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Friday 4 April 2008

Green Signs of Spring Finally !

Japanese Holly Fern - Cyrtomium falcatum .. emerging in the front garden which is still snow and ice bound .. I have a number of ferns in the front bed .. Japanese Beech, Japanese Painted, Maiden Hair .. Miss Sharples .. I have to relocate because it is a bit too dry and sunny where I stuck the poor thing. Autumn Brillance ferns are really pretty here as well. I do have a thing for ferns !
Oriental Poppy .. brilliant deep reds .. I have planted some whites with them as well .. hopefully they will grow strong and straight and look stunning. I have a nice pink flowered Weigela, Weigela florida 'w. rosea' in front so when the poppies die down it won't look so bad. I also have My Monet close to that spot as well. I'm looking forward to seeing some amazing colours there.

Thyme is another must .. I have "Mother of Thyme" .. Lemon Thyme .. and a few others .. they are all part of the garden backbone for me. I just realized this could be Winter savory .. jeez !


I can't say enough about my sages. Here is Golden Sage sprouting wonderful leaves. Purple Sage will be next .. I have Tricoloured as well .. they are always going to be in a garden of mine no matter what. I love the fact they look so good and that they repel harmful insects protecting plants near by.



I'm happy to see the Echinacea are jumping on the band wagon. I planted quite a few gallon pots of Magnus and White Swan to fill gaps that were bothering me. I rediscovered how wonderful the scent of White Swan is while it was sitting in my plant-mobile with me .. in love with them all over again !



These are almost more yellow than green .. I took the pictures in high sunlight time, so colours are washed out a bit. Mini Daffodils are these little sprouts .. I think !



22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love lime time. It has a chartreuse color which looks great agains my black mondo grass. I just wish the mondo grass would spread faster, so slow.

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Very happy to see you are coming out ot the ice age. Congratulations.

Jared said...

Yay! So nice to see some green, isn't it? Hooray!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi j .. it is almost a miracle in my books after such a long white winter ! phew ! haha

Debbie .. I was beginning to feel like that mammoth in ICE AGE the movie ? LOL

nestinstyle .. that is a great idea .. I haven't tried that mondo grass but have been tempted .. maybe this year I wil do that .. beside the Golden Oregano .. I'm sure I had this conversation before .. another few million brain cells fried .. sigh !

Anonymous said...

holy cats, you must live in an area that doesn't get very cold in winter. I'm amazed that you have sage actually growing in the garden! That's a mediterranian plant. I can only grow herbs in pots each summer but this is amazing to see in your garden. Such enjoyment!

Diane

Anonymous said...

I too love ferns, and some grow wild here. They crop up in every little spot they can. I love the way the plant emerges in this little rolled up presence, gently unfurls like a flag, then opens up fully. Herbs of all kinds are on my most-coveted list. And I always have thyme. Can't have enough thyme!
Brenda

Katarina said...

PS. There's an award for you at my place...
/Katarina

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Katarina .. your pictures are amazing .. the detail and composition are so pretty !
I left a note on your site : )

Hi Brenda .. we are fellow fern fans ! .. yes .. they are very regal unfurling their fronds just like you said .. like flags.
Herbs .. they are a must for me in the garden .. like the potager gardens I try to duplicate. I can't wait to see what this year becomes with the garden .. lots of plans .. lots of thyme ! LOL

Diane ! .. I dropped a note off at your site .. what gorgeous pictures you are taking : )
I am amazed too with my herbs .. I'm zone 5b .. so I'm not sure how that all works ..talk about wonderful surprizes ! *SMILE*

Gail said...

joy,

I just learned, from you, that sage repells the bad bugs...good to know because I love it. Mine had too much winter water and is just now recovering. Just taking a few minutes on my dear ones laptop here in the motel room. Had to say hey,

Gail

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hey Gail ... are you having some chocolate too ? LOL
Yes .. I found that out last year .. when I trimmed back my sages and kept the cuttings .. I spread it around the flowering plants .. especially my clematis .. it was quite neat how it worked !
Have a good time at the fling girl !

Linda said...

How exciting to find signs of growth in your garden. We had rain and wet snow today but the weekend is supposed to be nice. I'll be out looking around the garden beds to see what I can find too.

garden girl said...

Thanks for the tip Joy! I might just plant some sage for it's repellent properties!

I'm jealous of your coneflowers. They just don't want to come back in my garden. I'm trying the species from seed this year. I've always had luck with them, but not so much the hybrids.

Anonymous said...

I just noticed that I spelled "thyme" wrong in my original post. How embarrassing!!! Sign that I need to slow down.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hey nestinstyle (love the name BTW !) .. I am terrible for doing that too .. I have to remember to slow down and read it over again .. always in a hurry myself : ) .. but I can't figure out why ? LOL

gardengirl .. I stumbled on this trick last year really .. I don't know if it will work in everyone's garden, but it helps in mine,phew !
I counted how many different types of echinacea I have put in the garden .. 15 .. holy cow ! I didn't realize that .. and some did NOT take either .. maybe you will have better luck going the seed way after all ?

Crafty .. it was soggy when I carefully looked around .. but it was so nice to see some life in the garden !

Melanie Chopay said...

Hi Joy, It's nice to see some life in your garden :-) The golden sage would never make it through out winter and Echianceas lose all their foliage here. I think the difference is because we have no snow cover when temps are down in the teens.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

melanie .. what zone are you ? I thought you would be a 6 .. I'm 5b .. echinacea die off in the winter here too .. the birds eat lots of their seeds so I don't cut them back till Spring .. I was amazed to see this new growth already .. my Sages are a zone 4 .. so they should be ok with you as well.

Ewa said...

Hi Joy, I can see that spring found the way to your garden as well :) Golden Sage is the plant we have in common. I do cut back mine in the spring - do you?

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hellllooo Ewa !
Yes .. pretty much everything gets cut back in the Spring .. I love my sages very much .. they are an important part of my garden along with many other herbs .. fennel, dill, lavender, thyme, savory ... lots of everything !

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Great to finally see some green again!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi IGW ... YES ! ... it is late coming but finally GREEN ! haha

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed the green signs! Love that sage - I grow several varieties, including golden, but they always winter-kill... and I have no cat-free windowsills - sigh! .....Deb

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Deb ? ... what zone are you in ? .. I would have thought you could over winter these .. they are a 4 to 5 at the lowes .. I wonder whay I am so lucky ?