Monday, October 16, 2017

Fall Colour and bulb planting


We have two large maples in the back yard, quite close to the house. This one is near the garage and the photo does not do justice to the sunlight on the leaves. They look absolutely golden but then I am looking into the sun when I see that.


The other tree is situated on the other side of the house and overhangs the clothes line. This tree looks as if it was struck by lightning at some point, there are scorch marks up one side of the trunk. The tree seems fine however. There is another tree in the front yard that has the same marks, it too is a maple.


The true red maples are now gone; apparently those are the sugar maples and they turn colour first. They were at their peak about three to four weeks ago and the leaves dropped off two weeks ago. Now the majority of the countryside looks yellow with the maples and birches and a soft apricot as the oak leaves change colour.

Yesterday I began planting daffodil bulbs. I have 100 of one type from Vesey's and another 60 or so coming with an order placed at the grandchildren's school. I put 20 bulbs in next to one of the hydrangeas on the far edge of the front yard. 

                                       

I dug out another section and removed the sod from it. But for the rest of the bulbs, I am going to plant them in a meandering path between the trees in the front yard. I think I have enough to do this.

And I planted 15 Glory of the Snow in the front of the bed with the foxgloves. These are pretty star-like blue flowers that are one of the first to poke through the melting snow in early spring. I have a sneaking suspicion that those foxgloves won't return, but there are plenty of other perennials to choose from next year if they don't come back.

                                       

                                             Image result for glory of the snow
                                           Glory of the snow - photo from http://www.beautifulflowerpictures.com

And in this bed, scattered throughout, I put 40 crocus. There are another 40 crocus to plant, haven't decided where those will go yet. One gardening reference says that deer eat crocus, another says that they are deer-resistant. We shall see.

                                        

And on the far right of this bed, I planted a dozen wood hyacinths, also known as Spanish bells. I had these in Halifax and they were lovely flowers and lasted several weeks.

                                        

This part of the bed gets some afternoon sunlight; the section with the Heuchera gets no direct light at all. It will be home to Solomon's Seal and some nice ferns next year. And pots of begonias should bring the bed some colour.

                                          Image result for wood hyacinth   
                                    Wood hyacinth - photo from http://www.americanmeadows.com






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