Die Tomato Die!

Just came upstairs from murdering some little tomato plants. Germination of Renee's Seeds was almost 100%, so it was time to be cruel to be kind.

I plant 2 or 3 seeds in each cell - basically hedging to ensure that there is a plant in each cell of the 4 or 6-pack. Should all the seeds germinate, I wait until they have their true leaves, then I choose the best, and murder the rest! Rather than pulling out the weaker plants, which could cause harm to those I want to keep, I simply cut them off at the soil line and put them in my compost.

And, for a gal who is starved for warm soil and real gardening, I have to say one of the best parts of this slaughter was the wonderful tomato smell I got, when I took the scissors to them. Summer just can't come soon enough.

Magnolia Madness

I cannot remember another year when the Magnolia stellata looked as beautiful - just had to share a few of my favourites. Two of the photos are from my sister-in-law Joanne's garden. The third is from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington Ontario.

I had always managed to miss the Magnolia's period of flower at the RBG. Many years I would just stand under the lovely old trees mid-summer and imagine how pretty it would be with the branches full of blossoms and petals covering the ground. While the Saucer Magnolia or M. soulangiana were in bud and just starting to bloom, I was just delighted to see the petals from the M. stellata making a snow-like carpet at the base of their trunks.

In this area, we do have problems with scale, that is controlled, but not eliminated by horticultural oil. Magnolia grow well in both sandy and clay soil throughout this region - much to all our delight this year!

Fingers Crossed - Cold Weather on the Way

Double digit weather that we enjoyed last week will be replaced by single digit highs and potential for snow. The bad news is that so many of my perennials really took off last week and the early ones that set buds may be injured. The good news is that I've decided to postpone any more garden cleanup - hoping that the last bits of leaves will protect the smaller tender crowns.


Looking for photo fodder this a.m. - and aside from the usual suspects - found this lovely Quince - Chaenomeles in bud. It's one of the original plants to the property and I suspect is about 50 years old. I love the coral colour of the blossoms and its shiny green leaves. It is shoved up against an enormous ash tree - which works well. I checked out my Dirr reference on Woody Landscape Plants and think he was a bit harsh saying, "as a landscape plant it is intolerable for the 50-51 weeks when it isn't blooming". I usually have a month of pretty buds, several weeks of bloom; nice shiny leaves during the growing season and great yellow quince in the fall - however, it is definitely not a "showcase" sort of bush - its form is a bit wild - so squished up against the ash and fence it will stay.

The Best Garden Designs

Yesterday morning I saw just how pretty this house and garden looked on my walk and decided to go back in the afternoon to get a photograph. I've always liked that they've got a wonderful old-fashioned garden that supports and showcases their home.

In the earliest of spring, Scilla is allowed to run through the grass so that the entire lawn turns vibrant blue. In fact, the grass isn't in need of a cut, it is simply the leaves from the Scilla that you now see. Daffodils have spread beyond their neat boundaries around several trees adding to the romantic effect.

Plant material that would have been used over 100 years ago - such as the magnolia, yews and English ivy complete the spring look. Colour is picked up again in mid-summer with climbing roses and clematis along the wrought iron fence.

Learning about the historical style of your home and what might have been planted during that time before you head out to the nursery is always a good idea. While you may not find the original cultivars - there are many great new ones that will give you many years of pleasure and compliment the style of your home.

Carex - A great group of Grasses for the Shade

A number of years ago, I had grass envy. You know, those lovely tall billowy grasses that provide strong vertical form and spectacular interest? Well, I wanted them. Unfortunately I had 10 big beautiful trees - Beech, Pine, Spruce & Maple - and as you might know, you can either have fabulous grass, or you can have big beautiful trees.

So I thought, until I discovered Carex. This is a cold weather grass, and just like my lawn, puts out its growth in early spring. Unlike other grasses, it often is evergreen - a feature that really doesn't count for much when it's covered with a meter of snow, but heck, sometimes it's just nice knowing that it's there.

One of my favourites, introduced to me by Belinda Gallagher of Triffids, is Carex muskingumensis (palm sedge). It is taller than any of my other Carex and has a lovely tropical bambooish look. For me, it grows about 80 cm tall and 60 cm wide. It does self-seed, so weeding is a must. And, it isn't bothered by pests and diseases; is drought tolerant; and strangely enough the bunnies don't appear to fancy it. Providing the snow is shorter than the plant - it holds its shape and would be considered as winter interest. It also combines well with other plants in the perennial border and keeps its green colour throughout the summer.

The only word of caution is to be careful when you cut it back in the spring. Palm sedge sends up shoots just as soon as the soil begins to warm, so if you're not careful, you'll end up cutting off this year's growth!

Plant Perfection - Helleborus Ivory Prince

Yesterday tackled more leaves in the front garden - a 5-paper bag day. Glad I've got most of the major stuff out of the beds, hosta have started to break the soil surface and it feels like I'm stepping on fingers when I accidentally trod on one. Neighbours must think I'm mad - as I mutter "sorry, sorry, sorry" when I feel the sickening crunch under foot.

In the back garden, lots to do still, but couldn't resist just wandering about this a.m. taking it all in. Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' is the only thing blooming at the moment. I've been really pleased with this plant - it's in its third year and was started by Skagit Nurseries. It had three strikes against it going into my garden - it was started on the west coast in a far more benevolent climate; it was developed in England - and often some of these plants just don't do well for me; and I plunked it in the garden in October- spring is the recommended time to plant Helleborus. No matter, it bloomed after its first winter and continues to look terrific. And, if the blossoms weren't pretty enough - the leaves during the summer and fall are tinged with red and silver. Hardy, drought and disease resistant, and lovely to look at from early spring to snow fall - what could be better?

Apologies to the Abeliophyllum

In my last post I was extremely miserly with my praise of this early flowering bush - and I admit that I'd completely missed the boat with the most wonderful feature of this shrub - its scent. When I was cleaning up the garden bed I took off a couple of small branches, trimmed them back and put them in a bud vase beside my bed. I was overwhelmed with the lovely sweet fragrance that completely filled the room.

Here it is growing in a dry corner bed under a large eastern white pine that has been amended with compost. It took me a couple of years to figure out how to prune it properly, but I finally figured it out. I like to select branches to remove from the base of the plant so that it remains an open natural looking shrub. Basically it should be pruned the same way as a Forsythia - no cubing, canning or muffinizing permitted!

If I had a large garden I'd be tempted to plant several now that I'm a convert. Abeliophyllum appears to want to sucker and left alone would probably provide a pretty white/pink thicket of flowers that would look terrific against a evergreen border - or naturalized in an open forest situation.

And just like that...the Hamamelis is History

This glorious little shrub started blooming on March 16th and today it's finished - one month of bloom is fantastic. Yesterday during the day it just started to drop all its flaky yellow bits leaving behind twigs and swollen leaf buds. Right on cue an Abeliophyllum distichum has started to blossom. It really isn't the most splashy of bushes, the flowers are small and are rather meanly scattered along the branches. However, after this past winter any and all flowers are welcome no matter how small and insignificant.

Spring Panic

Well, the snow is finally gone all in one gigantic melt - and those bits and pieces that I've left in my garden to hold the leaves over the winter obviously have done their job. So, it has begun - the mad scramble to clean up the beds, do the final cutting back and see what has survived over the winter. It looks like all the snow worked like a charm - I've got Zone 7 material that I'd normally treat like annuals - growing beautifully and sending up lovely green bits at their base. Some Carex that I'd started last year as little annuals are big and beefy.

I put in 3 hours on Tuesday and thought I was ready for surgery. Talk about losing my garden muscles! Yesterday I restricted myself to 90 minutes and was able to walk after - so I consider that a pretty successful day. Am a bit discouraged at all that is left to do, so had a look at some of my old photos to cheer me on. Found this one of my lily bed from a couple of years ago taken in mid July. It is just magic to think that in 3 months - the bed will go from beige grey leaves and dust to lush green leaves and lovely flowers.

Room with a View

This is the view that George Eastman's mother had from her bedroom. While the garden isn't exactly as it was those many years ago - I think it is a great example of how important the view of the garden is from the inside of the house. Mrs. Eastman was wheelchair bound and every window was low enough so that she could see out and enjoy a beautiful view no matter where she was in the house.

Whether you're wheelchair bound or not, being able to look outside to see something lovely really adds value to the garden. And this year, given the cold winter and spring, being able to see flowers bloom from the warmth of my living room sofa - makes me feel that the garden season has started in spite of the 2C degree mornings.

A Garden Treasure - The George Eastman House

Just returned back from Rochester NY where my mother and I enjoyed the most lovely visit to the George Eastman House. The magnificent mansion was home to George Eastman - the founder of Kodak.

The gardens weren't officially open yet - but the gardeners were hard at work trimming and cleaning up the garden beds. This wonderful sight was the largest swath of winter aconite (Eranthus hyemalis) I've ever seen. And, what a clever planting. Very little grows really well under beech trees; but just look at how pretty this spring carpet of yellow is! Obviously if you're still trying to grow grass under one of these lovely elephant-legged monsters - ignore this post, but if you've given over the area to wood chips and mulch, just imagine if you were to include some of these little bulbs next fall under your trees - while you may never have the 37-room mansion - there's no reason why you can't have a bit of gold under your beech tree next spring!

Gardener Gone Wild!

It's been a busy hour of sowing tomato and pepper seeds. My tomato partner Frank and I held back this year and are only growing 13 different varieties of tomatoes and 7 varieties of peppers.

Many of the varieties we're trying are from Renee's Garden www.reneesgarden.com. What I really like about her selections is that she offers several varieties in one package. As you can see from the photograph for two different Thai Peppers - there are red seeds for the Red Demon (aptly named) and plain for the Orange Fogo - a variety for salads. In addition to the deadly little Red Demon Thai peppers that Frank likes to dry and pass around the table after people have had enough wine to drink - we're growing Red Savina - a Habanero Chile that according to the seed package "tips the Scoville unit scale at 380,000" and holds a Guiness Book of World Record.

In fact the Harvest and Use instructions says it's important to use eye protection and gloves when handling the peppers. Just the sort of thing you want to see when growing a food product!