A Story - "His Wonderful Blue Eyes" and Red Colour in November - Burning Bush and Anthurium

 His Wonderful Blue Eyes

"So you're not seeing Malcolm anymore?" Julie asked Laurel.

"No, we decided to call it quits."

"You don't seem very disappointed."

"Well, that's because I'm seeing someone tomorrow," Laurel smiled.

"That was quick!"

"I've known this fella for while and he just melts my heart."

"Do you have a picture of him? Is he cute? Is he funny? Is he friendly?"

"All of those things.  Here let me find his picture on my phone."

Laurel scrolled through her photos and then with a big grin showed Julie the photo of her special guy.

Julie groaned when she saw the photo and gave Julie a light punch on her shoulder.

"It's a baby!"

"Not just any baby. It's my little nephew and he is just a darling. And he thinks I'm pretty cool, too. As soon as he sees me, he reaches out for me. He loves it when I walk around carrying him."

"Pretty hard for Malcolm to compete with those big blue eyes." 

This photo features two shrubs considered invasive in Ontario : euonymus alatus (Burning Bush) and European euonymus (Spindle tree). The fluffy fronds are native goldenrod gone to seed.  The shrubs came with the property and I am just enjoying them even though they have a bad rap. My bigger concern in the yard is the common buckthorn which makes tons of berries and has thorns. I'm doing what I can to get rid of the buckthorn near the house and letting the euonymus and honeysuckle have free rein.

This bush nearly died last year because it was so dry but it has made a good recovery. The soil is very shallow where it is growing with the bedrock only down a few inches.

After the leaves fell off the big shrub, they made a pretty carpet on the ground.

Worth noting that euonymus are poisonous to pets.

Someone gave me this anthurium recently.  Although I've often seen them in the stores, I'd never bought one. It is an epithetic kind of plant so I treat it similarly to the way I do  my orchid. I sit the inner pot in a container of half-strength liquid fertilizer and let it soak for a couple of hours.  Then I drain it and put it back in its porcelain pot. It is in a bright location (west window). So far so good, but I've only had it for a couple of weeks. This plant is also poisonous to pets.

It's so shiny it looks like it is made of plastic. A real plant masquerading as a fake.

A Story - "The Butterflies" - Bird Drama , Plants for Windy Spots (Coreopsis, Bachelor Buttons, Agastache, Dwarf Balloon Flower)

 A Story

"The Butterflies

Inheriting a house should be a good thing, but Shawna just felt sad and lonely as she looked at her parents' old home. She noticed, as she hadn't when her mother was still alive, that the house looked shabby.  The roof shingles were starting to peel and the siding was dull. The living room furniture was stained, the result of her mother spilling her tea and food. The kitchen counter had a round burn mark where a hot pot had been left to sit.

The garden had been neglected but some hardy perennials still showed their faces. Shawna pulled out a few weeds around the purple coneflower.  A monarch butterfly floated in, landed on the flower head and began sipping nectar out of the tiny florets. Keeping very still, Shawna gazed at the striking pattern on the butterfly's wings and smiled at its polka-dotted face. After a moment, the monarch took flight and bounced through the air to its next destination. So delicate and yet it seemed purposeful in its travels.

A Giant swallowtail flapped in and fluttered on the coneflower, its large black wings marked with creamy white outlines. She could see its flexible proboscis probe into the little flowers. The amount of nectar was so small and yet the large butterfly persisted, one tiny sip at a time. 

Shawna thought about the butterflies and their delicate, complicated lives. The monarchs migrated all the way to Mexico which seemed like an impossible journey, and yet they did it. The swallowtail found sustenance bit by bit.

 The loss of her parents had left her feeling uprooted and floundering, but maybe like the butterflies she needed to find some sources of nourishing sweetness, rise on gentle updrafts, and, then hopefully, ultimately, she would rest in a firmer, happier place."

Click on the bird photos to get full pictures.

The stare down.

"I won. My turn in the bath."

"Can I have a  bath?"

"No, I'm not finished!  Go away!"

"Finally, it's my turn. It's a hot day. It sure feels good to get wet."

I like having some taller flowers in the garden but I really don't like plants that flop if they get a lot of wind.  We have some very windy days here and I have been really pleased with the coreopsis that just keeps standing up straight and tall.  It has smooth, wiry stems with most of the leaves at the base so the wind can easily blow through the planting.

Bachelor Buttons also have strong wiry stems that just sway and bend in the wind and spring right back. They are a very easy to grow annual that blooms quickly from a sowing after the last frost. They do best with just a little fertilizer and not too much water. The blooms keep coming until the fall frost.

This pink agastache, although it is leafier than the other two plants, is doing just fine after wind and rain storms.  Again the stems are tough and wiry.  I have grown taller purple agastache (hyssop) in the past and it also stayed nice and straight.

This is a dwarf balloon flower that I bought this spring. It is only about 8" tall (12" across) so it isn't bothered by inclement weather. Balloon flowers are hardy perennials even down to zone 4. Usually the taller varieties are the ones available. They can grow to 2-3' tall and will get pushed around by wind and start to lean, but this little gem is snug near the ground.

It was blooming when I bought it in May. When the blooms started to peter out at the end of June, I thought it was done for the season but it never stopped blooming. Even now in August, it is just covered in buds . I am very pleased with its performance. Balloon flowers hardly ever get any insect damage or suffer disease. Once established, they can handle dry weather but the first year they should get regular watering. Slow release fertilizer applications a couple of times throughout the season will keep the plant growing well.

A Story - "Rewriting The Story" - and Butterflies and Insects in the Garden - ( Monarch, Giant Swallowtail, Damselfly, Praying Mantis, Baby Grasshopper, Mud Dauber Wasp, Bumblebee)

A Story

Rewriting The Story

"Amanda, the hospice nurse, arrived at Margaret's home and, as usual, found Margaret settled in her bed with a cozy hand knit shawl draped over her shoulders. Margaret's daughter, Julia, was helping her to drink a nutrition milkshake.

"Good morning, Margaret," Amanda said cheerfully.

Margaret didn't answer as she had become nonverbal as the dementia had progressed.  She did, however, glance at Amanda briefly before going back to her drink.

"Anything new I should know about?" Amanda asked Julia.

"She seems about the same. I got some new lotion which is helping with her dry skin. I've been making sure to turn her every two hours, even at night. So far no bed sores."

"You are taking such good care of her, Julia. You're a real blessing to your mother."

Julia smiled at the compliment. Her mother no longer recognized who she was, had forgotten her name almost a year ago. That's when the story began to be rewritten.

The relationship between Margaret and Julia had been contentious over the years. Margaret was so often critical of Julia, and reminded her regularly that she was disappointed in Julia's life choices. Julia had moved to the other side of the country to get away from her and spent decades building a life without her mother but it still hurt that they were estranged.  When her mother developed dementia, Julia felt sorry for her mother and came back to help with her care. At first the destructive patterns of behaviour were present but slowly as her mother became more confused, the conflict lessened. Her mother forgot her old grievances as her memories faded. When finally she no longer knew who Julia was, the tension was released.

Margaret had enough money to pay for full-time care givers in her home but gradually Julia took on more of the care herself. She imagined that she was taking care of a mother who had loved her and that she was just returning the love. Sometimes Julia just sat in the recliner in her mother's room as her mother slept and she reinvented the past. A trip to a beach resort that had been ruined by her mother's constant badgering was transformed into a story about them both having fun in the surf and shopping for souvenirs. She pretended that her mother was proud of her career as a teacher and that she hadn't disparaged her for not becoming a doctor.

Julia spent extra time making her mother look well.  She brushed and styled her hair each day.  She made sure Margaret's nail polish was well done. Even as Margaret became bed bound, Julia picked out pretty clothes for her to wear spending extra money on adaptive clothing that were easy to get Margaret in and out of.  Every morning, she gave her mother a massage with lotion soothing her skin and relaxing her muscles. 

Sometimes her mother smiled at her in a way she never had before and she let Julia hold her hand, and gently rub it. In those moments, Julia felt she was in a loving relationship with her mother. She was able to block out the nasty years. A part of her knew that this was a fantasy but she didn't care. She wouldn't have much time left with her mother and she needed to create this new story while she could."

I've been happy to have some monarch butterflies visit the garden. They always like purple coneflower. A few feet away there is some young milkweed. I'm hoping that next year, I will see some caterpillars, as well, as mature monarch butterflies.
 

Viewed from the side, the monarch's colouring is more subdued- more light brown than orange. 

Several Giant swallowtail butterflies have been flying around the yard. They are the largest butterfly in Ontario but aren't much bigger than the Eastern tiger swallowtail.  They also like the coneflower but I have seen them sipping nectar from the marigolds and coreopsis, and even pansies as well.

Viewed from the side, the colouration is the opposite of the open wing colouration.  It is mainly pale yellow with black markings instead of black  with pale yellow markings.

The Giant swallowtail also has a small red and blue accent in the middle and near the back of its hind wings.

Another visitor to the garden was this bright blue and black damselfly.

For about three days, this brown Praying Mantis hung out in the half-barrel planter among the pansies and carnations.  Such an interesting looking insect. I really like his pointy fingers on the front legs. Mantis are not good fliers so I have no idea where he came from or why he left. They are a good insect to have in the garden as they will eat other pest insects.

This is a young grasshopper. Not generally viewed as a positive inhabitant of a yard as they eat various plants.  However, he is pretty cute and possibly he will end up being lunch for one of the larger birds that frequent the garden.

There are many kinds of wasps.  This one is a Mud Dauber wasp.  They are generally a quiet wasp and do not bother people, unlike the yellow jackets or hornets which can be very aggressive.  Wasps can help with pollination and also eat garden pests.

This pink agastache is very popular with the bumblebees.  Any agastache (hyssop) will attract bees and other pollinators. Agastache is a sturdy plant and can survive winter in zone 4- 6 if the fall and spring weather isn't too wet.  Otherwise it can be grown as an annual.  I started these plants in mid March.

A Story - "Hummingbird Competition" - and Unusual Hanging Basket and Spirea

A Story

Hummingbird Competition

As a newcomer to the neighbourhood, Stella was going to have to try hard to attract hummingbirds to her yard. The ruby-throated hummingbirds were only in the area for a few short months and not many travelled that far north.

Wanda, who lived next door, had the advantage as she had several feeders up and had been creating a pleasant habitat for the hummingbirds for years with gardens full of colourful flowers.

It felt a bit sneaky to be trying to lure some hummingbirds over to her feeder, but Stella really wanted to see and hear these little dynamos in her garden. She planted some salvia and bee balm near her solitary feeder. Occasionally, she saw a flash of green but most days her feeder saw no action.

When she bumped into Wanda at the store, Wanda enthused over her busy feeders and Stella couldn't help but feel disappointed at her lack of attraction.

One morning, she started watering the flowers with a fine mist.  Suddenly, a hummingbird zoomed in and carefully flew into the spray.  It fluttered its wings as it enjoyed the shower. Stella held her breath. Just before it flew away, the bird gave Stella a keen intense stare.  "I'll be back", the bird seemed to say.  "Thanks for the bath."

I found an interesting hanging basket at the local store. I like the W shape to it and the unusual use of the tradescantia.

Tradescantia Nanouk is usually used as a houseplant but it is just fine in an outdoor setting for the summer.

The flower buds are covered in fuzz and the little white flowers are delicate. The variegated leaves are thick and the stems are sturdy. If I wanted, I could take cuttings in the fall and have it as a houseplant.

A couple of fuchsias in traditional fuchsia pink and purple add whimsy to the basket.

Lantana is always fun as each flower cluster has different shades of colour - yellow, orange, pink. Lots of pollinators like to visit lantana. It enjoys full sun.

It seems like the dragon wing begonia might have been an afterthought in this arrangement.  I really like this kind of begonia but I'm not sure that this was the best spot for it. Anyway, I'll see as the summer progresses if it was a good idea after all.

Spirea is a great little shrub for any part shade or sunny locations.  The flowers can be pink or white.

They can get a bit leggy over time.

I cut this plant back to about 4" inches this spring and now it has a really nice rounded clump form. Its blooms are coming out a bit later than the unpruned plants but that doesn't matter at all. I probably won't prune it next spring and hopefully it will still be short enough next summer.

A Story - "Legacy" and Petunias

 A Story

"A hundred and fifty years ago, Mrs. Marshall and her husband moved to their undeveloped land. They worked hard and managed to turn it into a sufficient farm. Mrs. Marshall had brought with her, from England, a rooted shoot of purple lilac and one of white lilac. She planted them near the house so she would be able to enjoy their fragrance.

Last week, Fiona attended the funeral of her aunt. It was a tense affair as the eulogies were forced and no one really had anything very positive to say about her. Fiona had found her to be an abrasive woman, who liked to monopolize  conversations and was critical of just about everything. She only came to the funeral to support her cousin who suffered from anxiety and was feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of settling the complicated estate. It was sad that her aunt's legacy was just more stress for her daughter.

Driving home, feeling rather down, Fiona turned on to the road where the Marshalls had lived so many years ago. Hundreds, if not thousands, of lilac bushes were in bloom in a profusion of pastel beauty. House after house had lilacs on their property. It felt like being in a Thomas Kinkade painting. It was impossible not to smile and feel happy in the joyful landscape.

Mrs. Marshall's legacy would bless people for a long time to come."

Petunias are a popular plant sold in the spring, especially in hanging baskets.

I was looking for an old-fashioned purple because I like their spicy scent.  Only the purple ones are fragrant, and the newer Wave petunias, while very floriferous and less apt to get leggy, do not have scent.

After I bought this basket, I found an all purple basket which I was happy about.  The other day, it was very windy and I brought the two baskets inside to keep them from being knocked around. The lovely scent wafted through the main part of the house. So nice.

My petunias will get leggy and bloom less in the heat of the summer.  To keep the baskets looking better, I will gradually prune them back. Every four or five days starting now (beginning of June), I will pinch a few stems back to about 4". Over time the whole basket will  be pruned but the pruning will be hardly noticeable. Using this technique, I can usually keep petunias looking decent into August. 

Of course, the newer varieties  have a tidier habit so they're a good option with less work.

Petunias are heavy feeders and need to be fertilized every week or two with a liquid fertilizer. They like to be in full sun.

I dead head every day and that also helps with getting more blooms. The whole blossom including the green sepals at the base of the flower, not just the petals, should be pinched off.

This fun petunia is called Starry Night. It's the first time I have seen a petunia with this sprinkled pattern.  Reminds me of fireworks.  It is not a new variety, just new to me.

It's an attractive magenta which isn't a common colour for petunias.

 I'm not sure what it's growing habit will be like but I can pinch it back if I have to. 

A Story - "Habitat" -Vinca (Periwinkle) and Changing Views of the Bay

A Story

Habitat

Perched on the side of the half-barrel planter filled with colourful pansies, the robin surveyed the front yard. He had a clear view all the way to the stand of lilacs that bordered the trees where he and his mate had built a nest.

Later, Sheryl noticed him and his mate poking at the front lawn finding worms and other insects. It made her happy to see them comfortable in their environment. It helped her to feel at home.  She missed the birds that she knew at her old home but this robin pair would be the beginning of new relationships.

On her usual woodland path walk, she found a large patch of wild columbine with red and yellow flowers.  They were a happy surprise.  She had tried in the past to grow columbine and hadn't had success. Here a whole swath of them were thriving in this unique habitat. 

Would she thrive in her new habitat? It would be an adjustment. Some things missed, some things gained.

 She could learn from the robins. They were content wherever they were, finding nesting spots in forests, or on a porch light in the suburbs.  Always with a cheerful song and never a bully to other birds.

Sheryl promised herself that she would start each morning watching for the robins, and opening her heart to her new life.
 

Vinca (periwinkle) can be an attractive groundcover in shady areas but it is aggressive. It should be planted where it can be contained and where it won't go over to the neighbours or invade a woodland area.  This patch came with the property.

 

The flowers are pretty at a time of year when not much else is blooming.

The bay is always changing.  Interesting patterns on the water even though the sky was just clear with no clouds.

At this time of year, we get lovely sunsets.

The dark blue of the water stands out well against the yellow green of the new leaves.

A Story - "Time Well Spent" and Cyclamen Indoor Plant

A Story

Time Well Spent

 His hand hovered over his phone. She looked lovely. But he had experienced so many rejections on the dating app. Sometimes a couple of emails were exchanged and then nothing - ghosting. Maybe he should give up. So much negative feedback was hard on his mental health. He knew he was only average looking and he was just 5'8". He did have a good job but maybe he came across as a bit of a nerd. So many women wanted tall handsome men who were sporty and fit.

Taking a deep breath, he sent a rose and a message.

Later that evening, she replied. Yes, she would be interested in meeting up in person.

What to wear? Where to go? He decided on his well-cut jacket and a higher end restaurant.

They were both a bit nervous but the conversation flowed and she laughed easily. He was smitten.

He hadn't expected to meet someone warm and kind. Why was she still single? It turned out that her life for the last few years did not really have room for dating. She had been caring for others. Now she had the freedom to pursue a relationship.

 It was hard to believe that, like two needles in a haystack, they had found each other.  Persistence had paid off.

Cyclamen are a lovely indoor plant.  They are long blooming and will rebloom again after their dormant period if they are given the proper care.  Cyclamen have a corm and should be watered from the bottom so that the top of the corm does not get too wet.  Sit the cyclamen pot in a container with a couple of inches of water and let it remain for half an hour. Then put it back in its decorative outer pot.

When the leaves start to yellow and die back, usually in late spring and summer, gradually decrease the amount of watering. When all the leaves have gone, just water enough to barely keep a bit of moisture in the soil. Too much water and the corm will rot, too little water and the corm will dry out completely. In the fall, start watering a little more and the corm should sprout some leaves. Give it a light fertilizing and soon it should be blooming again. Cyclamen enjoy bright light but not strong direct sun.

Cyclamen leaves have interesting patterns on them that add to the beauty of the plant.

Some cyclamen are winter hardy but the ones bought at the grocery store are only hardy to zone 8 so definitely a house plant.

A Story -"Masterpiece" and Cheery Tete-a-Tete Miniature Daffodils

A Story

Masterpiece

 Doom and gloom, woe and worry, darkness and dread.  

Still the sun was coming up in the morning.  At least, Monica believed it was somewhere behind the clouds. The air was still puffing breezily.  Water was sparkling out of the taps.

Time for a little art. Monica lay on the couch and pondered different colour schemes. Yup, we'll start with brown.  Maybe a little beige.  Always good to have bright light for a project.

The creative process takes time so this would be a gradually evolving endeavour.

She mixed the brown with water, dotted it with beige. Quite abstract really.

Green was added a few days later.  Paisley shapes evolved.

Finally, after a few months of intriguing effort the masterpiece was revealed.

Tomatoes: yellow, red, dark purple, orange ranging from the size of a grape to the size of a softball. Some were smooth, some wrinkled, some striped. Some were pear-shaped, some were flattish, some bulging out in all directions. The tomato patch was a glorious expression of wild abandoned growth with a promise of delectable tastes. 

"Ah," sighed Monica. "Life is good."

A charming pot of tete-a-tete daffodils. What a welcome sight in early March. These little cuties grow to 6-8" inches tall and have one to three flowers on each blooming stalk. Like any daffodil, in the garden they like to grow in a situation that gets lots of sun in the spring but can tolerate shade later in the season.  I will be planting these out in the garden when the soil is workable.  They may not bloom again next year but should be revived enough to bloom the following year.  A little bulb fertilizer will help. Daffodils are great in areas where squirrels and chipmunks have a taste for certain spring bulbs like crocuses.  The animals never eat the daffodils.

A Story - "Prepared" and Perennials for Alkaline Soil - Phlox, Yarrow, Centaurea, Asters , Dianthus, Lilac

 A Story

Prepared

It all started with the Covid pandemic. Dan didn't just go down a rabbit hole.  He went down a mineshaft. The world became a scary, unpredictable place to him. The Youtubers that attracted him fueled his anxiety. Soon he was stocking up on food to feed them for five years.  He took most of his money out of the bank, just leaving enough to pay the regular bills.  After much nail-biting research, he decided to buy silver rather than gold. He built a secret storage space in the basement with a bookcase in front to disguise it and stored the silver in it.  His fear of dangerous substances in food made eating precarious and he began to lose significant weight.

His wife, Gloria, who didn't share his world view, felt him drifting away into his delusional world. He got angry when she questioned his decisions and finally she gave up trying to reason with him. He was sure something awful was about to happen.

Turns out Dan was right. One day when he was out buying more supplies, Gloria raided his silver cache and disappeared, ready to start a new life.

I am thinking about my new garden.  My old garden had clay soil on the acidic side which was good for lots of plants.  However, I didn't have many full sun locations.  In my new home, I will have lots of sun but the soil is on a limestone base so it will be alkali. I had originally wanted some roses but they like rich acidic soil which is not  what I have here.  However, phlox should grow here so I will get a couple of them in the spring.

Yarrow will be perfectly happy in the poorer soil. It will be less likely to flop over because the garden will be in full sun and the soil is light so it will be on the dry side.

I ordered a couple of asters - one purple, one magenta.  They are very tough and are great pollinators late in the season.

Centaurea prefers alkaline soil and full sun so I'm hoping for a good show with that. Easy to grow and a hardy perennial.

Also on my list is dianthus. I ordered a short bushy type and I plan on starting some carnations. I gave up trying to grow dianthus at my old garden but perhaps they will do well here. I really like the cinnamon scent of carnations.

Lilacs do well almost anywhere that's sunny and where the soil isn't too rich. They prefer alkaline soil over acidic, but they can grow in either.  I already have a couple of nice bushes  on this property and judging by the dried seed pods, the bushes  bloomed well last year.  

It will be an adventure to begin a new garden.