Thinking of Blue Flowers on a Cold Day

One of my favourite blue flowers is Clematis 'Frances Rivis'. This alpine type clematis is one of the first to bloom in my back garden. This photo was taken in late April. I also had luck taking cuttings from it and had another plant blooming away until my dear old Saint Agatha ate it.

It blooms at the same time as many of the pink Aquilegia which makes a really pretty display. I've got several chartreuse leaved plants growing close - the blue with the vivid yellow/green is just such a tonic after a long winter.

While I've marked my seed choices in an every expanding set of catalogues, I've yet to send any in - a pleasant task for tomorrow!

Blue Flowers in the Garden

There is nothing lovelier than blue flowers in the garden. Pictured here are Mertensia virginica - Virginia Blue Bells. While their baby blue blossoms don't last long, they truly are one of the wonders of spring. They grow to a height and width of about 15cm. After they're finished blooming, the whole plant dies back to the ground. So, it's one of those plants you want to combine with hosta - something that will come out later and cover up the nasty dead leaves. Mertensia virginica is available from nurseries in the early spring. It is a much harder sell, as you can well imagine, later in the year, when the leaves have completely died back and you're left with what looks like an empty pot.



If you have a bit of space in the shade, be sure to include these lovely blue flowers for your spring garden.

Butterflies in the Shade Garden

I wouldn't necessarily think of attracting butterflies to a shade garden - but was pleased beyond belief two years ago, when I found these lovely monarch butterflies crawling all over my Ligularia dentata.

Ligularia is a big beefy plant that needs quite a bit of moisture. It is about a meter and a half high and a meter wide when in bloom. This seedling, from an original plant I'd purchased, has lost the characteristic dark burgundy colour on the underside of the leaves and stems, but seems to be far more tolerant of the sandy dry soil it is growing in.

Ligularia blooms at the end of August, beginning of September for me - so its blooms are timed perfectly to attract these migrating butterflies. You might also be pleased to know, that it has very attractive seed heads, and of course, with seed heads you'll have lots of plants to share with friends in the neighbourhood - so they too can enjoy these beautiful butterflies in their shade gardens.

A Plant to Add Light to the Shade Garden

There is a long section in my front garden by the house that needs to be overhauled. While two pink Rhodos add colour early in the season, I realize that I need more eye-catching colour throughout the garden season. Looking through my photos, I think I've found a piece of the solution to the puzzle.

This pretty Hosta with the scrumptious name of - Pineapple Upside Down Cake growing in my back garden is large enough to split and will make a great punctuation point in the garden bed. It has pretty light yellow leaves with green edges and nice lance-shaped leaves.

I'll split the Hosta early in spring after the shoots have broken the surface of the soil being careful not to damage any of the leaves. While this isn't deadly to the plant, it does mean a full summer of ratty looking leaves - something I'd like to avoid. Now that I have one of the key plants in my perennial shade planting, it's on to find more - perhaps in my own garden, or maybe something new from the garden centre this spring!

The Year of the Rudbeckia and Eggplant

Who knew? Just last week I received in the mail a lovely postcard with a picture of Rudbeckia 'Prairie Sun' and Eggplant 'Hansel' from the National Garden Bureau - an organization dedicated to the promotion and education of gardening from seed. And, an organization that has its work cut out for it. According to the Ontario Seed Company, growing plants and vegetables from seed seems to be less popular all the time, which really is a shame.

Vegetables are one of the easiest things to grow from seed. With the interest in having food that is produced chemical free and close to home, nothing beats the home garden. If you are looking for three easy veggies to start with, I'd suggest: cold weather lettuce - leaf lettuce, green beans and tomatoes. They are practically fool-proof - and in the case of the lettuce and beans, they only take 45 days!

Leaf lettuce should be started as soon as the soil can be worked. I've had many crops of lettuce hit with snow in March or early April, with no problems at all. The best part of all, at the beginning of May, when the last of the lettuce is harvested - the soil is nice and warm, and I can use the same patch for my green beans that need warm soil to germinate. I'll start my tomatoes either on my light table or window sill in April and they'll be ready to plant by the third week of May. Nothing beats the flavour of home-grown tomatoes.

This year, I'm the keeper of Frank's dad's tomato seeds that he got from Italy many years ago. Sadly, Frank's dad died last year and his mum planted the seeds he'd saved in the previous fall. Of the 15 or so different varieties we tried last year (photo of a Green Zebra above), this old variety was one of the top in our taste tests. Fingers crossed that they germinate!

Tips from the Trial Gardens

I had the good fortune of visiting 4 trial gardens this year - Landscape Ontario's new beds in Milton; University of Guelph; Oklahoma State University; and Vesey's in Prince Edward Island. In addition to the seed catalogues and the glossy photographs I've got my very own photos to help me pick which new plants will fit best in my garden.

At each trial garden, I take an establishing shot of the entire garden when possible. From this shot, it often is abundantly clear which patch of flowering plants is a winner. If I'm able, I'll go right to the splash of colour to take a mid-length and close-up shot, including a separate frame of the name - I've always thought I could remember, especially when something is sooooo fabulous, but usually at the end of the day my mind is perfectly clear and unable to recall that plant that I just have to order next January.

It's a real help and treat to be able to go back to these photos when I'm doing my seed ordering. And, I must admit sometimes a little frustrating when I realize that some of these plants are so new that they are not yet available for sale.

One of the big trial plants is the Petunia. While every year for the last five, I've vowed I wouldn't bother with them because by the end of June they are full of disease and completely horrid looking. However, I'm once again in the market based on how fabulous these trial Petunias looked in mid-July. As well those beautiful Petunias, there were those that looked just as revolting as those I'd grown myself - so perhaps, it's not me but the kind of Petunia I had been growing.

So, this year, I'm on the lookout for Proven Winners Supertunia Vista Bubblegum - it is immense and really is the colour of Double Bubble. The next for that big blank area that needs to be filled is Tidal Wave Silver - good growth and soft white/purple colour. Last, if I'm looking for a white, Takii Opera Supreme White looks like a good bet - not the largest flowers, but lots of them and the plants look good too.

So, if you're looking for a break and want to check out what's new in bedding plants, Google AAS Trial Gardens in your area, load up the car and get ready to see and photograph some wonderful plants.

Search for Treasures in the Seed Catalogues

This summer I had the good fortune to visit Prince Edward Island on a garden writers tour. At Vesey's Seeds we had a tour of the trial gardens and saw many new plants that had been put through their paces during an extremely wet summer. Many of us noticed this lovely new annual called Monarda 'Bergamo'. It had a very pretty colour, nice leaves and interesting form that we thought would work well in mixed floral borders. Monardas, as you may know, can be horribly afflicted with mildews. This stalwart planting showed absolutely none whatsoever - and given the amount of wet that year - it certainly seemed to live up to its press release of being highly mildew resistant.

'Bergamo' is being offered at both Vesey's and Park Seeds - two of my favourite mail order suppliers. It definitely will be on my seed list this year!

Green Grasses for Winter Interest

I've always been amazed at the group of grasses called Carex. They take full shade, bloom in early spring and require absolutely no maintenance in my USDA Zone 5A garden.

You can see from the photo I took of 'Ice Dance' this week, how good it looked after the snow subsided - unlike many of the hot weather grasses that had collapsed and turned a dull tan. Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance' is a good clumper and stays within its bounds. I've had this plant for over 5 years and it is about 50 cm wide and 40 cm high. Whether you decide to use it to brighten a dark corner, or just provide some dependable colour along a front path, you'll be happy with this plant's performance.

Amaryllis - More is Always More

Almost 6 weeks to the day, the amaryllis began to bloom. I believe the secret to a good show is planting as many as you can and grouping the pots. There's something about a little forest of giant white and raspberry flowers that just makes my heart sing on a cloudy rainy day.

It's another bizarre winter - mid-January and the snow is completely gone and the soil is definitely soggy. I can see daffodils pushing their way to the surface. All those hosta leaves I'd hoped to clean up after they'd provided their gorgeous fall colour are now pancaked on the soil looking like grey slime.

Last week I was at Landscape Ontario and saw what was new for 2008 - for decoratives, such as pots and wall hangings, the story is back to nature and natural colours - browns, beige, metals and natural stone colours. In the plant world, the search is out for even more unique looking plants - Terra Nova has some fantastical introductions. Other nurseries have developed lines of plants that are native to Canada, and not only are attractive, but have the added advantage of probably making it through the winter.....something to really consider when I'm spending my plant dollars!