iBlog

With my new iPhone I can garden blog on the go with the Blogger app. Sweet.

iPhone camera foxgloves:

Dear Garden Diary,

Today is a foggy, autumn day in Thunder Bay.
All the leaves that were on the trees last week are now blanketing our garden, the streets, and sidewalks - I hear people crunching by as I type with mittens up above on this lovely balcony.

Below me, the front garden is on fire with colour. The cotoneaster is a rainbow of reds, oranges, and green - with little black berries speckled all over.
The elder is a popping shade of lime with other greens of hostas and lungwort - even the yellowed, hostas add some flare to the canvas.

In the backyard, the sumac is also wildly aglow.

a tree in the churchyard below
across the street

This year it seems Autumn has been particularly vibrant and long lasting. The colours everywhere are incredible - I'm happy I've enjoyed so much, soaking it all in from my balcony perches, trail rides, Sunday drives, and tree farms.

a Sunday drive on the Sleeping Giant
to Silver Islet in September

Indian Summer

It was a beautiful ride along the trails this morning. Even though it seems most of the leaves have fallen (so many are on the ground, blowing down our street) there are still a few trees hanging on to their colour, which are stunning.

There was some debate over the Willow Springs bird's face at the the TBAG, with some thinking it was a little creepy. Personally, I think it's charming. The face, to me, is something out of a Grimm novel, full of character. I can only imagine the things that go on there when nobody's looking.

 On the way home, a stop at the farmer's market on Memorial: with pumpkins galore,

and apples for cider, and apples for pie, apples for crumble, apples for caramel...

Eggplant (I don't really like to eat eggplant,
but I like to grow them because they're very photogenic).

I wish these days would last a little bit longer. ...

The Autumn

Autumn is upon us, and from the back balcony toward the Great Lake I can see a vibrant Mountain Ash celebrating the season. To think: this is downtown.

The tree tops all around me are gorgeous - from the front balcony it's a blaze of oranges and yellows, with some left on the trees and the rest lining the curbs of the street. There are a few trees in town I'd like to stalk for the coming week, to capture them in full glory. 

 The recreational trails are so beautiful this time of year,

even my cruiser couldn't resist a little off-roading.

my favourite TBay tree in Autumn
Oliver Road
2 October 2011

yellow brick road

4 October 2011

While enjoying my morning mug of coffee on the back balcony this morning, a new plan for the garden came to me. Rethinking the proximity of the dog run to the vegetables, as well as sun exposure, I simplified the plan by bringing the new vegetable garden toward the house, next to the current kitchen garden. My previous plan seems ridiculous to me now, and complicated. I don't know why this didn't come to me in the first place.

In the new plan the fence is simplified - the whole east side of the garden, deck & Barbecue Central included, will be fenced off with two gates: one to the path to the vegetable gardens, deck and barbecues, the other to the clean, dog-free grass. When the dogs are being well behaved (ha ha) they will be able to join us on the grass, or R at the barbecues, maybe even nibble on a cherry tomato or two...but otherwise will have nowhere to go but through their forest and to the dog run at the back of the yard.

A little bit of mulch around the edge of the path to keep from overcrowding the walkway, and along the fence, to keep it neat (perhaps a few dainty sweet peas along the fence each year, keep it simple). To separate the vegetable garden from the grass and the sunny perennials: a brick path. I've always loved the look of a reclaimed brick path in the garden. Why not in yellow brick... ?

Years ago, before satellite radio at the greenhouse, there was a CD player. Every CD I created for us to listen to had a recording of Somewhere Over the Rainbow; it became expected. From Mary Lou Williams in Montreal, to Art Tatum, Dick Hyman, Stanley Jordan, to Chucho Valdez - I still have them all in an SOTR folder. How fitting that I meet a man who takes a yellow brick road home to Oz each year, and together we aim to reconcile our love for dogs and gardens in a small downtown plot. I'm sure we can find some yellow brick at the ReStore.

If we do that, I'm definitely going to have to find some Narcissus 'Lemon Drops' for the garden.