Up close to the house, there are three daffodils in bloom this morning. They appear to be the trumpet Narcissus Mount Hood which is one of the earliest to bloom in our garden. These daffodils are fragrant and when you go into the garden early in the morning, it is quite noticable.
Late last year, I had dug up an area of the garden that had several large clumps of Thalias in it and I thought I had replanted and given away all of the ones that I had dug up but I see that there are a few bulbs lying on top of the soil. What blows me away is that these bulbs are actually growing. They have all put out some greenery and a couple of them have put roots into the soil.
When we first planted the Thalia we planted a couple of dozen around the yard but these little narcissi are so prolific that we have large clumps now with at least 50 bulbs in each clump and have given hundreds away over the years.
Soil conditions in our yard must be perfect for the narcissi as the clumps have grown quite large and been divided many times over the years. There was only one year when the Spring was particularly wet and we lost some, primarily the white varieties, but since then they have multiplied quite prolificly.
In addition to the two varieties already mentioned we have, King Alfred, Stainless, Ice Follies, Tete a tete, and a few others. Mixed in with the tulips, they really brighten up the yard in Spring.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Scilla and toxic plants
I can't recall ever planting these bulbs but every year these bulbs are among the first to bloom. There are the light blue flowers with a splash of white and then too there are the very dark blue flowered Scilla clumps that appear throughout the garden. It is interesting to note that many of the earliest of flowers to appear in the yard are blue.
Last night, the Kitchener Horticultural Society heard Dr Jonathan Schmidt speaking at the Kitchener Public Library on Myth, Mystery and Magic in the Garden. He gave a very interesting presentation and answered questions for about a half hour.
He concentrated on some of the toxic plants in nature and in the garden and some of the myths that follow some of these plants. We learned about plants that could be hazardous to our health and others that could cause skin irritations and how some of these plants had been and are being used well and dangerously by medical practitioners. One plant for example that has been used to break down the skin cells in warts has also been used by one Doctor in the US on melanoma and not only did it have little affect on the skin cancer, it also disfigured the individuals on which it was tried. The Doctor is currently being sued by patients.
We also learned how some toxic plants are cleverly used by insects to make themselves distasteful and toxic to potential predators. One interesting tidbit is that sweet woodruff is toxic to rabbits. I think I'll enlarge the patch I have in the garden, put up a welcome sign for our neighbourhood rabbit. I may even crush some up and put out a dish for the rabbit too.
Two plants that he mentioned that we have eliminated from our home and garden because of the toxicity are Oleander and Monkshood. Two others that have never been introduced to the garden for the same reason are Datura and Castor Bean. We love our grandchildren and pets too much to take the chance.
Last night, the Kitchener Horticultural Society heard Dr Jonathan Schmidt speaking at the Kitchener Public Library on Myth, Mystery and Magic in the Garden. He gave a very interesting presentation and answered questions for about a half hour.
He concentrated on some of the toxic plants in nature and in the garden and some of the myths that follow some of these plants. We learned about plants that could be hazardous to our health and others that could cause skin irritations and how some of these plants had been and are being used well and dangerously by medical practitioners. One plant for example that has been used to break down the skin cells in warts has also been used by one Doctor in the US on melanoma and not only did it have little affect on the skin cancer, it also disfigured the individuals on which it was tried. The Doctor is currently being sued by patients.
We also learned how some toxic plants are cleverly used by insects to make themselves distasteful and toxic to potential predators. One interesting tidbit is that sweet woodruff is toxic to rabbits. I think I'll enlarge the patch I have in the garden, put up a welcome sign for our neighbourhood rabbit. I may even crush some up and put out a dish for the rabbit too.
Two plants that he mentioned that we have eliminated from our home and garden because of the toxicity are Oleander and Monkshood. Two others that have never been introduced to the garden for the same reason are Datura and Castor Bean. We love our grandchildren and pets too much to take the chance.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Iris reticulata
The very first flower to bloom in my garden was the Iris reticulata. The cover of Patrick Lima's The Harrowsmith Perennial Garden: Flowers for Three Seasons is a photo of these little Irises peeking through the snow. Last week, prior to our last snowfall, when I went out into the garden I found some in bloom. As it was late in the day, I decided to wait until the following day to take a photo. During the night we had quite a snowfall and I thought that these little flowers would be done for but once the snow melted there they were.
Our irises produce a deep blue, almost purple coloured, flower that is really quite exquisite with its little strip of yellowish orange. Nature has a wonderful way of decking out its plants with colours that perfectly complement one another.
I can recall year's ago as I was just becoming interested in gardening, a colleague told me in April that she had some Irises blooming. I was adamant that they couldn't be Irises as Irises bloomed later in the Summer. Wrong, I discovered! What a lovely little flower to announce Spring. Now we have little clumps of these flowers throughout the Garden.
Like Patrick Lima, I keep planning to divide the clumps so that I can have even more clumps throughout the yard, but as the Summer rolls on I forget to follow up. One day perhaps. We have some planted in a small well drained rock garden while the rest are located in a bed in the middle of the backyard and come up through some very low lieing perennials.
Our irises produce a deep blue, almost purple coloured, flower that is really quite exquisite with its little strip of yellowish orange. Nature has a wonderful way of decking out its plants with colours that perfectly complement one another.
I can recall year's ago as I was just becoming interested in gardening, a colleague told me in April that she had some Irises blooming. I was adamant that they couldn't be Irises as Irises bloomed later in the Summer. Wrong, I discovered! What a lovely little flower to announce Spring. Now we have little clumps of these flowers throughout the Garden.
Like Patrick Lima, I keep planning to divide the clumps so that I can have even more clumps throughout the yard, but as the Summer rolls on I forget to follow up. One day perhaps. We have some planted in a small well drained rock garden while the rest are located in a bed in the middle of the backyard and come up through some very low lieing perennials.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Containers in the garage (cont'd)
No sooner did I move the containers out of the garage, than the temperature dipped again! Not wanting to drag them back into the garage, I put the containers close together and covered them all with a tarp.
It brought back memories of a local dentist who priveleged me with a tour of his garden many years ago. He had one of the largest collections of Hostats that I had ever seen with many of the hostas in containers.He had so many containers that they never would have fit in his garage, nor mine for that matter. When I asked what he did with his plants in Winter, he told me that he kept them outside. He said that he would put them all on the deck, cover them completely with a tarp, and either nail it down or tie it down so that the tarp would be held tightly over the containers.
He said that over the years, he lost only a couple of containers and plants and that was only once when the tarp had come loose and lifted off the plants. Snow has accumulated in the container, had melted a bit and then frozen causing the pots to crack and the plants to succumb to the elements.
The dentist claimed to have close to 600 different hostas and knowing that my hostas are often sought out by the neighbourhood slug gang, I asked how he protected his plants. Easy he said, I pick them off. 600 different hostas (and this was not counting duplicates) I thought. Pick them off, I thought. Hmmmm, I thought, I do not want to have more than about 50 hostas at the most and I will have to find an alternative to picking them off.
It brought back memories of a local dentist who priveleged me with a tour of his garden many years ago. He had one of the largest collections of Hostats that I had ever seen with many of the hostas in containers.He had so many containers that they never would have fit in his garage, nor mine for that matter. When I asked what he did with his plants in Winter, he told me that he kept them outside. He said that he would put them all on the deck, cover them completely with a tarp, and either nail it down or tie it down so that the tarp would be held tightly over the containers.
He said that over the years, he lost only a couple of containers and plants and that was only once when the tarp had come loose and lifted off the plants. Snow has accumulated in the container, had melted a bit and then frozen causing the pots to crack and the plants to succumb to the elements.
The dentist claimed to have close to 600 different hostas and knowing that my hostas are often sought out by the neighbourhood slug gang, I asked how he protected his plants. Easy he said, I pick them off. 600 different hostas (and this was not counting duplicates) I thought. Pick them off, I thought. Hmmmm, I thought, I do not want to have more than about 50 hostas at the most and I will have to find an alternative to picking them off.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Containers in the garage
I have loads of containers that I store in the garage over the Winter that I haul out in the Spring. In addition to the containers that are used for tender perennials and annuals, there are a bunch that have perennials in them. There are even a couple that have shrubs and trees. As temperatures start to warm up, you can see the perennials start to show that they are waking for another year. I noticed some green a couple of days ago and so it was time to take them out again. This is the earliest that I have done this.
Most of the containers are light enough that I can carry them out but a few are quite heavy and I slide them onto an old plastic toboggan - they are even too heavy to lift onto a rugged metal dolley that I have. Once outside, I water them and leave them to deal with the weather. If I know that the weather is going to plummet for a few days, I get them close to the house where they will be somewhat protected and even cover them with black plastic.
Later in the Spring, I'll divide the perennials that need dividing and repot if necessary. One of the trees I had in a container was a standard Weigelia that I planted in the garden last year as it was getting too big to be continually moving in and out of the garage. Here's hoping it survived. Another that may be given a permanent location in the border this year is a Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet). It too is beginning to outgrow the container. Both plants had been in containers for at least the past 5 years without any repotting or change of soil without ill effect. Now, what to do with the Amur Maple.
Containers that I generally plant annuals in will have the soil changed in hopes that the plants growing in the basement will be ready for Spring and will provide another good showing.
The Horticultural Society is again going to run its container contest this year with the prize being a $50 gift certificate at the Nursery of your choice. Don't forget to take advantage of the Nurseries from whom we receive discounts. So get those thinking caps on, and plan that magnificent container that is going to WOW the judges.
Most of the containers are light enough that I can carry them out but a few are quite heavy and I slide them onto an old plastic toboggan - they are even too heavy to lift onto a rugged metal dolley that I have. Once outside, I water them and leave them to deal with the weather. If I know that the weather is going to plummet for a few days, I get them close to the house where they will be somewhat protected and even cover them with black plastic.
Later in the Spring, I'll divide the perennials that need dividing and repot if necessary. One of the trees I had in a container was a standard Weigelia that I planted in the garden last year as it was getting too big to be continually moving in and out of the garage. Here's hoping it survived. Another that may be given a permanent location in the border this year is a Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet). It too is beginning to outgrow the container. Both plants had been in containers for at least the past 5 years without any repotting or change of soil without ill effect. Now, what to do with the Amur Maple.
Containers that I generally plant annuals in will have the soil changed in hopes that the plants growing in the basement will be ready for Spring and will provide another good showing.
The Horticultural Society is again going to run its container contest this year with the prize being a $50 gift certificate at the Nursery of your choice. Don't forget to take advantage of the Nurseries from whom we receive discounts. So get those thinking caps on, and plan that magnificent container that is going to WOW the judges.
Ponds
I don't know how hard you work at keeping your ponds clean but I actually remove the water lillies and other plants that I overwinter in the pond each Spring. I do this so that I can divide, repot, add more soil and fertilise the plants. And the first few times I did this, I had to drain a significant amount of water out of the pond so that I could reach down to grab the containers. "This is nuts" I thought, what could I do to make the job easier.
As a wine drinker, I have a good supply of corks that I could fasten to something that would make it easire for me to pull the containers up to where I could grab them. So I got some whipper snipper cord (won't deteriorate in the water) that I attached to the container (3 strands). I made the pieces long enough so that the cork I attached to the other end of the linked pieces would float on the surface of the pond. Ugly looking you say! Not so says I if you have 2/3rds of your pond covered with foliage. The corks are hidden and just sit there waiting for next Spring when it is time to clean up again.
As a wine drinker, I have a good supply of corks that I could fasten to something that would make it easire for me to pull the containers up to where I could grab them. So I got some whipper snipper cord (won't deteriorate in the water) that I attached to the container (3 strands). I made the pieces long enough so that the cork I attached to the other end of the linked pieces would float on the surface of the pond. Ugly looking you say! Not so says I if you have 2/3rds of your pond covered with foliage. The corks are hidden and just sit there waiting for next Spring when it is time to clean up again.
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