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Friday night, we had rain. Hallelujah. It has been such a dry Spring, so far. ”Where are those April showers?”, people cried. They finally came. It rained for hours during the night. We’re expecting more today and tomorrow.
I spent all weekend gardening. To be more precise, I added 4-in-one soil mix to some of my beds. The soil mix is comprised of loam, manure, peat moss and sand, I think. So far, I’ve gone through 15 – 25 liter bags, with no end in sight. After having gone through all that, I planted out the hardy perennials – purple coneflowers, white coneflowers as well as forget-me-nots, all of which I had raised from seed in the house. Meanwhile, I’m watching the shrubs and perennials I planted last year get a little more advanced every day.
All of the ten trees we planted last year and the year before, are flourishing. That is to say, they’re leafing out. I read where the first three years of a tree’s life is spent developing the root system. After three years, they start to grow in height and width. This also holds true for transplants. So patience, which is not one of my virtues, is required.
Let’s not forget the weeding. Oh God. The part I hate the most especially the ones with deep tap roots. If you leave just a little root behind, they grow again. So, this will be an uphill battle. Mulching helps but you have to wait till things are planted out before you can do it. Another thing that helps is heavy planting. ”Nature abhors a vacuum”. How true because if there is no plant there, a weed will take it’s place.
So, I thought it would be nice to look at a few pictures.
   
Here is a picture of a group of us after planting more perennials by the soccer field in Hastings. We have such a nice time together. More fun than disco dancing in days gone by.
Watching Toronto news, I sometimes feel like those Torontonians live in a world of their own. They’re reporting rain but I look out the window and see snow coming down in droves. Oh well, that’s what living two hours from the centre of the universe will do.
I’m getting a little tired of winter. I must admit, I spent most of it indoors. Why stress myself? My house is roomy and I have a new flat screen TV. Life is good.
This snow will probably switch to rain. It’s a very muddy time of year. Can’t wait till it’s really warm consistently.
I guess I should be glad but I have never seen a winter like this one. It’s above 0 Celsius most days. Yes, it freezes at night but so what? There is very little snow. What fell so far, was washed away the next day with the warm weather. It’s eerie. Next thing you know, the bears will come out of hibernation.
With all the melting, rain, ice rain, there is ice everywhere and no amount of salt is helping. Give me a good cold winter with lots of snow any time. I much prefer it.
Oh well – what’s the use in complaining? It won’t do any good.
Is there anything sadder than a garden between seasons? Last night we had ice rain. All that is supposed to melt today according to the weather reports. There is only dirty ice on the ground. Once it begins to snow, it will look pretty again, especially on sunny days.
I now have three seed catalogues that came just this week. Although I enjoy looking through them, nothing really appeals to me. I have most of what they’re offering. What I want are the unique things that seed catalogues don’t offer. That means I have to wait till spring and then visit a nursery. That’s expensive. Last year when we visited said nursery for planting out the round bed with perennials, it cost us $250.00. That’s just one bed.
Mostly, I’ve been trying to grow perennials from seed which is more economical but, of course, the plants take longer to mature. I find asking friends and neighbours for seeds or roots works but I don’t like to impose. So, better save my pennies. Gardening costs can add up. Good thing I saved seeds from last summer.
Since this is the first of November you know it won’t be long before the snow flies. Already we’re waking up to mornings with frost on the ground. Well, it could be worse, we could live in North East USA with their incredible snow storm, fallen trees, power cuts. Mother Nature is a fickle woman. You can never tell what goes on in that pretty little head of hers. I wonder what devious plans she has in store for us?
Meanwhile, here are a few pictures, probably my last ones for the season, to let us remember the growing season of 2011. Most of the annuals have been yanked out of the ground. The only annuals remaining are the Yellow Calendula and Dusty Miller. I’ve read the calendulas will self-seed but I’m not taking any chances so I’m also saving seeds. As for Dusty Millers, I just don’t know where they keep their seeds. Some say they are perennials, I’m leaving them in the ground, so I guess we’ll find out next Spring what they really are.
The Shasta Daisies are incredible. When I say that, I mean indestructible. I’ve given some away, moved many and they always look like they’d always been there. I got some sedum and perennial poppies from friends, the four o’clocks are wonderful hardy annuals as are love lies bleeding. One of my favourite flower is the red geranium. I grew up with geraniums in Europe. To me no garden is complete without them, but what a royal pain in the butt to overwinter them. Sure, you can put them in pots and have them all over the house. That way they grow leggy and ugly but you can cut them back and get new plants. I’ve tried hanging them upside down in the basement but that didn’t work, this year I’ve got them in paper bags hanging upside down in the basement. Maybe I’ll spray the bags with water occasionally to keep the roots from drying out completely. I don’t know.
I don’t think I’ll sow Devil’s Trumpets again – or maybe I will. They are not as lovely as Angel’s Trumpets and you have to nip the seed-heads daily. Sunflowers are wonderful and make a huge statement when clustered together. Easy to grow.
Asters as perennials are great. They spread. I also got all kinds of yellow daisy-like perennials from neighbours called Heleopsis and Coreopsis. They look promising. I’m not sure the baby’s breath was such a good idea. They look like weeds. I do tend to ramble on so I will stop. Thank you for your patience.
And I couldn’t be happier. Of course, as is usual here in Southern Ontario, the weather is in the extreme. Suddenly, for the last couple of days, I’ve been waking up to single digit temperatures. Celcius, that is. It still warms up during the day but it has certainly got cooler.
The leaves are turning and falling. The most beautiful season is coming upon us. Sadly, it is short lived before winter sets it. So, here are some pictures for remembering summer. Love Lies Bleeding is a very good annual. You don’t need to do anything special to it – just throw the seeds on the bed and they will grow without a problem.  
Today and for the rest of the weekend it’s going to be humid – hot, yes, but it’s been hotter. The humidity just kills. I dusted today and broke out in a sweat. I thought the A/C season had passed, but I was wrong. After this weekend, maybe we get back to some normal September weather.
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