Six on Saturday: October 28, 2017

1. Already another week has passed. It has been so wet! As of yesterday we have had sunny weather which has lit up the fall colours in the garden.  I wish this would last for all of “winter” but that is not going to happen. This week we cut back a great deal of “stuff” and even cut down a large holly tree that was shading young trees and stabbing me whenever I tried to weed nearby. Good riddance! At about 10 in the morning, the sun reaches our shade garden at this time of year and makes a magical display. This one moment made the three years of effort worthwhile.

 

2. There is a path into the shade garden behind the scene above which weaves about. We have planted many things along the way and left quite a few ferns: Corylopsis, anemones, Tricyrtis, Hostas, Japanese Snowbell trees, a Fringe tree, Astilbes, trillium and much more. Although there is sun now, there is far less during the hotter months.

 

3. One of the plants I have had great success and delight with here is Meconopsis. These gems are so beautiful and last for a very long time in bloom. This is how they look today. (I have about 10 of them.)

And this is how they looked in bud and bloom last June.

 

4. Still blooming this week are the Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’. I do hope they survive the winter, but I am nervous about them. I am not certain of finding them again. They did not make it through winters when I lived in Ontario.

 

5. Literally a huge success this year was the variegated Comfrey which has increased enormously in size since last spring. The morning sun struck it gently, just right I thought, next to the Molinia grass.

 

6. Two more signs of Fall here are the seedpods of Martagon Lilies near the same Molinia grass…

and the webs created by the many artistic spiders. This one made use of the Osmanthus shrub as its canvas.
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Six on Saturday: October 21,2017

 

1. It has been mostly rainy this week with little accomplished in the garden. I’ll share a few photos of the colour changes.

 

2. Clematis seedheads

 

3. A wonderful gift of Chanterelles! These were made into a stir fry with spaghetti squash (also a gift) chopped spinach, garlic, onions, thyme and parmesan cheese.

 

4.  Our young Callicarpa bush.

I have since seen photos of Pearl Glam Beautyberry which has dark foliage as well. What a stunner! Take a look here:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=callicarpa+pearl+glam&dcr=0&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-grrBrYLXAhUqw1QKHernAskQsAQIMA&biw=1387&bih=1000#imgrc=D_V2F4X4MfTM7M:

 

5. Indoors we play with grandchildren…

 

6. We watch the colours intensify… on our young Stewartia.

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This entry from: https://wordpress.com/post/fromourisland.wordpress.com/943

Six on Saturday: October 14, 2017

Last Monday, Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving day. We celebrated with a fine dinner at our daughter’s home with her children. I made roasted root vegetables and prepared cranberry sauce for the occasion. She prepared the turkey as well as red cabbage. She also made an apple crisp for dessert, a request from her 3 chidren.

Things are very wet in our garden. I would love to share the rain with northern California which is suffering from fires these days and the loss of thousands of homes and increasing numbers of lives.

I have enjoyed the changing colours of grasses and foliage, but already I have cut back a few of the plants and grasses as they are sprawling from the rains.

These are six photos from my week here in British Columbia.

1. To my surprise, my Cardoon finally exploded into bloom!

2. The shredded umbrella plant, Syneilesis aconitifolia, has turned a bright yellow which makes it stand out nicely against its surrounding companions.3. The creeping aster, Aster ericoides Snow Flurry, is in its second year. It blooms very late, but I love the way it weaves through the iris and other plants!

4. Chocolate Eupatorium has been in my garden for at least 20 years now. In Ontario, it sometimes didn’t survive until bloom time because of early snows.  It is in bud this week and the foliage has remained dark.  In the summer I have to watch the plant carefully because it does wilt in too much sun and heat.

This plant makes a fine backdrop for Anemone Honorine Jobert.

5. Podophyllum ‘Spotty Dotty’ is another favorite that has lived in my garden for years. Her fancy leaves have increased in size and after a few years of growth, she produces reddish pink blooms which dangle beneath her foliage. I was lucky to locate this plant years ago when it was small and cost very little. Now they are very expensive if you can find them.

This is what it looks like in May:

The blooms in June:How it looks today:

6. Tuesday was a weeding day. I’m not so fond of weeding and cutting back when it is wet and cool, but I dislike messy, so it was necessary. Most of the cleanup will take place in spring though.

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This entry from:
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Six on Saturday: October 7, 2017

1. Our local plant sale is coming up soon. This prompted me to organize the pots in our tool shed… and it makes a huge difference. Glad that is done. We have a few projects in the works and have gathered most of the materials for those behind the sauna. We expect to have a faucet hooked up there which will make life simpler. Also, a few pavers will be installed in that area.

This is the sauna deck and the tap will be installed behind it where there is a path through our shade garden.

2. Here I will share some favorite areas. This is the front entry to our home. The previous owners enjoyed Japanese highlights. (I do too)

There are quite a few rocks in this area and loads of shade. Shade grasses do quite well here.

3.  These plants also appear in the front at this time of year, in small patches of sun :

    Callicarpa

Cardoon

4. In the back of the house is more sunny space. This is what fall looks like here:

5. Along the shade path in back of the sauna there are autumn blooming plants as well.

Trycirtis

Ferns, Fuchsia and Hosta

6. This week we planted loads of bulbs. We’ll see how that works out next spring! My experience tells me that there are never enough bulbs! We also planted a few perennials in this newly opened up space. Hard to tell what to expect so far! May take several years in fact.

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This entry from:
https://fromourisland.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/six-on-saturday-october-7-2017/