Gardening?

Gardening. I do think about it, and what I might do with this new yard of ours. I think that in about twenty-five years we'll have established, somewhat, a garden carefully planted and sort of sustainable. These things always change, as we know.

I'd like to know more about the history of the yard. I know that Dr. Ballantyne kept a rose garden in the NE corner... that is something worth researching.

The current arrangement is ...weird. No, not weird... it's as if someone used some kind of landscape software that mechanically plunked perfectly shaped perfectly boring shrubs in a perfectly boring pattern. Yeah, it looks nice, neat... too neat. Definitely not the jungle style of amygardenerd's blazed trail of past gardens around town.

The only thing that is good about it, in my mind...is very good - the trees. I'm in love with every tree on this property. Again, somebody carefully planned the planting of these trees, but this time I approve. A few maples, a very busy Mountain Ash, and that oak tree out front that has been the focus of my meditation when I'm trying to remind myself to breathe. In spring I'll start documenting them, start doodling some more maps of our outdoor space. I've never had so many trees - so many beautiful trees - to be responsible for, which makes me feel a little bit excited.

The trees are all nicely placed - with the exception of a little scraggly (ash?) out front. See, I really don't know my trees well enough. I have to get better at that. In autumn their colours put on a flawless performance, everyone in tune and complimenting the seat next to them. Spring should be just as good. Understandable how Vivaldi was inspired.

I'm going to call on Urban Greenscapes and the local plantcycle to help find new homes for any shrubs that are removed. Because I'm not entirely sure what the plan is yet - or even a semi plan, or a clue.. I'm not going to do any massive transformation of any bed. There are enough open spaces in the existing beds - large spaces that were filled (dotted perfectly) with yellow marigolds and random wispy cosmos unable to stand up in the wind up here on the hill.
I have photos somewhere of the perfect grids of marigolds, but I really don't want to face my photos folder right now - I'll did those up someday for a laugh.

I've been meaning to call Laura (hi..) .. I'm hoping she can help me with some division and relocation. There are some plants (okay, a lot of plants) at Pearl that I want to have, but I also want to preserve what's there. There are a lot of friends who could use a good division or quartering (that sounds horrible) - and if I could face the house maybe we could organize a plant sale.. *shrug*...
I really don't think I'll be able to go back there until I can see the house full with another family. That awful swirling dizzy feeling swooshes over me and through my body when I think of the air that morning, the last time I was there....the trees, Heather wishing congratulations through Rohan's driver side window as we raced off to the hospital in labour with Finn. The last time I was there, Finn was still safe inside me.
I don't want to see the house empty. Everything about it confuses my memory-reality-mixup in my head - was I really pregnant? Did all that really happen?
I can't go back to the house. Not now...I don't know when..

I'm going to bring my John Davis rose, of course, ...though I don't know where to put him yet. This new space isn't going to be as kind to him as his current space. The problem is, his current space is almost a little too kind, and he can get a little carried away. A garden person/family may not mind, but I suspect most people don't want long reach thorny branches poking into their back door.
It's a lot cooler up here, and the damn wind is effing ...windy.. I'm going to swear a lot about the wind I suspect.
I'm hoping to use roses around the yard as an extra barrier to keep critters both in and out. I'll take Marie Bugnet from Pearl too - I know nobody wants all those teeny thorns. I don't mind the thorns - they can be useful. There's that Morden Sunrise rose (still in his pot, I believe) and Morden Blush, neither very useful but definitely pretty. Front garden beds? They'll have to be tucked in somewhere warm against the house to survive up here.

New rose bushes with replace some of the boring shrubs, big ones, fragrant ones - the ones that remind me of my mother because they reminded her of the beaches of Massachusetts where she played as a young girl. Hansa for one, but I know there are others..., I'll find them.

Bigger space, bigger beds... means bigger plants. Dwarf varieties have filled my other gardens, this one is going to get some big guns. Solomon's Seal, Goat's Beard, hostas of ridiculous size, they'll all be joining us.

The backyard will be dog run territory - literally - enough space for them to truly run. That was another of the many reasons we wanted this house. How do you reconcile a love for dogs, gardens, family space, and still live downtown in walking distance to all the good stuff and the lake? Space was a big issue for us.
Before we moved in we worried we would alienate all our new neighbours. We'd be those crazy dog people with a poopy yard. Little did we know our new neighbours were worrying the same in reverse. Dog rescues to one side, dogs to the other, dogs behind, dogs down the lane - and as it turn out we have the yard to host them all. It's doggyville up here.
Our dogs are happier than they've ever been. It's like a little Tree Farm out there, complete with wide open spaces, and bushes to hide in to leap out on to your basset brother. They're having fun.
Most of the back yard will always be reserved for dog space (and skating rinks).

I'll keep my gardens closer to home.
You would think with all this space I'd have thought of a good place for some vegetables. I thought I had, but the wind blew that one away. The peanut shaped bed near the sunroom boasts nothing more than a cotone aster and a large rock (we like the rock)..., and not that I have anything against the reliable contone aster..., boring. This guy might keep his spot for the mere reason he's about the only one who can stand up to the wind tunnel that frequently, sometimes violently, blows through there. The marigolds and cosmos certainly didn't like it.
Low growing succulents might like the space - maybe some more rocks.., the pretty amethyst rocks Rohan put in at Pearl.

There's a bed at the back... there's a caragana in the corner, and I recall a bunch of hostas. Not much else.. I didn't look to closely before, so we'll have to see what comes up in spring. That bed would be (possibly) the warmest and most protected for a vegetable bed - but it's so close to dog territory it would be at risk for both the sneaky pea and tomato eating basset hound, but also the icky thought of pee seepage in the soil around it.
Let's keep the food away from that, okay.

I'm probably just going to pillage that bed and turn it over to the dogs.

If anything actually gets done I'll be surprised. I can't seem to get anything done these days. Small steps they all say. Don't get defeated. My body aches, it's sick from the grief, I still can't digest anything, and I'm in knots from being so tense and hunched over crying, I'm all twisted up. Sarah did some pretty wild acupressure yesterday to try to untangle some of the knots, but I think some new, bigger ones developed overnight.

Planting would probably do me some good, and I'm sure I'll find myself back in the back of the greenhouse digging in the dirt at some point. Maybe I'll just go for the ladies, ..at wine-o'clock. Maybe a bit of both. Maybe not at all. I dunno....

I'm just not really sure where to direct my garden thoughts. I've thought often about what Heather said when she was here last week - about her birthday tree planting fundraising. It would be nice to do something similar but in memory of Finn. Heather just wanted to plant a tree, but her friends helped her plant ten - boulevard and public trees, carefully placed near people who will care for them all over Thunder Bay. How nice is that?
I'd like to plant some trees for Finn.

I think this year will be mostly about the trees. Trees and roses. Sounds like a good place to start.

Garden Grown Wild

A zucchini has grown into the pine tree, and we have cucumbers appearing everywhere in a garden grown wild. The untamed cucumbers are the size of zucchini people joke about and try to give away. The dogs are loving the fresh garden cucumbers though, and I see a lot of tzatziki and tabouleh in our future.
Returning after more than a month of neglect I found some zucchini the size of Clifford, and made way for more. Thank goodness we have Cindy & Kevin coming to help us eat - and Thanksgiving not far away.  Cakes and muffins are going to feed our weekend guests.

The tomatoes are as abundant - as expected, nearly ripe. Soon we will be making sauces and salsas - and I can't wait. Beans, beets, basil, ..some carrots (though still not as many appeared as I would have hoped), but everything else is thriving. The kale and chard survived the caterpillars and are screaming for soup...yum; and of course our own Brussels Sprouts for Thanksgiving. I'll plant some autumn peas, radishes, and spinach if I ever get over the jet lag.

The fence R built can barely hold it all in. ...not that anything daring enough to grow through it will survive. Four legged nibblers will chew off anything that roams..


All the tomatoes require staking, and a little pruning..had we been here during their peak growth we could have controlled it, but now they're just out of control. Hopefully I can untangle them without losing too much. Next year when we go away I am organizing garden management ..

Clifford finds a shady spot under an Early Girl tomato
to lick the last bits of cucumber of his nose,
while Gromit searches for more.

The Thunbergia is climbing eagerly, 

nearly up to the back balcony railing; 

I can't quite capture how incredible it is.

hostas blooming

Morden Blush

Dear Garden Diary,

Rhodochiton
first bloom
25 June 2012

Okay, I'll say it - I can not find any reference to the above pictured plant being a "Rhodochiton"...; and though it resembles the Lophspermum I know, it's not nearly the same.

If anyone can help explain this plant to me, please...

I'm going to miss this plant when we're away this summer. I've waited so long (it seems) for this first bloom; and with more on the way I suspect the magnificence of this plant is only just beginning.

It's so different from the easily searched Rhodochiton we have blooming profusely in the greenhouse:

Also blooming madly is John Davis beside the back door, twirling up the obelisk. I imagined this thirteen years ago; it;s nice to finally see it.

John Davis Explorer Rose
25 June 2012

There's an awful lot of pink in our garden. I pointed that out to R recently, who didn't seem bothered. Morden Blush is blooming in the west side garden, looking so pretty. I think about this plant when I tell customers at the greenhouse that, yes, roses actually are easy. John Davis regularly attracts the aphids, but Morden roses in my garden have never failed - even in the face of army worms. Just a stone of amethyst away is a chewed to pieces Cranesbill geranium ('Wargraves Pink').

Down the way from the Morden Blush, and across the way, is the Campanula persicifolia 'Blue' (Peach Leaf Bellflower) that I planted last year in the rain. First bloom ever, 25 June 2012. Hello.

Peonies are blooming, the Weigela (Red Prince) too

tucked tight in front are some wild Knautia macedonica (Crimson Scabious),

with our special Alchemilla mollis (Lady's Mantle) blooming below 

in lemon-lime

contrasting all those pinks and reds.

The front shade garden is getting a little crowded (not that there are not still places to fill..). The leafeaters haven't got to the lush foliage street side...yet...hopefully never, and with all the rain and humidity we've had this year the ferns and hostas are large and full.

...from the back door:

pea webs

Dear Garden Diary,

Campanula persicifolia Blue
'Peach Leaf Bellflower'
and that rolling stone grass...
mark the end of the brick and stone
of the old house,
and the beginning
of the west side succulent garden
bordering the new back porch.

The gaps further down...
still undecided,
which is so exciting
for a gardener.
I've imagined a number of different
scapes...

I know I don't want to hide the beautiful stone and brick.

Through the kitchen window
during the days of rain 2012

In the backyard, in the east garden full of sunny perennials, our little magical one Alchemilla mollis 'Lady's Mantle' is crowding into it's neighbour, Knautia macedonica. Plenty of room for the monarda to spread it's pretty pinkness.
Another rolling stone container.
A weed.
My spade.
Some of those irises I transplanted last year.

Niobe, clematis
planted in the summer of 2011
in her first real year
vining along fine

hostas, lobelia in the tulip pot, Morden Blush, Wargrave's Pink
west side garden
30 May 2012

backyardovich developments

A hazard of working in a garden centre
is coming home each day with new adoptees.

I'm ridiculously excited about our new 'Striptease' hosta.
Lots of lemon verbena this year, a new 'Gay Parce' peony for the west side garden, and succulents for the west side of the new back porch.

Cosmos for Gromit.





I planted madly in the rain the other day: tomatoes and a jalapeno pepper, kale, Swiss chard, brussel sprouts, and the new yellow rose 'Rugelda' (Pavement Series, Hybrid Rugosa) for the middle trellis on the east fence. Though a little tender for here, he's not the first zone 4 rose I've grown - successfully. He'll just need a little extra attention during harsh winters. Our backyard near the lake is a micro-climate hot pocket, southern exposure, surrounded by old tall tree protection. It can be intensely hot during the afternoon from March - October.

I'm excited to watch & photograph Rugelda bloom
wegeila 'Red Prince' to the right, pink peonies to the left
in front: knautia macedonica,  alchemilla mollis 'Lady's Mantle'
monarda ' bee balm' & rudbeckia goldstrum

There are some gaps and empty spaces which don't bother me as much as they might have ten years ago. My younger gardener self was so eager to grow it all I packed it all in. I still have those tendencies, but rather than plant perennials I'm unsure of, I'll fill the spaces with containers full of the annuals I can't help but bring home each day.

Most exciting is our new Rhodochiton (Lophospermum) vine. This cultivar is new to me - not the same as lophospermum's I've had in the past. These leaves aren't as velutinous (velvety), and are much more ciliated – widely spaces 'hairs' along the edge: fringed, almost jagged - larger too than my previous plants, and star-shaped. I'd say more like dinosaur footprints.

I've planted in my oldest & largest (not for long) play pot with lots of compost, manure, and potting mix. The  stick trellis is a nice touch I think - though I suspect it will disappear under foliage and purple trumpet flowers soon. With the trellis it stands about six feet now, maybe more.., but I bet that won't be tall enough for this vine.

Keeping it simple, the lophospermum will live alone in that pot, and around I'll also keep it simple: some play with foliage, greens in pots. I've brought home lots of English ivy, lysimachia, vinca, chocolate mint, oregano - shades of greens that trail and tumble. The red tropical leafy guy - ti plant Cordyline terminalis? I think. He'll live outside in a pot until the autumn rolls in, then we'll see if I can keep him alive indoors until next year. Let's hope.

The west side garden, new last year, is coming up well. The Penninsetum setaceum 'Fireworks' (tender grass)(in a pot) moves around, homeless, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone. 

'Sweet Sunshine' petunias in a cute white pot are now tucked in between Morden Blush & Wargrave's Pink Cransbill geranium

and the four hostas under the Tamarack.

cornflowers & hostas, hardy geraniums & blue irises
line the west side walkway
sky blue lobelia in a tulip pot looks sweet nestled between

West Side Garden 15 May 2012

Along the west side of the house (once home to horrible little pebbles) is coming up with colourful perennials planted late last summer. Everybody is returning as imagined, healthy but small. In addition to Campanula (Bell Flowers) and Sweet Woodruff are: 

Astilbe x arendsii
False Spirea
'Fanal'

Aruncus aethusifolius
Dwarf Goat's Beard

foam flower 'Black Snowflake'

Tiarella

Saxifragaceae

transplanted divided irises
hardy geranium endressii
'Wargrave's Pink'
hosta

hosta May 15

Morden Blush
Parkland  Rose
still so small :)

Blushing

'Morden Blush' Parkland rose
29 June 2011