21 Straight Days of Sunshine and then the Rain

What an unbelievably wonderful stroke of good weather we've had. As many folks in this part of Southern Ontario are saying after the Summer we've had, we certainly deserve it. And just as things were starting to suffer, the rain has started and looks like it will continue for most of the day and perhaps some of tomorrow.

I've been deep into David Pogue's 'Digital Photography The Missing Manual' and found more bits about my camera I didn't know...such as, the exposure compensation button (no mocking laughter please). That little rectangle that is half black half white on the back of the camera - when you are on a manual mode, you can press this button and either darken or lighten the shot in third of a step units by pressing the button next to this little sign. So now, I can brighten or darken the shot, if I'm convinced the automatic reading isn't quite right. Who knew - well, probably all of you, but now I know too!

Also he spends some time telling you about all those prefixed manual settings, e.g.: "Portrait" - gives you a large aperture - so background is blurry or "Sports" - fast shutter speed. Also, under the category of you probably don't need to know, but you can screw your camera into the top of a lamp - no doubt getting a nice sharp photo of Uncle Bobby when he's wearing the lampshade. David also shows another cool tripod option that you make with a screw and a string - so you step on the bottom of the string - pull your camera up to make the string tight and presto - a cheapo, pocket ready, camera steadier.

This weekend Kevin & I managed to get over the the Royal Botanical Gardens for a lovely hike. I've managed to put these photos into Blogger backwards (apologies, I like to start with a better looking photo) and have not figured out how to move them around - so, here we go:

This is Eco-Lawn - a low maintenance, drought tolerant, shade and sun mix grass. I suppose if I had a cottage, find it's a bit scruffy for me. But a good example for people to see - it's being advertised as a lawn alternative. This is how it looks after a summer of heavy rain and no mowing.

The lovely new water feature - you can see the plants are small.

A very cool lily.

The dahlias were just at their best.

This is part of the scented garden - at one point it was sponsored by a Gas Company....

A Cornus looking handsome in the Fall.

You really can see how well everything has done with all the rain we received.

A primal scream here...yes, some of the leaves have started to change....not yet, I'm just not ready to think of Winter.

Ptilotus - probably Joey - didn't see the tag. What a great parking lot plant.

And, finally here's the walk in the woods. Here's a very handy way of dealing with fallen trees across a pathway.

What a glorious day.

More signs of Fall.

A nice big creature from the rodent family.

This fungus looked like it was grafted to this old stump - almost like those tiny cactus grafts.

And, just a couple illustrations of the exposure compensation feature - this is Agastache 'Apache Sunset' - with 1/3 step up - more light.

And this is the original that the camera produced: Note, I've got less information in the black area to the left of the frame now.

A close-up of a Ligularia - again, have stepped up the exposure to allow more light in - and I see that I'm losing a bit of focus.

Here is the original:

In this particular situation - a species clematis seedhead - I think I prefer this shot, where I added a 1/3 unit of exposure. (Blogger appears to have taken this photo and turned it on its head. Oh well.)

Here is the original:

And to end this post today - I discovered why this little clematis flowers were looking so shattered, my bees are too fat.

You just wonder how much pollen he was able to collect?

18 Days and Counting

of unbelievably beautiful sunshine. The sprinkler is working overtime in the backyard - the Hosta are shutting down with the lack of moisture. The leaves are turning gold and tan well ahead of schedule, so I'm hoping that this drink will coax them to hold on a little longer.

My latest library read is David Pogue's 'Digital Photography The Missing Manual, The book that should have been in the box'. I'm a quarter in and would definitely recommend it. He was able to explain why, with my Canon PowerShot S80, I'm not able to take good night shots. After seeing fabulous shots of the moon on other blogs, all I got was a little white smooshy thingie in a puddle of powdery black. The reason for this, is that the camera sensor is too small. Apparently SLR sensors are 10x the size and obviously more light sensitive than my camera - so they capture night scenes better and also handle light and colour better in every way. Pogue states that sensor size is probably one of the most important features on a camera (even more than pixels), and it's never advertised on the box. So now of course I have sensor-envy.

Another trick, that you may or may not know, for those of you with pocket cameras is the half press trick. Always half press when you have your subject framed - then when the bee flies in, or the wind stops, or the light is perfect - you'll be ready to take your photo and will have perfect focus. This gets around the shutter lag problems with these pocket cameras and will save you from taking the photo of Madame Monarch's dainty derriere as she dashes off, rather than her fabulous outstretched wings.

So not the best time to take photos when I got back from my walk - but think this is a great representation of the weather and skies at the moment. In the foreground I'm looking up the nose of the Nicotania mutabilis.

One of the features of the Heptacodium is that these little green bits that are left behind after the petals fall, turn a gorgeous red colour - giving you yet another reason to grow this good small specimen tree. I've yet to have a really good show of red, but hope with all the blossoms this year - that this will be the year.

And, if its not, for the flowers and bees alone, it's a great ornamental woody.

This pretty Panicum is about 3 years old. It has bits of red here and there.

Look at one of my newest additions - Panicum 'Blood Brothers' - for obvious reasons. Do hope that it's as successful as the other.

Taken yesterday - Hydrangea 'Limelight' is starting to show its autumn pink.

More old Phlox, just because. Noticed that I may have a new seedling here - centre is lighter - making it look like I've left the flash on by accident. Whatever I've got here, it's quite pretty, and there's not a bit of mildew on it.

The Tricyrtis all over the garden are just starting to come into blossom. The piles of rain and cloud over the summer certainly have made for lovely leaves.

I just adore the orchid-like blossoms.

I got into this section of the garden and really went to work. I've got two big patches of this Eupatorium. I've left one for the creatures and sacrificed this one for aesthetic reasons & to save time on picking out seedlings next year.

Agastache - another of my favs:

Such a magnificent time of year - so much to see and appreciate - and just think, the leaves are only just beginning to change - so there's an abundance of shocking beauty to come.

14 Straight Days of Sunshine

The weather has been absolutely glorious. This weekend I spent more time on the computer than I did in my garden adding memory and cleaning up an overburdened C drive for my husband. Many thanks to my wonderful nephew Andrew who gave up part of his Sunday to put things right. Aim to remedy my lack of solar units today and make time to fiddle about in the back garden. The back garden is heavy on leaves rather than blossoms and can certainly handle more neglect than the front - but the time has come for some remedial action.

The light is so forgiving - even those less than adorable plants seem to have their photographic moment. Each day, around 3:30 I've been scooting around the garden to see who's ready for their close-up.

There are 4 or 5 blossoms on this Hibiscus today - will see what I can do with the camera later on - here it was on Saturday as the sun made its way through the leaves of the Beech tree at the front of the pathway.

As stunning as so many of the fall bloomers are, and as nice as it is to show them to you, I'm going to be honest and show you a less-than magical-spot in my fall garden. This Dicentra 'Gold Heart' has been a beautiful gold colour right through August - a 2 month improvement on the species that goes dormant in early July. I had grown this in a pot with a collection of perennials and it bloomed all season - very weird for Dicentra spectabilis. In the ground it does bloom longer than the species - but only by a few weeks. The leaves keep their nice golden colour until the end of August. I'd say it's pretty well done for the year, wouldn't you?

The Heptacodium has grown well above the roof. Newish to the trade and North America, who knows how big it will grow? The scent of the blossoms is a lovely soft jasmine/rose cross. The bees go completely mad while it's in bloom - crawling all over it all day and well into the early evening.

Lots of little pollinators at work - here on the old original-to-the-property (50+ years old) phlox.

And on the Solidago which in early spring looks so much like phlox, I seem to have missed pulling it out.

And on a late blooming Heuchera villosa - even the flowers are furry.

If I had more sunlight in my garden, I'd definitely grow more grasses - this is a Calamagrostis - a variegated one that grows about a third less tall than Karl Foerster - although not as short as I wanted it to be as it's poking out the eyeballs of a nearby PeeGee.

Where would I be without my blackvelvet portraits? Here's a lovely new-to-me Nicotania mutabilis from Select Seed. Will find and post photo later so you can see all the different colours of pink the blossoms are. They start very pale and then change to a good clear pink. It grows to about 1.75 Meters (5-6 feet) and sends up several nice tall stocks. I planted mine close to the edge of the garden, which works well for me as it has an open habit and I delight in being able to to examine the changing blossoms.

The self-seeded Perilla is doing very well this year. Like the insects in my garden, I find the taste of this herb Shiso appalling - too bad for me, because it grows beautifully in my garden.

It really is a terrific filler - the grand orangey coloured short lived expensive Echinacea looked fab with it last year - alas, it is just a memory. The only recommendation I'd make if you're going to grow Perilla is to deadhead it as it is a professional self seeder. And like all self seeders, it grows well everywhere - in pots, in the garden, the grass, the pea gravel, and cracks in the pavement. Fortunately its good purple colour gives it away, so it's an easy target.

Back in the Garden in Time for Fall

I am well and truly on the mend - thanks for all your good wishes. Surgery done, healing well and no further treatments required - hooray and thanks to all the terrific folks at the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton Ontario.

So, it's back into the garden - as you can see from all the great green in this picture, it has been a wet and cool summer in this part of Ontario which should also make for a display of spectacular fall foliage.

Yesterday I got back into one of the corner beds to do some edging, cutting back and long overdue weeding. (The weeds, just like household dust, do indeed wait for you.) I discovered that the oxalis was full of spider mite. And just like those indoor plants that languish and fade after an attack of these little fiends, these weeds had no strength to bloom...good work from one of my least favourite insects.

This is one of my favourite plants I grew from seed this year - Solanum laciniatum - blossoms are followed by heavy little ampule-like fruit - first green, then yellow. The fruit is tricky to photograph - will persevere.

Yes, I know, this stuff spreads like crazy, but always think it looks so pretty and ladylike this time of year.

Huge infestation of wasps this year - primarily yellow jackets - but a few others like this one and his hundred best buddies enjoying the Aralia cordata.

My official blackvelvet portrait of Phlox 'David'

I believe this one is Agastache 'Apache Sunset' - foliage is glaucus and fine.

A photo that only a plant mum could love - it's been 3 years - maybe 4 - but this is Hosta yingeri (the other 32 were eaten by slugs in the nursery in year 1) and it's in bloom
- ta da!

Here are the leaves - just as well I only got the one - it's not exactly a show stopper is it?

The scent from these Hosta was brilliant - right next to the bed where I was working.

And, it's hibiscus time in the garden. They definitely look other-worldly in this northern garden.

...it's just one big party of plant and a celebration of more good stuff to come.