !

Baby Hammy is all grown up. We are going to have to come up with a new name for him, I think. He still visits everyday and now that the weather is finally nice, he practically lives in the bird sanctuary out the dining room window. He likes to chase Magpie and scream at cats. His personality has not mellowed with his age. We enjoy him anyway.

Dog Fight

I have no clue what happened or how but last night Summer and Maggie broke into a dog fight, right at my feet, that brought Didi and Moxie running to help. It was definitely mayhem. Fortunately, none of the other dogs felt the urge to jump in but still, Miles and I both hurt our backs in the fight break up process and both Maggie and Didi were injured. Didi ended up getting the worst of it but I think she will be alright. She has a puncture wound on her neck that I am cleaning, disinfecting and checking twice a day. Any sign of infection and she will be off to the vet. Maggie seems to be doing better than her but also has two small puncture wounds. They already look like they are healing up though. The terriers are relentless, even when it is so clear to us that they are the most likely to get hurt in these situations. Summer seems to have suffered less damage than even I did. Moxie is unhurt but did manage to bite my finger. There was blood everywhere in the kitchen/dining/living rooms and most of it was mine! We are spending the day recovering. I hope a day will be enough for that.

In the Garden Today

Miles found this little guy resting in the garden and had to save him from Summer. Spring is everywhere with all kinds of returning friends who were gone all winter. There are crocus opening in my garden today and the daffodils and tulips are starting to bud up. Still no tarda buds but I am watching. Today I started to dig up the plants for the sale. I immediately discovered I need a ton more pots! Guess a trip to Judy's shed is in on my list for tomorrow. There is a lot to dig and the weather is more than cooperating... sunny and warm all day today.

Muskrat Sam

The lake that used to be our back field has shrunk to become a very large pond and Sam has moved in. I have no idea how Sam pulled this move off with Tuk in our yard and his famous hatred of anything Muskrat. Yet, here is Sam, happily munching away and no Tuk to be seen. I have noticed that Sam does not tend to show himself in the early morning or mid-afternoon which is when Tuk is typically doing yard patrol rounds. However, once Tuk goes inside to nap, Sam can be seen swimming all over the pond. Still no ducks nesting and we have been actively discouraging that. We have been chasing the ducks away and as much as I hate doing that it is better than the alternative which would be baby ducks in the yard when the water does go down. The last time we had baby ducks in the yard, Summer brought me one a day until they were all gone. It took seven days. My heart broke for the Momma duck but there was really no stopping Summer despite our best efforts. That, along with the barn swallow couple that lost their nest (including babies) to Jake the same year, convinced us to chase away birds trying to nest right in the yard... before the babies arrived. So far, so good this year. 

Aberdeen Tarda

My Tarda Tulip are the furthest along in my garden today. They are always the first of the bulbs to bloom and they go for a good long time for a bulb, producing flowers that bud up green, blending in with the foliage so that you almost miss them until they open up wide... bright, sunny yellow, with a pure white edge. The foliage itself is also special. A bright green with a thin red edge that let's me know the patch is Tarda long before the buds arrive. The red can be seen on the tips of the leaf even when barely peeking out of the soil. My Tarda were in the garden at Aberdeen Street when we moved in. A small patch off the back step. From that original patch, I have given them to Judy, Linda, my Aunt Marilyn and then moved some here. Although I left the original little patch on Aberdeen, it has spread from there into my garden in the valley and all the way to Nova Scotia. I have decided not to take most of my garden with me since the timing of the move would have me doing nothing but planting this year once I arrive. I think I will be busy enough without an acre of plants to get into gardens I am not familiar with. Even so, there are a few exceptions that are coming with me. The Tarda are among them. Bulbs will be quick to plant... or so I keep telling myself!

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.

Sleeping Dogs

Some days you just know it's better to let sleeping dogs lay. The dogs were all worked up today and had several little skirmishes over nothing. Cabin fever was setting in. Then, this afternoon, the sun came out, the temperature went up and the dogs all headed outside. Energy drained and back in by dark. The warm afternoon made a huge difference. With luck, we will have a few more of those throughout the real cold snaps that January usually brings.

Sorting

Sorting beanies and buddies today. We have 11 rubbermaid bins of them and want to get it down to 1 or 2 to take. Hopefully we will be successful but now that we have dug them out, there seem to be a lot that we want to keep.

Dog Watching

Solomon, as usual, with his shadow MoeMoe. They were bird watching on the window sill until Maggie and Didi started a commotion inside that caused them to switch to dog watching. All of the cats are just waiting for spring. They are constantly at the windows and poking their heads out the door but not wanting to actually step into the snow. It is OK now but by spring they will be wailing up and down the halls with impatience for the grass.

Bows, Ribbons, Paper & Bags!

Can you believe that once it was all pulled out, sorted and added up... I had almost $400.00 worth of wrapping stuff?!? Spent the day sorting and getting things ready to sell. The more I go through it, the less I want to haul out to Nova Scotia. Really thinking of selling everything except the couch, ottoman and table. It would be nice if all we had to move was that, us and the dogs.

Peace

One of the fun side effects of packing... I am finding all kinds of things I like :)

Dr. Seuss

For some reason, he always makes me think of a Dr. Suess illustration when he sleeps like this.

Bluejay Stops

The Bluejay arrived the day before yesterday. He usually only stays 3 or 4 days before he is on his way. Miles was able to catch him through the window this morning.

Winter Rays

The little girls already do not like the winter weather. They stay inside a lot more than even a week ago. The only sunray they could find to share was on the dining room floor.

Amazed

I am stunned and amazed at how little I want to take and how easy it is to let go of everything. I am so looking forward to so much less clutter! I only have one bookshelf left to go through and all the books are packed in less than 3 full boxes... I should get away with only 4 total. Considering how many books I had, that is real accomplishment!

Sunset

The time change must have confused me and midnight came and went! This was today's photograph though not quite what I had hoped. By the time I noticed, the light was really changing so I had to take it from the deck with the branches in the way. Sunset out the kitchen window... bright pink sky and the fields were all orange-gold. It was prettier than this but you get the idea.

You might ask...

...what ever happened to step 1b but we are all over the place! Jumped forward all the way to step 5 and went to Sean's today. This gate and yard clean up are on the list for tomorrow. Feels like we are getting tons done... I hope the weather doesn't break for awhile.

Tools!

Skipped to step 2 and all the photographs today were of tools. Ticking off the "to do" list we got most of the tools sorted. Feeling progress all around me. Miles' dead car was picked up today. After two years on the drive, it looks empty out there now but since that was step 3, we are flying through the tasks ;)

We will definitely be ready for spring with yard clean up.

For Sale

Moving along with the "to do" list, I got the car washed and photographs taken today. Put plates on it for another month. Tomorrow we will clean the inside and post it for sale. Step 1a complete ;)

Another Garden To Go

We are listing our property this spring and as can be expected, my garden is too big! Anyone who is not a gardener would have a hard time keeping up to the size so everything in this photograph that is garden, has got to go. In this view, that includes the fence. Looks like I have busy days already lined up for spring!

Cool Story, Short Article

This seemed like the kind of thing I'd want to share on a blog :)  Enjoy!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101104/national/lotto_millions_gone

Books!

...and magazines. That and cleaning up in the yard were on my agenda for today. The littlest stack is coming to you, everything in front of it is sell/donate and everything beyond is coming with us. It was two boxes of books so far and I think maybe one more to go. If we have under 4 boxes of books to go, I will be happy with that. Kind of fun going through my books, and that the snow has melted :)

Coffee Anyone?

Ran out of K-cups today and we are two days from a trip to town so I hauled out the coffee pot. This is the first pot of coffee I have made in a couple of years... nice to know I remembered how though :)

Out of Control

My "to do" list has gotten totally out of control! Do you know how much there is to do? Yikes!

Happy Halloween!

Oh my gosh, his face has caved in!! We had some fun with the 'tickle trunk' this evening ;)

Happy Halloween!