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Saturday 17 April 2010

Garden Gems Galore !

Polemonium reptans "Stairway to Heaven" variegated Jacob's Ladder .
I bought this little beauty at the end of season sales and I was wowed by it .. the foliage alone makes me happy but with its little blue flowers added to the mix it is stunning !
The touches of pink are perfect and set against the black mulch I use .. well it couldn't get much better I think : )Black Lace Sambucus ... my oh my ! I have put this poor shrub through a lot , moving it here and there and here once more .. finally I might get some gorgeous lacy leaves let alone some flowers .. near the opposite mark is Sutherland Gold Elder so it really is a contest between the two of them at times ? ..
A Cityline hydrangea is waking up .. the problem is I'm not sure whether it is "Venice" or "Paris" there is another one about a foot or two away to bring consistency ? .. Nah ! I just liked them a lot at the time ! ;-)
Dakota Charm Spirea .. a "mini-me" of Goldflame or Goldmound .. it is perfect for a little punctuation mark .. it looks rather sparse right now but it fills in beautifully and looks too cute to believe .. I guess you have to be a shrub lover to get it ?
Then there is Walker's Low nepeta .. I have said it before and I will say it again .. it is GREAT ! I have a few of them two in the front garden for contrast with colour and texture .. and two in the back for the same idea .. you can cut these babies back hard and they will come back looking absolutely fabulous again : )
OK .. I have to admit it .. a new acquisition with the hellebore group .. I couldn't help myself .. heck I almost .. well .. you don't need to know what I almost did when I saw this .. but it was EXCITING !!!! "Berry Swirl" of the Winter Jewels collection .. I have been so fortunate getting a leg up from a friend that started me seriously on the road to hellebore addiction : )
I can't wait to see if it will flower for me .. but non the less I love it !
A buttery yellow primrose .. I should have done the right thing and picked up three of them .. what was I thinking ? aside from the huge "DUH?" factor ;-(
Royal Heritage still blooming away and I can't resist taking her picture almost every day !
Old fashioned down to earth Bleeding Heart and my standard Monkshood .. they are part of the backbone of my garden .. no matter what new plants I get I always count on them to do their job and they are very good at it : )
Yes .. one more picture of those tulips .. three of them together having a chat about Spring ?

14 comments:

Victoria said...

They are truly all so gorgeous..yay..enjoy your wonderful treasures!
kiki~

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thanks Kiki .. they do seem like treasures to me : )

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

Everything is so pretty, Joy. I love looking at photos of your garden treasures; your own little botanical world!

Lona said...

I am such a sucker for variegated leaves and add the pink to it and it is added onto my never ending garden wants list. How beautiful.

Deborah at Kilbourne Grove said...

Joy, do you not have problems with the nepeta and the Girls. When I palnted it in my Lime Walk, every cat in the hood was over, and had a grand old time rolling on it. Needless to say, it did not recover!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thanks Martha but there is so much to do I feel like a crazy women when I start thinking of it all .. but .. today was house cleaning day (even though there are many more chores in house to do like prime and paint that door frame from the deck !!eekkkk ! I still haven't done it .. but my brain is in garden mode all the time ;-)
I'll have more babies for you again !


Lona girl .. you know we never finish that plant list .. if we did .. well they would be planting me in the ground by then ! There is always another plant to hunt for and that is so much fun : )

Deborah you must be planting "nepeta cataria" instead of "nepeta mussinii" the cataria is the true "catnip" plant .. the varieties of mussinii are of the mint family so it doesn't drive the cats crazy like the nip does.
In fact I have to hunt down the nip kind because I don't have it for the girls and I know they would love some fresh stuff : )
Walker's Low and many of the others are mussinii types .. you have to try WL .. I know you will love it !

Bonnie said...

Joy, I had a beautiful variegated Jacob's Ladder, but the darn ants built a next under it and killed it. My black sambucus is looking great as are my bleeding hearts. I bought a yellow primrose today and -drum roll please - FINALLY a hellebore. I found a nursery 1/2 hour away that sells them. YEAH!! Now I just need to figure out where to plant it :)

garden girl said...

Hey Joy, your garden is definitely waking up! 'Stairway to Heaven' is so pretty - wish it liked my garden. I've killed two of them already.

Love the hellebores! I can understand the addiction - such fabulous plants!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Bonnie !
Wow .. that would have made me so mad too .. loosing a plant to an ant hill .. we have some pesky ones too here so I have to keep an eye on them as well.
I'm so glad you found some hellebore girl ! and that your other gems are doing well too : )
What kind of hellebore did you find ? did you get more than one ? .. I plant mine where they get morning sun but afternoon shade .. and I'm keeping it grouped together so the impact is really there when you look : )
I am going to use some plant signs so I don't forget who is who ? LOL

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Linda girl you got stuck between comments .. Blogger is maddening at times ! Thank you : ) I have killed a couple of the plainer Jacob's Ladder a few years ago .. but when I saw this one .. and on sale .. well I have to try it : ) YES ! with this rain we are having the garden is certainly WAKING up for sure : )

Anonymous said...

I do like that Jacob's Ladder better than the original. You have a couple things that are new to me. I am going to do a little research.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Sandy .. I wasn't crazy about the standard one either .. wen I saw the pink tinges on this one I fell for it .. mind you I may reposition it a few times before I find the perfect spot ? LOL
There is always something new every year to hunt down isn't there ? : )

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Lovely post with so much new growth! I also added Stairway to Heaven at the end of last season, I just checked and it seems to have survived the winter. I have it planted in full shade, and the colours are so bright & cheery.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Rebecca I love that little plant and buying it at end of season is icing on the cake with a much better price ? LOL It is a lovely plant and I will have more and more shade garden happen because of my trees .. I love it : )
Glad we share another plant girl !