Winding Down

Okay, the weather changed two days ago. It is definitely fall now, although they are promising a few more warm days but the nights are cool. Sometimes it is even only 2 degrees above freezing.

I decided to plant the second Virginia creeper next to the first one, so they can climb up the lattice on the ramp to the back deck. I drove around town checking out other plantings of this vine and I don't think we get the kind of growth that warrants regarding this as an invasive plant. One person had it scrambling up his brick house in a glorious show of red leaves. Another had it planted over a low fence and it seemed quite under control. And a neighbour down the street has it on her garden shed and it doesn't seem to be taking over the entire garden (yet).

So I will take my chances with this and look forward to seeing it cover the lattice here and then turn a brilliant red next fall.

Next summer, I would like to have a large bed of petunias here in front of the creeper.  Hot pink petunias.

Then I planted a single heuchera in the front bed that gets no direct sunlight. As soon as I had planted it, I thought how silly that was and drove off to the grocery store to buy the last two remaining heucheras that they had for sale. I am not even sure that I really like this plant because I am not sold on foliage that isn't green, but this is a plant that does well in true shade and I wanted something in here this fall.

It definitely looks better with three plants than with just one. I will put some bulbs in this bed as well, some hyacinths which should be arriving soon from Vesey's nursery.

I have ordered a large quantity of spring flowering bulbs and that will be the major planting session in October.

Planting Continues

The warm September days continue and, since  the lady at the nursery said you can continue planting right through October, I bought more plants.

I bought a second Virginia  Creeper (parthenocissus quinquefolia Engelmannii), thinking I would plant it with the other one. But after visiting many garden sites and reading lots of posts about this plant, I am a little hesitant to overwhelm one area with it.

Some sites call it "invasive"  and warn against planting it near your deck. Other sites say that it is a great plant to cover a space quickly. But one site in particular showed a man removing the many long tendrils of this plant that had grown under and over his deck. Mind you, I think he lived in Cuba, a different climate than northern Ontario.

Still, to be on the safe side, I have planted this in the far corner of the garden so that it can climb over an unsightly shed. It is the fall foliage that is the beauty of this climber and there is one down the street that looks beautiful scrambling over an old wooden shed.

I also bought a Boston ivy (partenocissus veitchii robusta), another climber that promises fall colour. I decided to move one of my climbing hydrangeas to the front bed and put the ivy in its place against the garage wall on the east side. Since it is a hardy climber, it should be able to take the rain that pours down off the garage roof and also the heat of the morning sun as it reflects off the white siding. Some people complain about the little feet by which this clings to surfaces and I have heard tell that it can damage brick and wood. But I figure this is aluminum siding and by the time this climber damages anything, I will be long past caring and it will be someone else's problem.

Here is the hydrangea in its new position. Hopefully it will climb up and around our bedroom window. this plant is not at all threatening and it can be easily controlled so I hope it thrives here.

Then the last plant I bought was another honeysuckle. This one is called Major Wheeler and it is a honeysuckle that promises to bloom heavily with red flowers. I decided to plant this against the new part of the back deck and will put a trellis in place to help it get up there. If it proves to be too energetic, it can be easily pruned.

                                            

As I was digging this one in, I could see just how dry the soil is. We badly need some rain. It is hard to know how much water I am giving these new perennials. I water each every second day, doing the front yard on one day and the back on the next. It takes half an hour to get them all watered. Many more plants and I will be doing nothing but watering. And the water here in this town is expensive. So I am hoping for a downpour to fill the new rain barrel.

And one of the first hydrangeas planted has produced two baby blossoms. This is Jack Cataraqui, a variation I had never heard of before. This type is often pruned to become a tree, however I don't trust myself to do that, so I will just let it be.

Warm September days continue

We are getting magnificent weather. Nights are cooling down, but daytime highs are in the high 20's. It is quite humid but sunny. Yesterday was grey and overcast and my spirits went down like a stone in water.  It is remarkable what the weather can do to your emotions. It all felt too much yesterday, the move, the aloneness of a new place, the lack of familiar surroundings, the sense that one's day has no rhyme or reason.

But the sun comes out and suddenly all is well with the world.

And with warm weather comes the opportunity to keep planting. Two more hydrangeas have made it into the front yard. One day I will call it a garden, but it has to cross over some defining line before I can feel that it is a garden. It's too rough at the moment.

This one is a Lacecap hydrangea, called Wedding Gown. It will have those lovely flower heads that are almost flat with a ring of petals on the outside and the true tiny flowers on the inside. This one will remain white, it isn't the type that you can change from pink to blue and back again. It is supposed to get 2-3 feet tall and 3-5 feet wide.

It sits between two other hydrangeas, one a Little Lime and the other a Bobo. They are about 6-7 feet apart and I chose the location simply because of the light. When I put the third one in, I realised that these three could form a perennial bed, with two at the ends and one in the middle of the bed. So next spring, I will dig this out in a semi-circle from the hydrangeas and it will become a semi-shaded perennial bed. Much as I love the ability to grow vibrant flowers, there is something very peaceful and soothing about a shaded bed. This can become home for some lovely blue flowers, such as peach-leaf campanula and brunnera which both love the shade.

This is a photo of the three hydrangeas, one of which sits in front of a lovely birch tree. This is pretty much the light that these will get, a little more in the morning when they get some direct sun but this was taken at 4 in the afternoon and they are getting some nice filtered light.

This is a Fire Light hydrangea, a pee gee type. It is another panicle type hydrangea with flowers that start out creamy white and turn a deep pink, almost red, in the fall. It will get 6 feet tall and 6-7 feet wide. It too will be the anchor shrub for another perennial bed to be planted next year. Not enough time this year to get roots established; plus I need to think about what to plant as I don't relish the idea of planting and then having to move things because I planted on impulse only.
To the right of this, you can see the brilliant red of some maple sapling and to the left is a hanging branch of a wild mini-daisy. The trees are changing colour quickly and there are some brilliant maples here. Plus some that are orange, and then the golden colour of the birches is starting as well.

This hydrangea is on the furthest line of the front property and behind it there is simply brush and a culvert that someone dug years ago for drainage. This is where we often see the deer.

Once again, a birch is close at hand. Birches are lovely trees and their small leaves let a lot of light through. Maples are great shade trees, perhaps too great, as they form a dense canopy that completely blocks the sun. That was my Halifax garden, five mature maples surrounding a small yard. Hosta heaven, which is why hostas may be the last plants I put in here.

In a couple of years, it may look like this.

                                

photo from http://plant-quest.blogspot.ca/

Sunday, September 16th

We are getting a spell of hot weather. Today's high is 27. People here are saying that this is the summer weather that didn't come in July or August. Coming from the Maritimes, I thought the month of August was pretty good, as the temperature was always 25 or higher and it didn't rain as much as it does on the east coast. It's all relative, I guess.

Yesterday, I planted the Annabelle hydrangea along with the Shasta daisy but today I moved the daisy. That hydrangea promises to be 1.25 metres tall and wide, and the daisy was just too close.

These are planted on the edge of the back yard next to the neighbour's wood shed. A common sight in rural areas, but really not that pretty.

                                     

Another picture of the two looking toward the west. This is the part of the yard that has the best grass so I hope that means the soil in this area is good. These will get a fair amount of afternoon sun; it is said that this type of hydrangea can take full sun in the northern hemisphere. It is one of the hydrangeas with the big floppy white flowers called mopheads.

                                     

And not your usual daisy type. This one has a kind of fluffier flower head, more like a chrsyanthemum.
Daisies have always been a favourite of mine. I had them tied into my hair for my wedding.

This is the honeysuckle. It is planted in the raised bed by the driveway and I will add a trellis for it to climb up this wall. It will have lots of room to grow in this bed; there is nothing else planted there except a creeping phlox in the corner. Next spring I will put in some yellow alyssum, commonly known as "basket of gold". It is such a sign that spring has come. I used to see it in rock gardens throughout Halifax, but could never grow it myself as I didn't have a sunny location for it.

This is a Virginia creeper, a vigorous vine that grows quickly. I was reading on several sites that you have to careful with this as it is unstoppable and will grow everywhere, springing up from wherever it touches the soil. So I will keep it trimmed as I don't think it would be good if it did in the deck. But there is a lot of ugly lattice to be covered here, and I think this fellow might just do the trick. It was certainly very attractive in our back garden in Nova Scotia. 

A picture taken from above; it is small right now but just wait. It is also displaying its gorgeous fall colour - crimson red. The leaves are so pretty; apparently it resembles poison ivy. I didn't know that.

Then I planted the sweet autumn clematis in the back garden, in the corner where there is a tumbling down fence and a number of rounded boulders. It is quite different from other clematis; this is a mounding climber that is difficult to kill (yeah). I have always liked this spot; it is right underneath a big pine tree but far enough away from the tree that the grass grows well. So it should be okay there. The autumn leaves of this clematis are such a pretty colour. And I look forward to seeing this grow and mound up over the rocks and wood with an abundance of white flowers in late summer. It is also said to be very fragrant.

Again, the books and websites warn that this is an invasive climber and should only be placed in a spot where it won't take over. Like I care!  I want things to take over in this garden. Surely it can be managed with a pair of clippers. I am amazed when I read that this should be pruned down to about 15" from the ground each spring, that it will make all that new growth in one season. I'm not sure I am ready to cut back new growth that often; I may just let it go and see what it does, before I try pruning it.

This will be a great spot to sit if this grows well; the flowers and the fragrance will be so nice in this semi-shady spot.

And this is a photo of the black-eye susans planted two weeks ago. Hard to believe that these were in two 1-gallon pots. They are just thriving. And they are one of my favourite flowers. I could easily handle having half a yard full of these cheery fellows. 

I counted up how many plants I have put in the garden since moving here in early August. And the total is 30. Hard to believe that there are 30 new plants here, the property is such a size that they are lost in it. I can't imagine how many plants will have to go in before it really begins to look like a full garden. As someone said to me, don't count the cost when you are gardening. And I am not. I figure this is an investment in beauty and joy. 

Over the years, when we drove from Renfrew west towards Barry's Bay, we would pass a field full of sunflowers. They were grown by a company that produced animal food and wild bird seed. And the field was jammed with these flowers, all turning to face the sun. I looked for it every time I left Renfrew or was entering it. Sadly, the company stopped planting these two years ago and I think the field is now up for rent. So sad, it was a beautiful sight.

But something nice has taken its place. Further along the road, near Douglas, there are some farms owned by Amish people who moved here about 4 years ago. And their vegetable gardens are amazing. Their tomatoes are ready a month before anyone else's. Plus there is always the chance that you might see some of the Amish driving their horse and buggies along the side of the road. They have no cars, no electricity, no phones on their properties. A window into a totally different lifestyle. And a sight that I look forward to every time I drive that road. 

Saturday, Sept 15th

A beautiful warm sunny day here today. Yesterday we took a trip to Dwight Nursery. It wasn't as large as I had at first thought, but there were plenty of plants to be looked at and some to be bought. Of course, most of the perennials and shrubs are on sale now so they can clear out the stock before winter comes.

A very helpful garden assistant was more than willing to chat about plants, fending off deer, growing invasive plants, we could have talked for hours.

She showed me some perennials with burgundy foliage and I told her I was not a particular fan of that colour. She understood completely and said that sometimes they help to make another plant "pop". Okay, I will let time tell on that one. They just don't appeal to me, too dark and sombre for my tastes. Perhaps too sophisticated too.

They had no climbing hydrangea which was a shame, just after I had read about how Martha Stewart plants them to grow up the trunks of trees on her estate. What a great idea!  I have a lot of maples here that would look great with a flowering vine growing up their trunks.

They did have a sweet autumn clematis though. And I scooped it up even though the helpful assistant told me that it was invasive. I said there was enough space that that was not a worry to me. And after checking out many images on google, I am going to plant this one right next to the clothes line pole and let it climb up that. I may have to put some other supports for it but those can wait until next spring. I really don't care if this is invasive and covers a lot of ground; that is what I am looking for, plants that leap for joy and grow everywhere. They can always be clipped back if they prove too energetic.

I also bought a Virginia Creeper. I had this for years in my garden in Halifax and it was lovely. My neighbour get the best of it though as the only sun came from the east so the leaves all faced her side of the fence. She got the lovely show of leaves while I got the back side. They turn a brilliant red in the fall and they grow quickly. So this will go next to the back deck on the west side. It is shaded from direct sun by the maple there, but it gets enough light to flourish and it will look great climbing up the deck and latching on to the lattice work there.

Another hydrangea, how could I resist this one? It is a lace cap called Wedding Gown. The ticket says that it will only grow 3 feet tall, but will be 3 to 5 feet wide, so a low spreading shrub. This one I will put somewhere in more sun than the others as this type can tolerate more sun. It is a macrophylla hydrangea and the blooms turn deep pink in the fall.

I read in a gardening book by Marjorie Harris that, when starting a new garden, you should put in the shrubs and climbers right away. They are the bones of a garden and should get the earliest start. With that in mind, I picked up a Hall's Honeysuckle which will have white/yellow flowers and black berries in the fall. This is going in the raised bed by the driveway closer to the front side of the house. It is the first plant to see when parking in the driveway. I have grown two honeysuckles in Halifax, but neither had a great location - not enough sun, in my opinion - they grew and produced flowers but not abundantly. I have seen honeysuckles that are just loaded with flowers and I hope that this one will succeed like those. I will put in a trellis against the wall next spring once it gets going and needs support to climb up that wall.

I bought a single aster, how stupid is that?  I should have bought three and put them together. When will I learn?  I will pop this into the bed beside the driveway where I am going to be planting many of the perennials that I ordered from Vesey's (irises, peonies).

I picked up a tall Shasta daisy perennial and will put this together with the Annabelle hydrangea that I got at Home Hardware on Friday. These will go in the back garden off to one side. This is a spot that gets a fair amount of sun and, if the grass is anything to go by, the soil there must be good. The grass there is lush and green compared to the rest of the yard which is rather seedy. This was where a previous owner had his vegetable garden so the soil here may have been improved by him so I can now benefit from it.

Pictures to follow in the next post.

I succumbed to another ....

hydrangea, of course. This time it is an Annabelle Arborescens hydrangea. I had said that I was not fond of the big mop-head hydrangeas, but I have bought one anyway. I couldn't resist this one when I was at Home Hardware today. They had a whole bunch of perennials brought in from a nursery north of Quebec City. The clerk told me that this nursery grows their perennials in pots for 2-3 years before selling them; the implication being that they will be extremely hardy for our Canadian climate.
I asked her "so aren't they pot-bound then?"  She hesitated and then said "well, yes I guess so". Duh!

You never know what advice you are going to get from people. She rang in my purchase and asked if I knew how to plant it, I nodded my head yes, then another store clerk passed and said "coffee grounds, mix in some coffee grounds".  We shall see, I actually have a bowl of dried coffee grounds on the kitchen counter to use when planting. Perhaps this hydrangea will benefit from some of those.

The plant I bought has no blooms, so I am going on trust that it is what they say it is. Unlike the other hydrangeas, I am going to plant this one in a sunny spot and then next summer I am going to plant some tall daisies next to it. I saw this combination in a video and it looked really nice, the white of both plants complementing each other.

Deck Reno

This is a photo of the newly renovated deck. The previous deck was very solid, but it was also very enclosed and gave no view of the back yard. I am so pleased with the renovation that has just been completed. It adds more space to the deck in a small lower level, plus it adds a set of steps that descend right into the yard. Previously we had to go down the ramp, then step right and down a cement step to access the yard.

This is a direct view from the back yard. The lattice was removed from one section of the old deck and then the new part has posts which give much more visibility.

Now, of course, I can plan what to plant. This is a south exposure and one side of the deck has western exposure but is also shaded by a large maple. I would like to grow some climbers on that side, perhaps Virginia creeper or Boston ivy or perhaps another climbing hydrangea. I just wish they grew faster. 

September 12, 2017

We are supposed to be getting a week of beautiful weather, day time highs in the mid 20's and the night time lows around 7 or 8.  No frost yet. So gardening can carry on.

Today, I weeded the bed in the front of the house, below the living room window. The previous owner seems to have thought that adding straw and bark to all beds was the way to garden. There seems to be endless amounts of the stuff. And many baby maples trying to get a place for themselves. A couple of hours digging and pulling out stuff has left this bed ready for some fall planting. I added 5 bags of black topsoil from the grocery store - great price of 5 bags for $10. I may have to get more of this for the raised beds, at that price it is a real bargain.

I am not entirely sure what I will plant in this bed as it receives no direct sun at all. This is the bed with the sad hydrangea that only blooms on one side. I plan on cutting it right down later this fall and see it if makes a recovery next spring. If not, it will be replaced with another hydrangea to fill the spot.

This bed may just be devoted to annuals that like the shade, such as coleus and impatiens. One plant I read that likes the full shade is browallia, but I don't believe I have ever seen that for sale in the nurseries around here. But then I wasn't looking for it either. I am sure it can be found in a mail-order catalog.

Speaking of which, Vesey's fall catalog arrived last week, and I have ordered a zillion bulbs, daffodils, crocus, tulips, three peonies, and several types of iris. I know that deer like tulip bulbs so I am going to plant those in pots and winter them in the garage, and then bring them out on the steps next spring. I doubt that the deer will come that close to the house.

And this is a picture of the hardy mum that I planted three weeks ago. I think it is just gorgeous. That lovely pink with the golden centre, and the plant is just covered with blooms. I am so glad that this is a hardy mum and should come back next spring.

And this is a plant picked up at the grocery store. The mix of colours, gold and that mauvy shade of pink is just perfect to me. I love that contrast. There is an ornamental cabbage in there, and the rudbeckia can be planted in the garden in a couple of weeks, as it should return.

September 8 - add some gold

Today's gardening is getting the rudbeckia plants in place in the back yard. This is the edge of our property, the shed and woodpile behind belong to our neighbour Ernie.

These plants are quite vigorous; they all came out of 2 pots purchased at the grocery store. These are a little different from the usual black-eye susans; they have a dark ring around the central cone and then the petals are gold. I had planted another one of these in the bed beside the driveway and it is flourishing. I had thought of moving it to join these, but it is doing so well that I will leave it where it is for now.

Next summer, I plan on adding more of these in this spot and then putting a ring of purple coneflowers in front. Or beside perhaps, as coneflowers will probably get taller than the black eye susans and I wouldn't want to interfere with such a pretty sight. I love the combination of the gold and deep rose that comes in fall; I find it particularly pleasing.

And today, I added the grass clippings to the raised beds, then put cow manure on top of that. Then I threw some of the soil that was dug up in the course of planting on top of it all. I have about 6 more inches of soil to make before these can be planted with vegetables, so there is quite a way to go yet. But this should be a very fertile place for veggies to grow.

Hydrangea Heaven

Yes, more hydrangeas being planted. A trip to Gerber's yesterday resulted in a Quick Fire hydrangea and another Bobo hydrangea. I really wanted to get a Little Quick Fire, but they didn't have any of those at this point. So I debated whether or not to get the Quick Fire, which grows larger - 6-8 feet in height and width. But there is a spot in the back yard where this could grow nicely and get just as big as it wants. It also gets filtered morning sun and then again another hour or two of filtered afternoon sun. Apparently most hydrangeas can take full sun in this northern climate, unlike those in the south which can only take morning sun and afternoon shade or they will fry.

This shrub has already changed colour for fall and I hope it gets a good few weeks of root growth before the cold weather sets in. I plan on mulching all of these perennials and giving them some extra winter protection as this will be their first winter. 

This is the Bobo hydrangea - how could I resist this one? It is just so pretty. These only get 3 feet tall and wide, so that is a nice shrub size.

I am going to plant the Bobo hydrangea in between the rosa rugosa and the Quick Fire hydrangea. It will get a fair amount of sun in this location and the three shrubs will form a kind of informal hedge between our yard and the new neighbour who will be moving in next door.

Here it is sandwiched between the rosa rugosa and the Quick Fire. 

I plan on getting a garden bench for this spot in the corner. There are some nice stones piled up and a corner fence of old logs and it is a favourite spot of mine to sit for a while.  The hydrangea should grow and make this an even more inviting spot to spend some quiet time.

With each of the shrubs I have been planting, I have dug up the grass, then chopped away the soil from the sod, mixed that with purchased soil from Gerber's (loam, manure and compost mix), and then backfilled the hole with my mixture. It should help the drainage problem.

Now as for the raised beds, which will be the start of a vegetable garden next year. I watched a video on YouTube on making and planting a raised bed in 30 minutes. This assumes that you have all the components on hand which I don't. But it is an interesting concept. After building the beds, you lay cardboard on the ground in the beds. We have plenty of cardboard from our move; all you must do is remove any tape or staples from the cardboard. Better that it isn't heavily printed with ink. This should be a couple of layers thick. The purpose is that the cardboard will suppress the growth of the grass and weeds. The next step is to thoroughly soak the cardboard. Then you sprinkle dry grass clippings over the cardboard. These provide nitrogen. 

Here is a link to the video for this method of making a raised bed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gArx4ZKdc8w

                                 

Cardboard is in the beds, next is the grass layer. Very satisfying to know that you can create soil with these waste products which we normally send to the landfill. They are going to make a different kind of fill here.

Since I just cut the grass this morning, I now have the grass clippings.  After that, you layer manure, then shredded paper, compost, wilted nettles (for phosphorus) and calcified seaweed at the last. I don't have all of these components, but I figure that half is better than none and I can make it up as I go along. So far I have the cardboard, the grass clippings and the manure. So next I will get some compost (as my own compost hasn't materialised yet) and keep layering. This should all work together and become a viable bed next spring. It will certainly be better than planting in the existing soil which is heavy clay and doesn't drain well.

September 2

A beautiful day here with sunshine and a temperature of 18 outside,  perfect for a planting.

Another hydrangea planted on the edge of the front yard. I read in a gardening book that, if you want to have a garden, never call your property a "yard" but always call it a garden. I think that you have to have  made some progress in gardening  before you can call it that. I am nowhere near that.

This is a hydrangea called Little Lime, a dwarf version of the popular Limelight hydrangeas. This one will grow between 3 and 5 feet tall. My plan here is to see how this fares with regards to the deer. If they eat this plant, then I will have to forego the idea of a hedge full of these. But if they leave it alone, then next spring I can plant an entire row of these along the curve of the driveway.

Seen from further away, it is about 18" tall at the moment. Full of blossoms that are beginning to turn their fall shade of pink.

And seen from the front step with the foxgloves (and the ugly downspout) in the foreground.

I think that is about it for planting perennials this year. It is getting too cold at night and I am not sure that plants would get much of a growing start before frost comes. There will be bulbs to be planted however, and those will probably be in a month's time.

I have been watching a lot of gardening videos which accounts for my new love of hydrangeas. I had never heard of Mackinaw Island before, what a paradise for gardeners.

This is a link to one garden tour. So beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P9EG5rHGzw