Purple in Shade

 At first, I grew ornamental onions in as much sun as possible.  That is where they grow the best, but I have found that they will bloom quite nicely in a dappled shady spot as well.  They look quite natural in a woodland setting. They will self-sow and are very winter hardy.

 Double columbine which also does well in dappled shade.  It is on a bit of a slope so the soil drains well.  They don't like to dry out so they do well with other low growing  plants nearby to shade the soil.

The ferns are happy with all the rain we've been having - very Rousseau-esque.

Pop

When she was little and cute,
Her mother told her, with a hug and a kiss,
How pretty she was.

When she grew tall,
Her friends told her, with a hug and a kiss,
How fun she was.

When she worked at a job,
Her co-workers told her, with hug and a kiss,
How well she listened.

When she married a man,
Her husband told her, with a hug and a kiss,
How wonderful she was.

When life came down hard,
Her mind told her, with fear and dread,
How worthless she was.

Her mother, her friends, her co-workers, her husband
With a hug and a kiss,
Told her how special she was;
But the bubble had popped.
Who was she really?

Pony Filly

 A friend's pony had a little filly last week. She has the cutest markings. The father is a paint pony with traditional blotches but this little girl has just a symmetrical white patch on her rump.

She was having fun running around but mom just wanted to eat.

Her tail is bi-colour, white at the top and black lower down. Very sweet pony and she got lots of "oohs" and " aahs" from her admirers the other evening.

Little Flowers

 Lunaria (silver dollar)

 Late-blooming mini daffodil

 White violet

 Native foamflowers

                                            Calibrachoa

 Native white violet

 Pink tiarella

Magenta lobelia

May Flowers

Some May flowers to enjoy. Apple blossoms

  Poet's daffodil.

 Virginia bluebell

 Bleeding Heart

 Primulas (again because they may never look so good another year)

 Bishop's Cap - I like to think of them as little space aliens

 Au naturel - silver dollar, dandelions, forget-me-nots

 Spring jumble

Some late tulips.
Have a happy Victoria Day weekend.

May Miscellany

 A very bright double tulip. It doesn't have the elegant form of a single tulip but I have often found that the double tulips bloom for more years than the singles.

The little tarda tulips aren't much bigger than a crocus but they bloom after the crocuses are finished, filling in the time until the annuals go into the garden.  They come back reliably for many years.

Sometimes plants with very different leaf and plant forms have similar flower shapes.  The blue flowers on the left are variegated brunnera which makes a short bushy plant; the pinky blue blossoms on the right are forget-me-nots which have a more upright branching shape. The different leaves add variety, and the similar flowers add cohesion.

One of the problems I've had on our property is wild raspberry and blackberries growing up in cleared spaces.  It wouldn't be a problem if they produce any significant amounts of fruit but they don't.  They just make lots of prickly bushes. So I have learned to use tough plants that cover the ground well to shade out the brambles . The uvularia in the front makes a good sized clump of dense leaves later in the season. The pulmonaria makes a nice thick mat of spotty leaves. In the back, wild ginger also makes a very good mulch. Behind the pulmonaria, brunnera and hostas will do their job as they fill out.

Lamium is good short ground cover but it can get a little too enthusiastic. Later it will have magenta flowers.  I like it paired here with the variegated vinca that has a few purple flowers right now.

We have trilliums popping up in lots of places.  They are surprisingly easy to grow if you give them sun in the spring and shade in the summer (under deciduous trees), and plant them in fairly heavy soil. The windflowers mulch out some unwanted plants but I the rudbeckia and balloon flower planted in that spot will easily poke through  later on.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day. Hope you all have some fun.

Trilliums and Tulips

It wouldn't be May without a picture of a trillium.

I was happily surprised to see how good last year's drought was for the tulips.  This bunch has doubled in blooming flowers over last year. Tulips often don't rebloom in our climate because our summers are too wet for them.  They like a dry summer.

 More tulips blooming for, I think,  a third year.

The cowslip primula is blooming now, and a more purpley eliator one is just starting to open although the redder ones have been open for a week.

 Trillium and brunnera.

We have had cool, wet weather the last week or so - actually had a few snowflakes- so the daffodils are lasting for along time.

A red trillium.
It was a beautiful sunny warm day today and I got some veggies planted in the garden. And the bean I started inside has been put in a large pot outside. I am still hoping for beans in June.

Primula

 Some eliator primula that have proved to be very hardy.

 A closed tulip with some nice markings.

Pulmonaria

Cloudy Days

 We haven't had much sun lately and the cherry blossoms are still round white balls like little decorations on the almost bare branches.

 The windflowers only open in the sun.  This morning, they couldn't decide what to do as the skies were very changeable.

A collection of trees: silver birch, white birch, poplar (behind with the black markings) and a young spruce in front.

 A jumble of rock and trees.

A little balsam growing in the thinnest bit of soil.

A silly face frowning at the weather?