A wet and cool spring

Winter hung on for so long, snow until the end of April.  Just like last year, and it looked as if the blackflies' cycle might have been interrupted by this weather.  But no, they have arrived in full force.
So much so that even our poor dog had to see the vet as she had licked herself and got infected in her private parts. She is now wearing one of those collars that look like an Elizabethan ruff. She even managed to lick herself with this on last night and proceeded to puke afterwards.  More than you want to know, I am sure.  All this to show what a nasty spring this has been.

Some things are growing like crazy though. The grass needs cutting every week for sure; I have set the blades lower so that we don't have to cut it as often, but then it seems to burn in the sun.

I have only one plant left to dig in, that is a honeysuckle that I saw sitting at the grocery store and no one bought it. So I said "if it's still there when I go today, I'll buy it".  Now, where to put it?  I might just put it right next to the other honeysuckle on the fence and let them grow together. I don't know what colour of flowers this one has, but two different colours would actually be nice.

I have lost a few plants. A re-blooming lilac planted in mid May hasn't survived. So I replaced it with a Pinky Winky hydrangea. I am putting plants around in a kind of square in the middle of the garden to have some kind of "garden room" if that is possible in this non-descript rural backyard. Most people just plant on the edges of their yards, but there are a few brave souls who have replaced their grass with plants and have yards jammed full of plants.  I do like to have some kind of order in the planting and I think that you probably have to have some paths between things to do that.

the land of sheds - the raised bed has beefsteak tomatoes in it

these raised beds have tomatoes, peppers, carrots

and the nearest one is potatoes

The young tree is the apple tree planted two years ago

A Rebecca clematis with giant fuchsia/red blooms

I haven't even started on the front yard and the three beds there need weeding badly. One bed on the west side of the lawn is being encroached on with ferns. They are rather nice ferns and perhaps I should just let them be the backdrop to a few plants, rather than trying to get rid of them.

I'm still thinking about the hedge of hydrangeas around the driveway.  I would have to have 7 hydrangeas all the same kind and would have to be prepared to dig in 7 semi-grown plants.  Do I have the energy?  It might be a project for July.

It is raining again today and the temperature is a chilly 15 degrees Celsius which is no good for outside work but certainly makes the grass grow.

June 6, 2019

I have tulips this year! Since the back yard is now fenced, we don't have deer coming in to eat the bulbs. So this corner of the garden has some lovely tulips.

Another shot  of the tulips. Also in this bed is a red weigela, two phlox, beebalm, forget-me-nots, poppies which will bloom next year. I put some red portulaca at the front of the bed, next to a blue catmint.

And this is the new ginkgo biloba tree, with some cosmos planted at the base.

Another shot of the ginkgo, as the adorable little leaves begin to emerge.

And I was thrilled to see that this viburnum has some flower heads on it.  What a lovely surprise!

The weather has been up and down, and quite unusual for this part of the world. Usually the days warm up in May and June can be quite hot. But not this year. Today is a lovely day with 20 degrees Celsius at 1 pm. One result of this strange weather is that the blackflies have not really come out in droves. But I read on one blog that people in Spokane, Washington have blackflies for the first time. Odd, that they would be moving south. Good for us if that is the case.

Three foxgloves have been planted in the bed by the front steps.  I had some here the first summer we were in this house, but they didn't come back so I will try again.

In the bed by the driveway, there are quite a lot of plants but none have grown very big so far.  So it doesn't look like much, but it should do soon. This bed has 3 peonies, a goat's beard, a hydrangea, lady's mantle, aronia, two painted daisies, some johnny-jump-ups. 

Today,  I planted two  lupins. These are considered a "cottage plant" in this neck of the woods. In Nova Scotia, they are weeds that grow along the highways on the hillsides.  The leaf formation reminds me of scheffleras.  They are tough, so they are perfect for this zone 3 garden.

I also planted a reblooming dwarf lilac in the back yard. It should have pink flowers. I don't know if it will get any this year, probably not, but something to look forward to.

Signs of spring

The forsythia in full bloom.

Some daffodils are up, but many haven't blossomed.  Wonder what's up with that?

Also tulips coming in the back yard, if they can survive the dog's running around after squirrels.

Glad to see the climbing hydrangea is looking good after the winter. It was buried underneath 5 feet of snow, it seems to have fared better than a lot of other plants.

The turquoise chips around the plant are shavings of Irish Mist soap. It is said to be a deterrent to dear, in this case I am using it to deter the dog.

They say "first year, they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap."  This is the second year for the climbing hydrangea, so I can expect slow steady growth.  It won't produce blossoms for at least another 2 years.

Spring has sprung

At last, a warm day, warm enough to dig in the garden and get some beds ready for new plants.

Pansies, the first sign of spring - 3 containers on the front deck. These bloom in Texas in January.

Today I worked on the bed beside the driveway, it gets full morning sun until about 1 pm, then it gets a little afternoon sun that peeks through between the house and the garage in the late afternoon. 

Last year, I planted 3 peonies in this bed, 1 goat's beard, 1 perennial geranium, some irises, a lady's mantle, a daylily, and the year before I planted a hydrangea that was trying to root along one branch to form another plant. Also an aronia that has nice red shoots all over. 

Not sure what I will put in this bed, I just know that I want some pink flowers clambering up over that rock.

My constant companion Tekla. She is full grown now and still up to mischief. This afternoon, I found a tulip bulb with green stalk on the back lawn, I don't know where she got that from.

I've forgotten what these are called,  but they are pretty.

And some crocuses in the front bed.

At last, signs of life returning to the garden!

Birds at the feeders

This is a female house finch.  They are coming by the dozens every day to the feeders on the back porch. 

We have also seen an evening grosbeak, very colourful.  And a white-throated sparrow.  The sparrows are bullies when it comes to the finches; they simply swoop in and push the finches aside.

We have also seen an American goldfinch. The Sibley Guide to Birds is invaluable in identifying these birds.

Home Hardware got their first shipment of nursery stuff yesterday; as I drove by to check, I could  see they were unloading trees from the truck. I will go over today and check them out, even though this morning we are getting freezing rain!  I am on the lookout for a ginkgo tree.

Bird Activity

Lots of finches at the bird feeders this past week. 

The above is a male house finch. They have pinky-red on their chest and top of their head. The females are mottled brown all over.

Their preference is definitely for the black sunflower seeds. But they also peck at the feeder with the smaller seeds.

The bird below is a purple finch. They look as if they have had a dip in red wine. The chest is also pinky-red. Apparently they have a lovely warble, but I haven't identified it yet from the other bird song.

These are so cute, a little bigger than chickadees. We have them by the dozens on the back deck.