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Sunday 29 March 2009

THIS is .................. THAT ???? !!!!!!










Yes ........................... I know .................... it is a good thing I take pictures to remind me what my garden can truly do ........................... thank god !!!!! Phew !!!!

39 comments:

Meadowview Thymes said...

Joy, this garden is spectacular! Is this a shade garden? I see hostas, but what else am I seeing? This is what you have to look forward to?? Wow!!

Sunita Mohan said...

!!! What on earth happened? Did I miss a post about some disaster?

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Joy, that's why I am glad I have my slide shoe on my blog.

Heather said...

I know, spring can actually be somewhat bleak for a while until things start to take shape again. Right now mine looks pretty dreary but I know (hope) it will all come back like it should.
-Heather

Unknown said...

Don't I know it. I was glad to see that some of the tulips that I planted last year are finally popping through. I suppose that means I'll have to cut back my plant remains from last year down soon.

Barry said...

Joy:
I do say that great minds do think alike. I was just out in the side garden valiantly searching for signs that the plants that were so lush and boisterous last year are actually still there.... still dormant I'm hoping.
I love the shots of your summer glory.... what beautiful plantings you have created. I guess we will have to be patient for a while longer!

Anonymous said...

You have something spectacular to look forward too, glad you took all those photos before & after. :)

Lynn said...

How beautiful that flowerbed is. No wonder you can't wait for things to come back up!!! Wishing for an early spring for both of us!!!

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

amen to that. It is nice to be able to go back to last years pictures for a reminder of what it will be.

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Yes what would we do without pictures!!! And what did we do before digital pictures!!!! I love my camera I would be lost without it! Soon your garden will be all full and lovely again!!!(-: My ghost fern is growing so well. I am afraid to put it outside still though. My DH bought me a cool plant cart so when the temperature is stable I am going to move the new cart and all my plants outside on the patio(-:

Cathy S. said...

Well at least it was a beautiful garden at the time, and it will be again soon. We just got hit with snow and freezing rain.

garden girl said...

I remember that bed Joy, and have admired it so much. It'll be looking like THAT again before you know it!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I LOVE all the color you have there. I bet you can't wait to see it again!

Tessa at Blunders with shoots, blossoms 'n roots said...

Wow! Beautiful! My beds never look like that- I just don't have the knack for design yet! I'm learning so much from everyone, thankfully!

Anonymous said...

Roflmbo!!! I want my garden to grow up and look like the first pictures. But I too know that it will also be the bottom pictures. It is beautiful Joy and all my favorites.

Katarina said...

Wow - what a difference a month makes!
Your border will look terrific again, very soon.
Katarina

our friend Ben said...

I remember these gorgeous photos from last year. They thrilled me then, and they're thrilling me again now. What an inspiration! Thanks!!!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi MT .. It didn't start out as a shade garden .. but my Crimson King Maple has been tweaking it and I have been swimming with the tide altering the plants to suit the changing light conditions .. I still wonder every year how things will turn out girl ! LOL

Sunita .. too funny girl ! .. the disaster is our winters .. our summers are short but intense and when the garden gets going .. it RUNS ! LOL .. you are seeing what we face every Spring , what looks like a disaster ! : )

Debbie , what on earth would we do without those type of photo shows girl ? keeps us going ! LOL

Hi Heather .. it does make you wonder some years .. will it really be the way it was ??? : )

Hi Cinj .. at least you have some snow gone girl ? LOL .. yup .. I did quite a bit of that last Saturday .. I could hold back .. but the last ones I touch are the buddleias and lavenders .. they are very touchy !

Teza .. are you getting all the rain we are ? .. it just poured yesterday .. the temps are a wee bit warmer too .. so it is all good !! .. once these reno projects (if they are ever over ?) I so need to do some plant hunting : )

Racquel .. what would gardeners do without their pictures girl ? .. now that would be a heck of a blow to rely on my memory ? LOL

Lynn, fingers crossed girl ! it would only be fair after the long winter we have had. Hope your parents are feeling better and are both home : )

Hi there keewee .. if I didn't have these pictures I would be sadly lost trying to "imagine" what it looked like for sure ! LOL

Cindee ... I can't wait to see your ghost fern in all of its glory either ! .. your are being good and careful with it so it should be a very happy fern : )
I would be lost without mine too .. camera that is ? haha

Cathy ! ouch ! more crappy weather is getting harder and harder to take .. hope it melts in a hurry for you girl !

Linda .. thanks girl ! It is my favorite too .. I changed a few plants .. more hydrangea is going to grab attention but they are usually happy to compete ? haha

Thanks Catherine ! I wanted BLING there even in the shade and I think I got it after a few years .. but it is always changing and being tweaked .. we just can't help ourselves eh ? : )

Tessa .. I don't follow design rules (consciously ?) .. I go by instinct and most of the time it pays off (we all make mistakes yikes !) .. I think most of us have good instincts , so follow yours girl !

Hey Anna .. remember we chatted about this bed ? .. talking about dramatic contrasts and what did well .. the lust for Pinky Winky ? now it is Quick Fire I want especially after Jodie gave it such a good review in her garden .. I want it TOO !! LOL

Hi Katarina .. it does jump forward quickly once the green machine starts rolling .. I'm looking forward to it girl !!

Rose said...

Joy, I think your garden looks pretty good right now as it is! I was expecting a photo with it covered with snow:) Soon enough, there will be some real green showing through.

Anonymous said...

You did a beautiful job selecting contrasting foliage for that garden bed. Wow. Quite the show stopper. I'm addicted to flowers, and even though I know I should be the classy gardener to focus on foliage, I just can't do it. Let the wild rumpus of flowers begin!

Sunita Mohan said...

*blush* ohhh... I'm so embarassed! *blush* cringe*
I had no idea that's what you have to put up with ! Sorry, I didnt mean to make you feel bad. But those other photos are so lush (there's no other word for it). Wow!

Randy said...

Joy,
Is the snow gone now?

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful garden, Joy -- yes, it is a good thing that we take photos to remind us that better days are ahead...and better gardening. :)

Brenda Pruitt said...

Oh, that's beautiful! I love the shades of those hostas.
Brenda

gittan said...

WOW!
What a lovely bed you have there! I love all these Hostas, Heucheras and Dryopteris? mixed together - just great! I have a flowerbed in my garden that looks about the same. really something to long for / gittan

http://gittans.tradgardsblogg.de

Pat said...

Packed full of color for shade plants....Love it !!
I may have some questions later.
We have tons of shade but your beds looks so tidy compared to mine.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Rose you are so right .. other years there was snow, but we have had warmer temps and rain lately. It is just chaos right now getting things off the deck for the deck guys to get to work .. where they heck are they anyways ?? : )

Robin ! You made me laugh girl : )
Classy ? I didn't even really think of a plan when I did this in the front .. just the changing light values .. I love flowers too girl .. I depend on my sun border for most of them .. it all changes a little bit every year : )

Sunita girl .. don't feel embarrassed .. where you live it is hard for you to imagine just how severe our seasons can be .. winter knocks the stuffing out of us gardeners .. talk about cold turkey and withdrawal .. and there is no guarantee each year that I can get it back to where it was .. that is why pictures save my sanity .. I can prove I did THAT with my plants ! LOL

Boys .. I can safely say there is NO snow on the ground here .. but .. there is a threat for a while yet that we could have a flashback of some .. you just can never tell !! : )

Nancy .. if I didn't have my pictures .. I would really be lost .. it save what little sanity I have left after winter ? haha

Brenda .. a lot of it was dumb luck with the hosta, having those few hooked me now .. that is why I threw my pride out the window and leapt into the plant racks at Costco .. Halcyon hosta was on sale !! LOL

Hello gittan ! thank you so much : ) .. you are seeing a Japanese Beech fern .. the all green one , then Japanese Painted ferns in the mix .. it is a bit of a combination with the heuchera and hosta and now more hydrangea will be there as well .. it is nice to know some one else did the same mix !

Patsi .. it is a small enough area for me to keep it fairly tidy .. but it has seen some raggedy times too girl ! .. especially when it dries out too much. You are probably juggling a much larger area and that is hard to keep up with ! Fire the questions out girl .. I'll try to answer them : )

Layanee said...

Oh yeah! Love the difference!

3treescreations@gmail.com said...

Wow! Absolutely gorgeous! What summer can't bring.

andré said...

Wow, it's an amazing flowerbed! I bet you can't wait to have it look that way again.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thanks Layanee ! .. yup ! a bit of a shocker eh ? LOL

Thanks Deanne .. the changes are dramatic with our seasons : )

Hi Andre .. YES ! .. every year I worry "will it look as good?" .. the stress ! haha

Frances said...

Hi Joy, how beautiful that spot was and will be again. I promise, it will look like that again, maybe even better, if that is possible. I wish we could grow hosta and heuchera like that. Our summers have been so hot and dry, those two plants are just not as happy as yours. Maybe this year will be better. Gardeners are the world's most optimistic people, aren't they? :-)
Frances

Gail said...

Last again! I love my camera and my photo collection! Your babies will be popping up just about the time the work is all completed! It's there under that gorgeous healthy looking soil! gail

Anonymous said...

Winter happens!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Frances .. thank you ! and a big YES ! to us gardeners who are so optimistic even when we have set backs, we keep thinking we can do a better job still to come ..
I'm not a hosta fanatic .. but they are growing on me each year : ) and heuchera has been for some time .. we are lucky to have them like it here !

Hi Gail .. so far we have heard things might start the end of this week .. the destruction part in any case .. yes ! I think the timing will be right after all : )

Hey there knittnkitten .. something like S*** happens you mean ? LOL

Kathleen said...

Love it! My garden looks like bleck right now. This gives me hope. Hard to believe there are things that beautiful under all that brown & snow. Your beds are beautiful Joy. btw, wish I had some fudge for you (reading your deck/shed post). :-(

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hey Kathleen .. Thank you !
I wish you had fudge for me too girl ! LOL .. it is amazing when you think of the transition from brown and yuck to beautiful ! .. I don't think we ever stop feeling amazed .. and that is why we make good gardeners (are there bad ones out there ? .. naahhh !!)
I'll be so darn glad to have the projects done and over with .. hubby can go golf for fish and I can GARDEN !!! hahaha

Jan said...

You are so full of humor, Joy:-) It is amazing how nature does seem to work, year after year...the perennials usually come back and put on a great show, don't they!? And what doesn't come back, there's always space to add more! Soon girl, hang in there! It'll be here (warm weather & flowers) sooner than you can say "This is That????!!!!"

By the way, your garden looks stunning (in summer!). Can you name all the plants for me? I recognize 'most' but I might be wrong about 1 or 2...

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Jan .. I'm just naughty girl : )
I may not be as funny today after trying to move more "junk" off the deck so hopefully the deck guys start the demolition tomorrow.
What ever plants you want to know about just ask ! I have some favs in the bunch .. which lead to more .. hostas have sucked me in and my heuchera too .. I have Chardonnay Pearls and the Golden Barberry with the dicentra to add different textures and colours. It is a real mix that grew on me ? haha