Bits and Pieces around the Garden

I put in a couple of hours getting the vegetable garden ready yesterday afternoon.  It makes me feel so much better when all the edges are sorted out.   As you can see the garden is really quite shaded in the early morning.  I probably get just a little more than 6 hours total - amazing what you can produce on a little plot this small.

This morning was the fun part, planting it all. I put in 4 different types of tomatoes:  Red Candy, Ultra Sweet, Golden Honey Bunch and Big Beef all from Loblaws.  These were the varieties I'd tried last year at the Stokes Trial Garden.  I also planted 2 types of Kale:  Redbor and Lancinato; 3 types of Chilies:  Super Chili, Thai Dragon and Habanero - all from Fantasy (who have moved their garden centre to rear of the parking lot).  The seeds I started before we left for Amsterdam:  Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and McFayden's Red Sails lettuce are coming along, albeit slowly.  Obviously the cold and dry weather when we were overseas was a real factor.  We really need rain.  While things look very green, my sandy soil is almost like dust.  Unbelievable that we've got these conditions and it's only May.

On the weekend I was playing catch-up in the garden for the time I missed when I was away and was absolutely delighted to find this new plant doing it's best to capture my attention.  It is a trial plant from Terra Nova - Heucherella 'Solar Power'.  I swear it looks as if it was trying to reach up to tap my hand.  With the lack of snow cover the lower leaves looked excellent throughout the winter.  Now that I've taken the photo, will pull the old leaves off to tidy it up.

In the same section of the garden the Epimedium sulphureum is finishing up.

I'm just so drawn to the yellows and chartreuse this time of year.  Trying to take this shot, almost looked as if the leaves were shivering.

This is Hosta 'Golden Sceptre'.

An oldie, but a goodie - Deutsia 'Chardonnay Pearls'

Kevin calls this Socks on the Line - Dicentra 'Gold Heart' - and look at all those socks.

What's left of Frances Rivis - I hope they choked on it.

And just a couple of flower treasures found during my morning walk.  These lilacs so very lovely.

And this wonderful old rose - as long as we've been here (22+years), so has it.  Grows in the shade and puts on an early show year in, year out.  Just fabulous.