Chinese Dogwood

So much for my research. The latin name of this tree is Cornus kousa var chinensis. Apparently it is hardier than the Cornus kousa which is rated as hardy to Zone 6. It will grow to a height of 15 feet with a spread of 20 feet. Grows in full sun in well drained soil.

Chinese Dogwood

One of the dangerous things about going on a Garden Tour is that you frequently see a plant that just knocks you out and you must get one. Several years ago, one of the gardens that we featured in the KHS Garden Tour in July had a gorgeous tree with pink blooms on it. I discovered it was a Chinese Dogwood and although I had no room for one, I made note of the tree and did a little bit of research. A year or so later, I moved a Weeping Spruce that was in the wrong place or maybe I just found a better place for it. Now there was room for the Dogwood.

A trip to John's Nursery in Waterloo and I was the proud owner of a Chinese Dogwood. Unlike the one that I had seen earlier, this one had cream coloured flowers. The tree has grown a bit in the last few years and is certainly healthy. This year it is covered with flowers.

Oddly, the Cornus Chinensis is not listed in Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs nor is it in Trevor Cole's Gardening with Trees and Shrubs in Ontario, Quebec and Northeastern US. I'll have to do a little more checking to get you some info on the tree. I have it growing in full sun in well drained soil and it has survived these last 3 years in our Canadian Zone 5b/6a quite well.

Iris again

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In a corner of the yard that receives somewhat less sun than others, a tall bearded Iris that I can't remember planting has bloomed. Given my aptitude for colours, I would describe it as a peach coloured variety. I think it is quite lovely and will make sure that the area around it is kept quite clean after it blooms to ensure that I can enjoy at again next year.

The Siberian Irises have started to bloom too. Several clumps of the standard purple variety have opened - actually two more clumps than I planted origially. I guess these guys self seed as well if you let them. Another variety 'Butter and Sugar' or 'Sugar and Butter' will bloom a little later in the season.


Have you ever noticed how much 'time in the sun' can affect when a plant will bloom. Knowledge of this effect can help you lenghten the season for one of your favourite plants. 'Butter and Sugar' gets fewer hours of full sun than do the other Siberians and as a result there are a few weeks between when it and the others open. This is true, at least I've found it to be true for many of the plants I have around the garden.

Summer is here?

Can't be sure given the weather patterns, but I think Summer is finally here. The Peonies are beginning to bloom and for me that is a sign that Summer is finally here.

The Peony that you see in the attached photo is Nymphe, a single. I like single Peonies as the flowers are not as heavy as the larger doubles and are more likely to stay upright after a rain. The Nymphe was planted three years ago and this is the first year for a really spectacular show. Nymphe is described as a pink Peony, although I think it more rose than pink, that will grow to a height of 30 to 34 inches in full sun and well drained soil. With all of the rain that we have had this Spring, it has reached it's full height.

The nice thing about Peonies is that after the flowers are gone, you still have this nice clump of darker green foliage that is attractive throughout the summer. We have three other varieties that are yet to bloom and a fringe leafed Peony that is a harbinger of Spring.

Evergreens

I like Spring for many reasons and I was reminded of one of those reasons yesterday as I was running around doing errands.

At this time of the year as Spruce, Pine and even Larch are putting on new growth, the trees look as if they have just come from the hairdresser and had some tints put in their hair. You see the light green on the new candles darkening to the mid to dark green of the older growth. How gorgeous is that! In the case of the Larch, it is all new growth but what really attracts me to the Larch is the strawberry looking cones (colour and size) that begin to show a little later in the season.

Everything is so new and fresh and the colours are so vivid. What a wonderful time of the year!

Fragrance in the Garden

At this time of the year, I find fragrances in the garden particularly noticeable and inviting - you just want to linger. The other night, I was visiting someone's garden and as I walked up to the house there was this really welcoming smell. It wasn't until I was leaving that I realised that it was coming from the Snowball Vibernum. Wow, how nice it was.

I realise that for some people with allergies and some with particularly acute sniffers, garden fragrance may be troublesome, but for me, I love it. Not only does the garden smell really fresh in the morning but fragrant flowers make the morning so much better.

If you are like me and appreciate the different fragrances, there are many plants to choose from. In the early Spring, while I find the Hyacinths overpowering (we don't include them in our garden) there are the narcissus that have different levels of fragrance. We particularly like the little Thalias and Tete-a-Tetes but others are equally pleasant. Then come the flowering trees and shrubs such as the aforementioned Hydrangeas.

The summer brings oh so many more fragrant perennials and shrubs. Have you ever noticed how nice some of the Echinacea smell? Everyone knows about Lily of the Valley, Daphne and Roses, but what about Sweet Woodruff, Summersweet (Clethra), even Wormwood (Artemesia). And then there are the 'Climbers and Twiners'.

If you like fragrant plants, there are many to choose from and if you are creative, you can have something different for each part of the growing season

Iris borer

So now, how do you protect your tall bearded Iris from being destroyed by the borer.

In days gone by, we might have sprayed the rhizomes with rotenone or pyrethrum but now with the ban on pesticides, we need to find alternative methods. Some of us chose not to use pesticides in the past and used preventative methods. The best thing to do is simply to clean up your Iris stands once the Irises have finished their blooming.

In the Fall, you need to cut off the dead leaves (give the plants a mohawk style haircut) throw the leaves in the garbage, not the compost, as the leaves can harbour insect eggs. You could even dig up the plants, cut out old sections, divide the rhizomes and replant. You might even move the stand to a different part of the garden.

During the course of the year, I also examine the leaves and visible parts of the rhizome to try to safeguard the plants. If I see a hole in a leaf, I squeeze around the area in the leaf to kill any borer that is active in the plant. I have even taken a thin wire and run it down as far as I can into the hole to detroy any borer at work in the plant.