Six on Saturday: November 25, 2017

November ends

1. Gloomy wet weather takes adjusting to. You need to look hard these days to find bright spots in the garden. I must say, though, that the scent of the mulch is wonderful!

Our oakleaf hydrangeas have been keeping their leaves for a good long time.

Euphorbia Blackbird is looking good. I hope it can survive our wet winter. I joke that I need a geodesic dome for our garden with its wet British Columbia winters. 

A Kerria shrub glows behind some Rhododendrons.

 

2. I am enjoying the berries and buds on several plants.

  It is amazing to see buds on Rhododendrons and Azaleas at this time.

Callicarpa berries

Cotoneaster tree with berries

 

 3. After our trip to Victoria recently, we passed some lovely Arbutus trees. I love seeing them as we drive about, a tree that is new to me. We have birds that are new to us as well, though I have not photographed them. Steller’s Jays are mainly blue (and noisy) and Varied Thrushes remind us of Orioles. (Courtesy of Google) We also saw trees filled with roosting eagles.

 

4. My young Clematis that were given to me have been upgraded to deeper pots. Their roots were magnificent and should be happy with a bit more room to expand. Here are the nine small plants being potted up.

 

Two more to go! Nine all told.

 

5. I decided that the baby Clematis would do best in the ground, so we sank them in a semi sunny spot, all together, and then put caging around them so that children and dogs wouldn’t harm them. Then lots of mulch all about! If necessary, I can cover them with fleece if temperatures sink too low.

Lots of mulch around them

6. By request, the copper rain chain..

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Six on Saturday: November 18, 2017

A busy and rainy week! The dog had to be taken for grooming, which she hates. We visited grandchildren at school to see their teachers and projects.  Leo (7) lost a tooth. We moved plants in pots to their winter locations. Our lovely wooden bench, once it dries out from all the wet this week, may need added protection.  More mulch was delivered and spread, and more awaits us. We heard a fine talk at Garden Club this week too, on Art in the Garden. Then there was Christmas shopping, also play practice for our daughter and granddaughter, etc. What six should I choose? Well, here goes:

1.  Garden Club took place on Monday evening and Lee Gas presented photos of his stone sculptures from his garden as well as from the gardens of friends. (https://www.google.ca/search?q=Lee+Gass+sculptures&dcr=0&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3q-bdqcfXAhUP9mMKHXY_AigQsAQILg&biw=1339&bih=1038) Personally we have very little garden art because my husband prefers it that way. I do have a rain chain that I love, a handsome bench a friend made for us, but little else. I am keeping an open mind though. This is my grand daughter who loves Lee Gass’s work. This photo was taken last summer in his studio. It is a work in wood, still in progress.

This work in stone represents his wife… and was a wedding gift to her.

 

2.   The bench our German friend built for us was oiled at summer’s end, but I still feel I want it protected more during our winter rains.  I love this work and hope it lasts a good long time.

 

3.  The shredded mulch we had delivered not long ago has ALL been spread and more of a different kind, this time chips, was delivered. We have begun spreading this around as well, but still more work to do.

The chips have been spread around the Parrotia tree and, to the left, around the small Callicarpa bush with its purple berries.

Yet more mulch around the Witchhazels and Hellebores.

 

4.  I have pineapple lilies in two large pots which I store in the shop over the winter. They have huge sentimental value, so I feel safer keeping them in this 10C area. I am also testing a Lewisia plant in the shop as well as a Lysimachia beaujolais. The winters have been erratic here and so I don’t feel confident leaving some things out on their own with the elements.
Other plants have been cut back and potted up for safe keeping under the roof overhang so as not to drown in our winter rains. I can also cover them with fabric when severe snow & ice are threatened.  These include Agapanthus, Cardoon, rosemary, bulbs and others.

Under the lights:

Outdoors under the roof overhang.

 

5.  OK, this one is a big deal. Losing that first tooth!  I think everyone remembers losing teeth at the time when class photos are taken! Anyway, this tooth had been hanging on for weeks and FINALLY came out at school. He is so proud and loves sticking his tongue in the newly created space.

 

6. Another huge deal, this time for me. I am a huge Clematis addict and one of the big names in clematis lives in British Columbia. We chatted on the web and he invited my husband and me to their place for a visit in Victoria. We drove there this week and had such a lovely time! We ended up having many things in common besides our love of Clematis: travels in Africa, pet dogs, children and grandchildren, pet therapy animals,  gravel pit rehabilitation, meeting famous plant breeders around the globe, deer that threaten our gardens, and much more.  What delightful people!

 I came home with eight young clematis varieties, all with good roots. My new babies! So here they are. Let them be safe this winter! Oh lucky me…

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Six on Saturday: November 11,2017

1.

The order was placed, even though it wasn’t exactly what we wanted. But when it arrived, it turned out to be a good mix of fir and Hemlock!

We even found a big enough spot to contain it all.

2.

 But then it snowed, covering the areas that needed it most!

3.

Finally the snow melted and the spreading began!

4.

I was glad to find an obelisk on sale! There is always a new clematis that needs one!

5.

On the very last warm day of the season a photogrpher snapped outdoor shots of our daughter’s family. It was Halloween day.

6.

The last leaves hanging onto the Cercis Forest Pansy.

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Six on Saturday: November 4, 2017

This week we have seen the very end of Autumn and moved from colourful foliage, to dropping leaves that you could actually HEAR falling by the minute. Then yesterday, white stuff fell to the ground… and fortunately melted immediately.

Early in the week I captured some late blooming flowers.

1. Aster The Prince bloomed at last. I love this plant! It has dark foliage at first, but at this stage appears a normal green.

 

2.  Chocolate Eupatorium is another very late bloomer here. Here too the leaves are dark green now, but chocolate brown throughout the summer. Seems to be a theme!

 

3.  This wonderful hardy Fuchsia hawkshead just keeps on giving!

 

4. These lovely Hydrangeas were a gift from a friend’s garden.

 

5. Mushrooms grow on this stump in our garden every year. They are not edible, but I enjoy them from our kitchen window.

This year I bought a starter kit for Shiitake mushrooms and started it on November 1st. We’ll see how it goes….

Our granddaughter (8) went picking Cauliflower mushrooms and Chanterelles last Sunday with her Dad and a friend. Here is what they brought back. I think they are beautiful!

 

6. In terms of odd jobs, our son-in-law power washed the roof to clean out the eaves troughs and also to remove the moss which grows there. We are finally installing a faucet so we can water things more conveniently next season.

I wonder what I’ll find to add here next week, now that we have seen a bit of snow already. Temperatures are expected to be between 3C and 8C. (37F-46F) Tonight the clocks change for us, which means the pets will be a bit agitated by the timing of their meals for a couple of days.

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