gardening

Tree peony 2012

/ ginny200 / Leave a comment

About 15 years ago I found a tree peony at Loblaw’s  for an incredible price, $17 at a time when the nurseries were selling them for $40-$50. I doubted it would be hardy but I planted it where a stone wall would protect it from the North winds and it would get morning sun. Later I had to move it, not far, and in the same bed, but it took at least two years to recover. This winter we had too little snow to cover it, and there was die-back on the stems.
But today, all those years later, its blooming again.

First clematis of 2012

/ ginny200 / 1 Comment

This wonderful clematis blooms first every year. It grows in a south-facing garden, weaving its way through a euonymus elata.
Photo taken with my iPhone 3GS

Gifts for Gardeners

/ ginny200 / Leave a comment

What to Get for Green-Thumb Types. It’s a No-Gnome Zone.. The gifts in this article from Houzz website are for the modernist on your list. My favourites are the Circle Pot by Potted in Designer Pots and the Lighthouse outdoor torch.
http://www.canadiangardening.com/garden-gear/gardening-gifts/holiday-gifts-for-gardeners/a/28390
This one is lovely and guilt-free.
gift-birdbath.jpg

For the birds
This gift is not only pretty and practical, but it helps more than just our feathered friends. This ceramic bronze birdbath is made by artisans in Vietnam, who are paid a living, fair-trade wage to produce their artistic wares. While it’s a little cold yet to put outside, this birdbath looks elegant on a table filled with fruit. Ten Thousand Villages, $22.

1. Mason Bee House
This gorgeous mason bee house is handmade from reclaimed barn wood. If you’re buying for a gardener who grows fruit or vegetables, this would be a great gift. Mason bees are native to much of the U.S. They are solitary, and don’t produce honey, but they are expert pollinators. They often nest in small holes and cavities in tree trunks, but if you can provide a cozy little house like this for them, you may be able to entice them to take up residence in your own garden. Beautiful and functional. (Via Etsy.)

 masonbee.jpg

I love this butterfly puddler from Uncommon Goods. http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/butterfly-puddler

Gardens Take Flight

There’s nothing quite like a garden aflutter with wild butterflies in the afternoon sun. Attract your neighborhood beauties with this sand-and-water puddler, designed to hold on to natural minerals after water evaporates.

Its shallow well of recycled glass holds sand or rock salt along with a teaspoon of water. When the water evaporates (in under a day), butterflies are attracted to the minerals left behind from the hard water and sand/salt. Once butterflies know where they can find these minerals, they return regularly. Place it in a conspicuous nook to transform your outdoor space into an enchanted garden.

Designed by Jo-Anne and Gerald Warren. Handmade of stoneware and recycled glass in Canada. Click here to see instructions included with each peddler.

  • Item ID: 20351
  • Materials: recycled glass, stoneware clay
  • Approx. 8.5″ L x 8.5″ W x .75″ H, 3 lbs. 6 oz.
  • Comes with sand and instructions for use. Will not crack in the snow or fade in the sun. Due to the handmade nature of this product, each will vary slightly.

From the same company, a toad house:

The Toad Abode

This elegant ceramic piece makes a creative accent to your garden. Toads will be thrilled to duck under this leaf and enjoy the dark and cool shade – they can even burrow holes in their bottomless home. Big bonus: kiss your bugs goodbye, because toads eat thousands of insects. Handmade in Canada.

  • Item ID: 21006
  • Materials: stoneware clay
  • Approx. 12″ L x 7.5″ W x 5″ H, weight: Approx. 3.5 lbs
  • Weatherproof: designed to not fade in the sun or crack in freezing temperatures. Place in a shady spot in your garden.
Finally, for your best friend or your wife or your husband or your mother who taught you all you know about gardening, the bog boot from Lee Valley. For mud, for snow, for tramping in transplants, for walking the dog in the ran, they are the best—warm, comfortable and almost indestructible (unless your husband slices one open with a pruner).
Perfect for working in mucky, cold conditions, these boots are constructed from waterproof neoprene with a semi-rigid natural rubber overlay that spans from the sole to above the ankle. Toe, heel, Achilles tendon, and shin reinforcements offer protection and comfort, making these boots the ideal footwear when digging in the garden. Mid-length boots, they are easily donned using the rear pull-loops. The neoprene walls are flexible and generous in width, and can be easily rolled down if desired.

Summer, cont.

/ ginny200 / Leave a comment

Summer:

Gardening: Our hot, very hot and mostly dry summer continues. The garden, all except the roses is loving it, since we are able to water it from the river that flows past our home. The roses fear they have been transplanted to the deep South and have shut down production until more reasonable conditions return. Daylilies, hostas, echinacea, clematis and blue mallow are the stars of the moment.

I planted delphinums and staked them moments before a battering thunderstorm went through, so they are standing and about to bloom. I understand they are short-lived, so I will buy more next year to ensure a good clump.

Writing: Finally the last revisions are done, and the Facepainter has gone off to be set for paper production. Meanwhile, I’m at work on the sequel. A new character has stepped forward and I have to find something for her to do.

Do you know the organization called Great Courses. They finally have released a dedicated Canadian catalogue and some of the professors will be Canadian as well. Find them at http://www.thegreatcourses.com/ I followed one of their courses called Building Great Sentences, and now I’m doing a 30 lecture series on Analysis and Critique, How to engage and write about anything. The lecturer is excellent, my only quibble being that the lecture ends too soon.

Italy: We’re talking with our travelling companions about a trip in the fall of 2012 that would see us spending a few days in Venice, while they celebrate their fortieth anniversary, and then a road trip to Vienna, where we spend a few days to a week.

I’ve been studying Italian, through Rosetta Stone for several years now, with a year’s break to learn some rudimentary Spanish. I began again at the beginning with Italian and now approach the end of the third dvd. I received four and five at Christmas so I will press on. Learning a language, besides good for travelling, is supposed to be good for brain health.

Politics: Very sad news about Jack Layton. To be struck down like that in his moment of achievement is truly tragic.

What is going on with the Americans? They are just recovering from an economic disaster and now want to plunge into another one. Where are the adults?

That’s about it: writing, gardening, learning. Retirement is great!

Summer

/ ginny200 / 1 Comment

Today I’m bringing the blog up to date on writing, photography and gardening, especially gardening.

This month I finished the revisions of the galley proofs for the print on demand edition of The Facepainter Murders. Revisiting work is always tough, because the errors are glaring, the ability to change it minimal, and the time consumed to check each period and comma and tense exorbitant. Especially the tenses!

I’m also working on my as yet untitled sequel which takes Anne McPhail to Bermuda. About three-quarters finished as of today, but still a draft or maybe two to go. This time Anne is a suspect when she witnesses a murder and can’t convince the investigating detective of her innocence.

I’m still learning how to use my new camera, and yearning for a telephoto lens. We left our birdfeeder up for the summer and have had many species that are new to us arrive. The vivid orange variety of house finch and his cousin the purple finch and families are currently in residence, replacing the delightful rose-breasted grosbeak of last month. They are all easily startled so I’ve been trying photograph from inside the house. Recently my brother and I went up to the Ottawa Valley. On a bush road near Barrett Chute we came upon this deer, having lunch in the ditch.

Gardening has  become a joint venture, and this summer has been busy with a new retaining wall to build, or rather supervise.

Victoria Lister Carley, landscape architect

Rosepark Landscaping.

We are delighted with the result, and I have a brand-new garden to plant!

So that’s about it: writing, gardening, taking pictures, and oh yes, still trying to learn Italian.

Spring and Seed Starting

/ ginny200 / Leave a comment

We’re past the 16th of March now, and it’s time to start the slowest germinating seeds, especially those that will need two years in pots. I ordered seeds from http://www.summerhillseeds.com as I wanted especially to start vines such as cobaea (cathedral bells or cup and saucer vine. I resurrected my equipment–a 2 light grow light, and a rescued kitchen cabinet with countertop –, some seeds at least 10 years out of date and bought some fresh peat plugs in a mini-greenhouse. I want to see if the seeds from so long ago will germinated. They have been stored at a constant 70 degreesF and dry.

Black-eyed Susan vine, alyssum saxitale, and  veronica schmidtiana were the older varieties.

This weekend I will start two clematis, a Koreanna Fragrans and  a Macropetalea. Both of these will require a period of simulated winter in the fridge.

Damping-off is often a problem with seed-starting, so I used some left-over NoDamp-Off, although as there have been no plants in the area for years, and my equipment and hands were clean, I didn’t expect a problem. It’s heartbreaking to see all the tiny plants hanging their heads when the fungus hits.

I’ll record the results in a few weeks.