Tree Peony and other flowers

The tree peony has more flowers than it has ever had. Last fall I put some large pots upside down around the plant and laid some dried flower stems across the top to catch the snow.  The whole plant was under snow until March and I think that kept buds from winter kill.  The plant itself is quite rugged but the flowers are delicate. Too much heat and sun and the flowers quickly droop.   Yesterday when it was pretty  sunny and warm, I draped a damp t-shirt over the flowers to keep them a little cooler in the middle of the day.  Now we are in for some cooler days so I may get to enjoy the flowers for a while yet.

I took this picture so you could see that the flowers are really large even though the plant is only about 3' high. Mice damaged some of the stems last winter so this year I am thinking I will stick some garlic bulbs around the plant to try to discourage the mice from chewing on it.

This time of year is a bit of an in-between time for flowers. The spring bulbs are finished and most of the perennials have yet to bloom.  The little tiarella blooms now, though, and I enjoy its delicate flowers and decorative leaves. It grows best in a shady location. It never gets very big so it's good for a small garden.

Ornamental onions are a handy plant as they are not fussy as to sun or shade.  They will multiply especially in a shadier location.

The ferns grow very fast at this time of year.  These ones are just native ferns that I planted on the north side of the house. Very attractive with the sun shining through them.

The hosts are starting to show their striking leaves. I planted some new ones this year.  I'll show them later in the season when they are bigger.  The pink flower is lunaria (silver dollar) which is a biennial. It self-sows here and there but never seems to get out of hand. The white feathery flowers are false Solomon seal which is native around here.

It's been pretty dry for the last few months so we are hoping to get some decent rain tomorrow. It is surprising how well most of the plants are growing in spite of the lack of rain.

Keep well. Take care.

 

Spring Medley

The pretty Virginia bluebells are blooming.

A medley of spring flowers.

 White trilliums with blue brunnera poking through.

Hope you are enjoying your gardens.

Nomadland by Jessica Bruner

 Nomadland, the movie, just won Best Picture at the Oscars. The topic interested me so I am reading the book - always more complete than a movie.  This is not an uplifting story but I am really glad I am learning about the displaced, "houseless" people - many of them seniors- in the US. I'm guessing we have a similar population in Canada, just fewer of them.

It has also cemented my conviction to never buy from Amazon again. The conditions in their distribution centers are horrific with no care at all for the workers.

I had already switched to Indigo for book shopping, but thought I should check Indigo's work reviews. For in-store employees, they were for the most part very good. For the warehouse workers, the reviews were OK.  Google reviews for Amazon warehouse and you get descriptions like "hell".

I highly recommend you read this book which is available from Indigo.

I know Amazon can be convenient and free shipping, et al. but it's on the backs of the workers.

I have found smaller companies for all my shopping needs. Just search for what you are looking for and you will find an online vendor. I find parcels still come quickly as they are often send by Priority Mail and if you have any issues with your order, staff at the business will help you. Of course, when Covid is over you can shop in bricks-and -mortar stores.

The only way to effect change at a business like Amazon is by changing our buying habits. So please, pass this message along to your friends and family, and maybe we can help these workers to have respectable conditions to work in.  Also, write your MPP to complain that they are not enforcing workplace rules.

I am so thankful that I have a house to live in. Everyone deserves decent shelter.

Tulips and more

The tulips have been enjoying the cool weather and lasting for a few weeks. The sideways trellis is there because I am going to train a purple clematis, which is just visible on the right, to clamber along it.

These double red tulips were just so vibrant in the sun. I find the double tulips come back reliably for several years.  I have had Angelique pink tulips in the past and had good success with them. Near the upper right corner, some species yellow tulips are also blooming.  They are self-sowing a bit which is great. They are an alternative to crocus which the chipmunks eat.

I never planted any tulips here and I have never bought tulips of this colour so two things are going on here.  Some tulip that I bought has changed colour over time, as tulips will sometimes do, and a furry helper decided this was a good place for them.  I would not have planted tulips here because it is a pretty shady spot once the trees leaf out.  How is it that they are doing well, multiplying in fact, when tulips are supposed to need a sunny location?  I think it is working because they get the spring sun and then the tree roots keep the soil dry through the summer.  So it is a shady spot, but it is a dry spot.  That's my theory anyway.

Some other pretty tulips.  The small red ones are probably Greigii tulips. I can't remember as I got them several years ago.  They are multiplying and I will dig them up in the fall , plant some in other places and replant some here.

The native merry bells (Uvularia) really makes a fine garden specimen. Sometimes it is offered by nurseries.  I just took a bit of a clump from a patch growing wild in our bush decades ago and put it in better soil and more light.  Now I have multiple patches. After the flowers finish, it leafs out more and makes a nice yellowy green clump.

More primulas just because.

Grape hyacinths.  My problem is deciding whether to leave them in the garden or put some in a little vase and enjoy their grapey scent.  I think I need to plant more of them.
 

This patch of trilliums looks pretty with the blue brunnera peeking through.