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Thursday 23 June 2011

Random Wanderings

We are stuck in rain mode for a few days .. which is good for the garden and for me right now.
I have lots of pictures to post with from those sunny days but for some reason I am not able to get myself in logical order and have some sort of theme to follow this morning ..
It has been a few days since I posted and I find that sort of leaves me in a confused ?state?
Yes .. I am confused most of the time but a little less when I have a grip on my blog,usually?
So I just wanted to show off my Stag Horn Sumac in all of it's glory .. from that poor stumpy looking thing to a full head of leaf hair ? .. could this ever be an advertisement for trees needing leaves aka bald people needing hair ?
I did completely different plantings for the deck rails .. extremely simple .. in cool colours of this wave petunia and licorice vine .. not the best of pictures but I love it : )
I did "hot plantings" too .. terra cotta with purslane and hens'n chicks from my garden .. I love terra cotta but it can be demanding with drying out fast .. so I usually line it with a plastic bag or newspapers to hold the moisture in.
Golden Spirit Smoke Bush is covered in "skeleton flowers" ... Royal Purple is beautiful too but there is something about Golden Spirit's flowers that make me grin ear to ear ? ;-)
Center Glow ninebark has been behaving itself .. even though my neighbor over the fence has a case of powdery mildew on hers that would stop a garden's heart .. EEEKKKKKK !!
This penstemon is an old cultivar but I love it for the dark foliage and those white, white flowers.
This is over a week ago and the vines have grown even more as well as the hosta .. I still have more work to do here .. and mulch ... by the end of the season it might just look pretty darn good? wink wink
The front bed is still in shock from the HUGE shake up I have done to it .. I haven't mulched yet because we want to lay the soaker hose and it is still raining .. rather ironic ??
I want to get another Redstone Falls .. but Dawn at Gardens Plus may be all out of them .. they caught on like wild fire !
Sweet Tea is always ... sweet !
Red Colourflash astilbe is a stunner in the later leg of the season ..
I'm hoping for the wow!! factor again !
The birds are too cute ... I think I know what they are thinking ?
A joke some where in there about "bird brains" I am sure !
Our Chickadee family is such a wonderful surprise to us .. I am still trying to get a good picture of at least one of the parents .. I never thought any of the birds would bother with that little decorative house. Now I want more birdhouses to have little ones stay with us!!
This little Goldfinch just made me laugh with this pose .. so I thought it might make everyone laugh .. something like "I have my beady eye on you lady!!"

18 comments:

Marguerite said...

I just love the way you prune that sumac. It's so incredibly tall, it reminds me of a palm tree in a weird way.

Lona said...

Hi Joy. I have two of the Colorflash Astilbes that I planted last fall. I love the foliage but I am wondering if it is going to bloom. Maybe it is a later blooming one. I really like your Strawberry jar plantings. It looks wonderful. I use plastic bags too in Terracotta to hold the moisture in longer.I used them in both of my Tipsy Pot stacks. Have a wonderful week!

Darla said...

For someone that is confused, this is a great post Joy. Your gardens look fab and I adore the little birds around. Once they start nesting in your gardens, you will be addicted.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello there Marguerite girl : )
Thank you so much ! It is done in the pollard style and you got what I was aiming for first off the bat .. a Canuck Palm Tree ? LOL
Enjoyed seeing your raised beds by the way and all those wonderful strawberries and veggies you will be having !

Lona they are later bloomers and I find the red ones are later than the lime ones or maybe it is where I have them that makes a difference? Yup ! there are tricks to keep terra cotta from drying out too quickly and driving you NUTS watering them all the time .. phew! Have a great weekend too girl : )

Darla girl I am totally addicted to our little birds and I swear the bug population has really taken a hit because they are here .. I loved the tour you gave of your different garden sections .. you have so many beautiful niches it is amazing !

Anonymous said...

If I was a chickadee, I would come and live there. Everything looks lovely. Now, what are you going to do the rest of the summer??

Lisa at Greenbow said...

You have so much going on in your garden now I can see why you don't know what to show first. What a wonderful problem to have.

Barry said...

Joy:
A wonderful tour of the gardens. I enjoy the cool colours of your annual planters. I was going to trial Yellowstone Falls Heucherella, but it sokd out before I could. I haven't seen the red one on my availability lists yet!!! A wonderful tour, thanks for sharing!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thank you Sandy girl but you know "upkeep" is one busy job in the garden and by gosh there is always a plant of 6 to switch /swap places with other plants .. so I have lots to do girl ! haha
I so want to get pictures of my Chickadee family .. they have literally thrilled us with taking p residence here : )

Lisa girl thank you but don't we all have the same problem ? haha
A bit of that heat and humidity is drifting over us so hiding in the house is another activity I participate in ? hehehe

Barry sweetie .. I really love Redstone Falls and wished I had ordered two at least ! The multiple colours in the leaves are amazing ! I haven't seen Yellowstone yet .. but oh boy am I curious about that one too ! Thanks sweetie : )

Lola said...

Hi Joy, all that rain sure looks like it's helping. We are finally getting a little shower, which we need desperately. It's been so hot.
The Sumac looks great. Your side garden looks so lush. The vine is going great.
My gardens look pitiful. This heat has done a # on all of them. Hopefully they will perk up when it cools off a bit, if they survive.

Karen said...

Wow Joy! I really enjoy looking at your garden. It's marvelous!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Lola girl thank you ! I hope you get lots of rain to quench your garden! It seems we never quite get the right recipe for rain and sunshine eh? LOL
Our gardens are a lot tougher than we think so yours will hang in there girl: ) These pictures are quite a few days old now and with all the rain the vines have gone nuts again .. I have to get the whip and chair out ! haha

Thank you so much Karen girl .. more to come as the season moves on .. the coneflowers will start blooming and they are great to see!

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Joy,

I am going to have to go online for some of those unusual heucheras that you have.

I just put in three ninebarks and love the dark color.

Eileen

Rose said...

I'm enjoying some rainy days, too, Joy; after last year's late summer drought, I'm not going to complain about gray skies now and then. Licorice vine is one of my favorites for container plantings; it even looks good all dried out in the winter time. I have 'Sweet Tea', too, and love it. 'Redstone Falls' is a beauty, but for some reason I always pick out heucheras and tiarellas with yummy food names:)

Cassie said...

Loved these pics! Your idea of putting a plastic bag in terra cota pots is very smart...I'll have to try that. We have had a lot of chicadee visitors munching on oiled sunflower seeds lately. None have moved into our chicadee house though.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Eileen girl that is what happened to me .. I have had to go online for the unusual ones .. even with the many garden centers here they just don't carry these new gorgeous ones yet.
Ninebarks can be gorgeous ! I had Summer Wine for many years and it was a stunner in the Autumn with burgundy foliage .. now Center Glow is looking wonderful .. the one bad point is powdery mildew .. I lost 3 because I couldn't get rid of it once it got in .. so keep an eye out for that !

Rose girl I really love this vine .. I thought I had tried it before but I think I got something similar but not the real deal .. now I am infatuated with it ! I know what you mean about yummy sounding names for these plants too .. but a multitude of colour has really gotten my attention now so I am looking for that since I am running out of room ! eeekkkk !

Cassie girl .. I am going to join a post of my Chickadee kids with Shadow Shot time .. you would not believe how these little creatures have my heart .. one comes to the deck door early morning to chat at me !! I am so thrilled with them .. we might try feeding the sunflower seeds to keep them here for winter.
I have never seen a little bird behave like this in my life .. we are totally in love with them : )

GRACE PETERSON said...

Your gardens are stunning, Joy. Seriously beautiful. I love the Astilbe and wish I could find it in these parts but it's a no go. The Golden Spirit Smokebush is gorgeous. You've got a great eye for placement and design.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Grace girl thank you so much : )
I have been out of it for almost a week now so it sorely needs TLC very badly .. the vines are running a riot .. cutting back has to be done .. warm wet weather has it in full jungle mode and finally those rotten aphids are HERE !! eeekkkkk !
So .. I better get the whip and chair out and get busy soon !LOL

Joseph P. said...

Great photos. I especially love your photo with the bird - what a fantastic shot.


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