The Garden Wakes Up

The chipmunks left me a few crocuses. I like the way the pattern of the tulip leaf behind it mimics the pattern of the crocus petals.

 Sky-blue scillas are popping up all over the place. So pretty.

 Unless you flip them up, you don't get to see the beautiful turquoise stamens and the pale yellow center.

 Several wild mullein have shown up.  I will let them grow as they are in empty spots and I like the tall stalks with bright yellow flowers that will bloom later.

 Sometimes the daffodils get stuck in the leaves and need a hand getting free.
 I emptied out a gallon pot that had soil in it from last summer, and out flew a sleepy bumblebee. I looked it up online and found it is a tri-coloured bumblebee. It has a bright orange band around its middle. It was probably a queen , the only survivor from last year's colony. She will start a new colony soon which will have about 200 bees when it's mature. The pulmonaria is starting to bloom so there will be lots of pollen .

 Cheerful little clump of chionodoxia.

The weather has been on the cool side so the snowdrops have lasted for a few weeks. I planted a new patch last fall but no sign of it this spring so I guess my little furry friends ate them.  I didn't think they would. This patch has quite a bit of ornamental onion around it so maybe that has been discouraging the chipmunks.

I notice this plant a couple of days ago and can't remember what it is! It almost looks like baby lilies but from the soil it seems to be one plant. Hum...

In spite of our cool spring, there has been a lot of flooding around the various rivers in Ontario and Quebec. A significant bridge going in to Montreal is closed, and another one in Ottawa is also closed.
We had a good amount of snow but not an extraordinary amount, but we never had a real meltdown in January like we usually get so there is lots of snow melting now. We've also had several rainy days which, of course, doesn't help. We are fine because our property is well away from rivers and our bush absorbs lots of water, but many people in flooded areas are displaced. A small century old hydro dam in rural Quebec about an hour from here is at risk of failing and the authorities have evacuated all the people downstream.

Mealy bugs and ladybugs, and some flowers.

 I haven't posted for a long time.  We had a challenging winter with my mom being in the hospital for 2 1/2 months (she is in long-term care now). But spring is coming and I feel like taking some photos again. I thought I'd start with the cyclamen that was in my last post.  It has been blooming non-stop since November although it is a bit slower right now.

 The bougainvillae made it through the winter and had a lovely show of flowers on a different stem. Suddenly now though it has dropped all its leaves. I'm guessing I over watered it in spite of trying to be careful. I will give it a dry spell and hope it will revive. I don't know if this spray of flowers will open properly or not.

 This orchid has bloomed for the third time. It has 14 flowers and buds. I bought some special orchid foliar fertilizer in a cute little spray bottle and give the leaves a spritz about once a week as well as watering the pot with distilled water.

 The ladybug is on a leaf of a new orchid that unfortunately brought mealy bugs with it. I was preoccupied and didn't notice the infestation until it was pretty bad.  I gave the orchids a total bath in soapy water and that helped a lot but I have killed quite a few bugs by hand as they hatch out. Some ladybugs woke up from their winter sleep and we have been putting them on the buggy plants. It really helps.

The white fluffy thing is a mealy bug. They like to be in the fork of a stem. This is celery I started from seed last fall. The celery plants got damaged by the mealy bugs but they are still growing and I think once I plant them outside, they will be OK.

I started some lettuce a couple of weeks ago. I keep it well away from the mealy bugs! Nice to have something new growing.
I hope you are all enjoying some spring weather.

Cyclamen

 I was looking for a poinsettia for the Christmas season but this pretty cyclamen caught my eye and I bought it as well as a modest poinsettia. I love the leaf patterning and the blossoms are such a lovely shade of magenta.

I did some reading up on cyclamen care after I got it home.  I have had cyclamen in the past but I haven't cared for them diligently and they have ended up in the garbage after their bloom cycle. This one I am going to try to keep going. I am thinking about the growing conditions of the outdoor hardy cylamen that  has done well  for a number of years. When the hardy cyclamen is dormant in the summer, it is in dry shade. When the fall rain comes, it starts to grow and it is happy with lots of moisture as it leafs out and blooms. So for my indoor cyclamen, I will give it moderate water (letting it soak up water from a saucer for 15 minutes) and some half-strength liquid fertilizer through its bloom cycle.  I have it on the dining room table about 8' away from the south-facing window. With the low angle of the sun, it gets sun shining on it in the morning but the light is gentle. It will have steady temperature which will minimize stress.
After it stops blooming, the leaves will fall off and it will enter a necessary dormant period during which I will cut back on the watering and light.  Two or three months of rest will allow it to renew itself and then I can start to encourage it to grow again by increasing the light. I will only increase the watering when active growth starts. Here's hoping it works.

Flash Fiction

I just had a short flash fiction piece published at 101words.org. It's titled Gone Again and it appears as the November 10, 2018 entry. I hope you go to their site and read it. I've been reading the other posts. Some of them are funny, some sad, some sci-fi, some dark, some light but they all give you a little window into someone's life. Maybe you will be inspired to write some yourself :)

Without a Frost -late season flowers

Because we haven't had a frost yet, many of the flowers are still blooming. The pink shrub rose rebloomed a couple of weeks ago and the hibiscus will bloom until frost. Here's hoping it will survive the winter.

 Hostas usually bloom earlier in the summer but they will send up flower stalks later in the season if the weather is warm enough.  The purple flowers are, I think, an annual verbascum. They have bloomed all summer in the mixed pot that they came in.

 Japanese anemones are so cheerful with their green centers surrounded by bright yellow stamens. White ones are common and hardy, but they also come in pink some of which have double petals.

 Japanese anemones like a bright location but don't like to bake in hot summer sun so some afternoon shade works well. If they like a location too much, they can become invasive especially in warmer climates but where I am in zone 4, they are well behaved.

Dahlias are great for late season blooms. I like this lemony yellow one with big flowers.

Zinnias

I started a few zinnias in the house this spring and they are starting to bloom in the garden. I think starting them inside gave them a good boost, and they are very sturdy plants now. They like the hot, sunny, dry weather we have been having, and the flowers colours are really vibrant.  I find zinnias are prone to disease and insect damage, but this year they are not being affected by either.

 

 Some of the pansies in pots are still doing well.  This plant started out as white with a dark purple splotch, but is now turning to a lovely lavender with dark purple.

 The dry weather is not bothering the rugosa Blanc Double de Coubert rose. In fact, it usually has little caterpillars that chew on the buds but this year I am not seeing them. This rose has an irregular plant shape that gets rather messy, but it has a lovely fragrance.

 The Chinese delphinium surprised me by coming up again. It's can be pretty floppy but the flowers are a lovely rich blue.
The weather is not so hot now, but we really need some good rainfalls. They are predicting some rain this week so here's hoping they are right.

Orange Flowers

 I planted some nice rich orange plants this spring.  Above is Hot Papaya, one of the newer echinaceas.

 A dragonwing begonia in bright orange.

Campion Vesuvius which is redder than the photo shows, but is definitely dark orange.
The gardens are doing well as we have had lots of sunny weather, but not overly hot. Next week is supposed to be in the 30's so that will stress the plants more.
I'm already picking zucchini, celery, lettuce, Swiss chard and I've managed to outfox the chipmunks with regards to a pot of strawberries and will pick a couple later today.