A Story - "Goals" and Mulberry Tree , and Dramatic Sunset

 A Story

Goals

"So much money, so much fuss. It's just a ball getting kicked around and maybe going into a net.  

Fine for kids but it seems a bit excessive for adults.  A lot of money changing hands though, what with betting being involved.

Oh well, let's watch the highlights of the Canadian game. TSN is putting up short videos on Youtube of the crucial moments.

It's surprisingly entertaining to watch the highlights of the game. Hum, maybe I could watch some other videos.  Soon I am familiar with the names of star players : Messi, Mbappe, Haaland.  I find out that Messi is 39 years old. That's impressive. I watch a video about his life and find out that he was a small boy from a working class Argentinian family. He was missing growth hormones and his family couldn't afford to pay for them. Eventually a soccer club paid for them. He grew to 5'7" - still quite short. He had to really develop his technique because he wasn't as big or strong as the other boys. In 2022, he helped Argentina win the World Cup. Honestly, his life is like a Disney movie.

Maybe I'll find out more about Mbappe and Haaland.

Now the games are not just about a ball whizzing around a field.  It is about real people with dreams, gifts and challenges.  It's about life. "

I discovered a while ago that we have a mulberry tree on the property.  I cut away some buckthorn from one side and now you can see the lovely graceful shape of the mulberry tree.

The tree is full of berries.  They ripen gradually over time and most of the ripe ones have been picked off by the birds and squirrels.

Here you can see the deep purple colour of a ripe mulberry.  I tried one and it tasted a lot like a strawberry with a hint of raspberry.  No wonder the birds love them so much.

Here is a robin, who blends in quite well with the tree, having a snack. We have a pair of robins that live in our front yard.  We see them all the time, picking up bugs off the lawn and then flying over to the mulberry tree for dessert.

So many lovely sunsets at our house.  This one was especially striking.

A Story - "When Baby Came" - Calla Lily, Native Black-eyed Susan, Astrantia, Hostas and Cherry Bell Campanula, Bridging colours, Aggressive Purple-flowering Maple.

A Story

When Baby Came

 Lisa sighed gently as Peter brushed her hair, stroke after stroke. His hands tickled her neck as he gathered her hair together to make a ponytail.  He playfully swung her hair and then kissed her on the cheek.  She turned to him, and drew him into a full kiss. They had always been deeply in love but now that she was pregnant, they felt even closer. Peter rested his hand lightly on her swollen belly and smiled when he felt the baby's foot pressing outwardly. They were already connecting.

A few weeks later, Lisa went into labour.  Peter, who had attended pre-natal classes with her, knew to massage her back. He sang her favourite songs and wiped her brow with a cool cloth. He told her how much he loved her and how special it was to have a baby with her. When she was finally delivering, he held her hand and never flinched when she squeezed with all her might. Lisa was so thankful to have such a devoted husband.

Baby made a grand entrance, crying heartily and turning a bright rose red. Lisa cuddled her and laughed at her comical face.  Peter, on the other hand, stared at Baby mesmerized, totally enraptured with her.

That was the beginning of the competition between Lisa and Baby.

The summer before last I got these calla lily bulbs for free at the end of the season in August.  I potted them up and they grew a bit before the frost.  I overwintered them in their pot inside, basically just neglected them in the basement.  Last summer, I put the pot outside and they grew nice leaves but no flowers. Finally this summer, I have blooms.  Very pretty and worth the wait. They like a sunny location with ample moisture in the growing season.

Gardening is always full of surprises.  This year  three native rudbeckia (hirta) have popped up around the garden. They are a biennial plant unlike the usual perennial rudbeckia (goldstrum).  Their leaves are narrow and hairy. I guess some bird dropped their seeds in our yard. I'm enjoying having them.

Astrantia is such an unusual flower - spiky yet soft. The white ones have subtle colour variations with touches of green and pink here and there. They form a nice big clump but do not wander.  They prefer a half-shade location and adequate moisture.  A mulch around them to keep the soil from drying out is preferable.

Some of my favourite hostas, especially the green one with buttery yellow centres. I don't remember what varieties they are.  In front of them are some cherry-bell campanula which for some reason decided to make a nice ground cover this year in an area that I have struggled to find a plant for.  Campanulas in general like sun but also adequate moisture. These ones are flopping because they are not in full sun. However, they are growing well because the soil is not drying out.

To transition from the hot orange campion to the cool pink lily, I planted in a couple of miniature red roses.  The red serves as a bridge colour.

Purple-flowering maple has attractive flowers and will later make red raspberry-like fruit.  It is native to my area (zone 4).  It makes a shrub up to 5' tall. Sounds nice? Not really.  It is very aggressive and I would gladly do without it.  I spend considerable time trying to root it out of my gardens. It is sometimes sold as a garden plant  but it is a real thug. I didn't plant it in my yard - it was already here as it is a native plant. The bees like it though and birds will eat the edible, but not tasty, fruit.

A Story _ "Perfect Fix" and Feathery Muscari, Pansies, English Daisy and Mini Solar Birdbath Pump

A Story

Perfect Fix

Jenna was skating on the famous Ottawa Rideau Canal, thirteen kilometers of frozen delight. Figures skaters twirled and swirled.  Turbo-charged hockey players zoomed by her.  Jenna glided cautiously, a tourist soaking up the playful atmosphere.

Suddenly, her skate pick caught the ice, throwing her down hard.  Her right knee zinged with pain.  A hero braked sharply, held out his arms.  "You need a beaver tail."

Confused, Jenna gratefully grabbed his hands and hung on to his arm as he guided her to a snack shack.  He ordered hot chocolates and delectable deep-fried cinnamon doughnuts, shaped like beaver tails.

Perfect fix.

This is a feathery muscari which isn't offered very often by the bulb companies.  This is its third spring in my garden and this is the first year that it has opened properly so that may be why it isn't seen so often. We had a lot of rain in late April and early May so maybe that's what it needs.  It is flopping a bit as the location is fairly shady. It is a lovely periwinkle blue colour unlike the regular grape hyacinths that are more dark purple. The feathery muscari grows to about 6-8" high.

I had planted four columbine in a row.  They all came up just fine but then one died so I needed a replacement plant.  I decided on this pretty pink English daisy which, where I live, will likely only last the summer. If I see the same double columbine as the one that died, I may buy another one to replace it.

Some pansies to brighten a partial shade spot.

 

I saw a mini fountain set up on the internet and decided to try one out. It is a small submersible pump powered by a solar panel (4" square).  I bought a plastic cup and drilled a hole in the bottom and cut away a bit on the top end to allow the wire to go out.  I flipped up the cup and put the colourful top on the bottom that is now the top. The pump has a suction cup to keep it in place and it goes inside the cup. The pump works when the sun shines on the panel but not when it's cloudy or dark. I had bought a green bowl to go with the green cup but it was too small and too much water was landing on the deck when the pump was at full force. I am enjoying the sound of the water and it was so easy to set up.  I am hoping some birds might like it, too. 

Having Fun with Pots, Camassia and Jack-in-the-Pulpit

It's always fun to go to the garden center and buy some plants and put them together in a pot.  I got a little carried away with this pot and it is crammed full of plants. It will definitely need regular fertilizing.

This one looks scraggy right now.  There is a geranium that I overwintered in the middle of the pot so I am hoping the geranium will grow some new leaves and bloom in a little while.

This is my pot of leftovers.  It should fill in nicely later in the summer. The hummingbirds will be attracted to the fuchsia and red verbena and purple salvia.

The wild jack-in-the-pulpits are in bloom.  As our bush opens up as the trees get bigger and further apart, we have more of the woodland wildflowers.

Blue camassia is a wildflower in some areas but not around here.  Years ago I had planted some down near our ditch and they happily grew there for several years and then, I suppose some little creature ate the bulbs, because they disappeared.  But a bird must have deposited a seed up nearer to the house and now it is growing on the edge of a garden.  Perfect place for it.
 

Here We Go, Spring is Here

I have very few crocuses left thanks to the resident chipmunks who eat the corms, but a couple of early crocuses have bloomed. Lovely.  They may not survive long as we may get a bit of snow in a couple of days.  Today was 17C. The typical March roller-coaster.

I have a dependable patch of snowdrops, which the chipmunks don't eat, but their down-facing flowers means that this is the usual view.  They look like a flock of helicopters.

Looking at them from a chipmunk's vantage point, I get to appreciate their lovely markings,

 and their most unusual shape.

Today, I saw a blue heron poised motionless on the bank of the stream staring fixedly at the water. He will probably be able to catch some minnows.  The song birds are getting noisy in the morning as they scope out suitable nesting sites.  Hopefully soon the little flycatchers and hummingbirds will be back.

Take care.

Pink Chinese Celery and more

 The pink Chinese celery is coming along well. There are several plants that could be potted separately I don't want to fill up my windowsills with celery so it will have to stay crowded until I can plant it outside.

 Many echinacea varieties are hybrids or patented but I was able to buy Green Twister echinacea seeds. So far about ten have sprouted so I'm pretty pleased. I saw individual plants selling for $8 so my packet at $3.50 is quite the bargain.  They may not have time to mature enough to bloom this summer but hopefully most of them will survive until next summer.

This is black-eyed Susan vine, a cheerful annual vine that blooms in shades of yellow, orange, and peach. These seedlings were starting to show roots at the bottom of the pot so I put them in a larger pot  To save some potting soil, I thought I would try just putting soil half-way up the peat pot. The vine doesn't seem to be making much in the way of side roots, and  if roots start poking out the sides, I can put more soil in then.

Years ago I bought some salpiglossis plants from a local nursery.  I loved the metallic veining and rich colours of the petunia-shaped flowers. They struggle with strong summer heat but I felt I wanted to give them a try again so I bought some seeds. The seeds are very small but they have sprouted like crazy. I have 7  2-1/2" peat pots of them and each one must have about 20 seedlings. Yikes, that's a lot of salpiglossis! They are not small plants like lobelia; they are more like pansies or petunias. I will try them where they get morning sun and afternoon shade where the sweet peas were happy last year.

I made some red lentil soup for lunch and it was quite tasty. I like making soup because it's not something you have to be precise about.  I used about 2 cups red lentils, 1 large sweet potato, 3 sticks celery, a small onion,  a third of a yellow pepper and seasoned it with salt, pepper, ginger, dried parsley. I put enough water in the pot to cover everything by 2" and simmered for 40 minutes. It made a thick, hearty soup. Other ingredients that would have worked with the lentils: squash, carrots, green beans, ground beef, chicken.

Hope you all stay well.

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.

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.

Signs of Spring

Last fall I planted some grass seed over an area that we had covered with fresh earth. None of the seed had sprouted before the snow came and I assumed that I had just wasted the money spent on it, but this morning I saw that it has sprouted and even grown under the snow. A good start to spring!

I heard my first robin this morning and saw geese yesterday and today. The flock of redpolls is still coming to the feeder and enjoying the seed I throw on the ground. Most days there are around 50 of them. I have never had so many and never had them stay so long. I'm wondering when they'll be heading north .

Our truck-driver son is on his first long-long haul. So far they have travelled to Florida, up to Ohio, and now are on their way to Alberta. It certainly is the grand tour.

We watched a show on the Irish emigration last night. Apparently half of all Ontarians have Irish blood in them. In the Laurentians where I grew up, most of the families that weren't French were of Irish descent. On the show, one family was describing how whole villages of Irish people resettled together in Canada much as the Scottish people did in Glengarry. The English , on the other hand, didn't seem to do that which makes those of us of English background feel at times rootless in Canada. Perhaps the English were never very good at community which is why they were always travelling around to distant places expanding the Empire. My mother was telling me the other day that one of my British aunts was sent to boarding school when she was 5 years old. It seems so cold and unnatural to send your little ones away at such a young age.Not surprisingly, she never had a close relationship with her natural family and adopted her husband's family (our family) as her real family.