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Monday 6 July 2009

Moon, Spoon, June ? er ....... July !

This is a story of some vines that are connected to the earth and the moon .. and a few other bits and pieces thrown in ?
My Bittersweet vine is an older gal .. she is very reliable and steadfast .. a permanent feature in my garden if she can keep going .. like most of us ?
She just had a fairly aggressive 'hair cut" from yours truly while a bit of a wobble on the ladder , but mission accomplished .. nice and neat for a few days at least.
I stand under her in the heat of working in the garden and it is truly a "green rest" .. cooler and refreshing for those moments .. I appreciate her a great deal during those times !
This picture is for my friend Rose .. you were able to grow the Moon Flower vine last year Rose and I bottomed out and missed it all with my mistakes. This year I am truly patient and look at the growth girl ! ... I have basil planted with the vines to keep it company and I think it helps ?
Kathleen from Kasey's Korner, and I are growing what is called Maypop Passionflower .. to see if we can over winter them eventually .. I will be planting mine in the garden before Autumn to try and settle it in ... fingers crossed !
The vine to the left is my Maypop one .. the other is Gravetye Beauty clematis and the Moon Flower and Chocolate morning glories.
Our lovey dovey couple were just so cute I had to take their picture .. this is where the spoon and moon start to come in .. just scroll down and you will see what I saw last night from my deck : )
My neighbor's house .. I hope they don't think the worst of me for shooting in their direction a lot ? but how can you resist that MOON ?




Linda .. aka Crafty Gardener .. this is why the 26 x optical zoom is worth it : )

29 comments:

RURAL said...

The doves are absolutely gorgeous. So cute, so together....

Jen

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

You really know how to "shoot the moon." (Sorry, couldn't resist.) I'm interested to see if you get the Passionflower to overwinter. I'd love to try growing it. Your doves are such a cute couple.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Joy, are you sure you want to plant that passion flower vine into the ground? REALLY? Maybe your zone is such that it won't be a problem. http://thequeenofseaford.blogspot.com/2009/02/to-prune-or-not-to-prunethat-is.html Here is my issue with them.
Lovely moon shots.

Linda said...

Awesome moon photos Joy. Now I'm envious of that zoom :)

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

The only vines I have are two clematis, but when I get the new garden spot ready for planting, I think I will have a trellis or two for vines. I will have to do my homework to see what will grow best in the hot afternoon sun.
I remember the fruiting Passion fruit my grandfather grew. The fruit is very sweet, and I sure wish I could grow one here.

Tessa at Blunders with Shoots, Blossoms 'n Roots said...

And what a beauty of a deck as well! I am gonna love seeing that chocolate morning glory!

Jan said...

OMG girl:-) I'm spoonin' over that moon! And YOUR photos of it! Your camera (lens) is one I must have...MUST, I say, MUST!! I have to show my husband so he will see the importance of this too! Anyway, cute post, and cute doves, nice vines, well, it's just all GOOD, Joy, what else can I say?!

Kathleen said...

Oh my goodness Joy, your 'Maypop' is looking crazy good. I'm absolutely embarrassed to show you mine now. It's been moved three times and it shows. I think it's all of six inches tall. :-(
Actually all your vines look wonderful. I am trying Moon flowers for the first time this year too but they aren't as tall as yours either. I need to come up there and rub your green thumb I guess! Keep up the great work!

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Wow the moon looks beautiful! I forgot it was full tonight.
You did a great job on your trimming! I love to trim my hedge. Its a ton of work but it looks soooooooo nice afterwards and I love to see it when I look out the window or walk around the yard(-:

tina said...

The moon is brilliant lately. I always love the moon. That pic of the doves is so good. Glad you did snap it. Good luck on the maypop. It is native to Tennessee and some would say too good at wintering over, I like it though.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Jen .. they really are a sweet couple .. I didn't get the shots of one of them gentley pecking the head of the other (hen pecked husband ? LOL) .. I love having them in the garden : )

MMD girl ! hi there : ) I'm not sure how this experiment is going to play out since we are zone 5b here but it is worth a try right ?
Mr. & Mrs. Lovey Dove are too sweet to believe : )

Hi there Janet .. thanks girl .. we are zone 5b and the only vine that I have problems with so far is Englemann Ivy .. I need a whip and a chair to control that beast .. I'll have a look at your story though girl ! ; )

Hi Linda girl : ) .. Did you buy one of those cameras you were looking at yet ? .. I was really lucky that night with the light being just right .. not too dark and the moon was perfect with a soft yellow glow .. I'm so glad I finally got more defined pictures of it : )

Hello there keewee ! I have never had passion fruit yet .. your description makes me want to try it though : ) .. We had one in the garden of our Dutch home and it was gorgeous .. that is where husband fell in love with them .. they have a warmer zone though ...
Good luck with all that new space to garden in girl : )

Hey there Tessa ! how are you girl ? .. I really had to be patient for some time becuase these are tricky seeds to sprout and grow I find .. so very slow .. but then they seem to take off finally ? LOL Thanks girl !

Jan girl ... thank you ! My camera is an Olympus 59OUZ with a 26 x optical zoom .. attached .. so no switching lenses ; )

Kathleen ... girl , don't be silly .. your vines will take off too .. they just need a little extra time to think about it ? LOL
I did nothing special (except the moon flower and chocolate seeds I soaked for about 48 hours ?) .. the weather did the rest of the job for me .. I'm really excited about seeing Moon Flowers (I hope to save seeds from them too !).

Cindee isn't there something so satisfying about giving a vine a good trim like that ? maybe we are secret hair cutters in a previous life ? LOL

Thanks Tina : ) .. I'm so curious to see if I can over winter this vine .. it would be lovely, but it is all up to nature and the vine and how they feel about it all ? LOL

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

Oh.., the doves are turning away... So close, almost rubbing each other, yet they look the other way. Lovely pair.. You created a sensation than moon is falling down in 4 pictures. Local proverb here says "Like Moon Falling Onto The Lap" ... Its all about Good Luck!!

Good Luck to you,
~ bangchik

Town Mouse said...

Love the moon! Doesn't time go by too quickly? 115 days to Halloween (I'm glad you keep us on our toes) ;->

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Banchik ! I hope that luck keeps going for my lottery tickets ? LOL .. Yes, this pair of doves .. well they are so sweet together, we love watching them .. peaceful beautiful little souls : )

Hello there Townmouse !
Time does seem to fly by in chunks at moments, but never fear ! I will make certain everyone knows the Halloween countdown !! LOL

Cheryl said...

I love your gardening blog. I'm new to gardening and appreciate all that I can learn from you garden experts.

As someone who enjoys photography too, I love your photos.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Cheryl thank you so much !
I'm no expert .. but I have a few years experience and that is the best teacher I find .. what your own garden teaches you is priceless in the garden sense and in a life sense too. I have been over in your blog and love reading and seeing the changes that you are making : ) It truly is wonderful therapy !

Rebecca said...

Hi Joy, I came to your site via Northern Shade, lovely pics!! Just a question about your kitty Sophie, do you know what kind of cat she is? I adopted a stray that looks a lot like her. Thanks. :)

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Rebecca, thanks for dropping by : )
Sophie was a 7 week old kitten (2+ years ago) that we found in a pet shop .. she had sibblings and she came from a loving home that just could not keep the kittens.
We were told she is a Himalayan/Main Coon mix .. I have seen other kittens/cats that look very similar to her popping up in a lot of places since we got her.
Her nature is partly laid back like the Main Coon .. but she definitley has a Siamese side from the Himalayan blood line. She has BIG blue eyes that get her almost anything she wants ? LOL
Emma has Main Coon in her blood line too, you can see it with her fur structure and a very quirky character, she is our second little love from the Humane Society .. they get along .. lots of silliness with them too of course : )
Do you have a picture of your little one ?

Frances said...

Wow, Joy, 28x zoom? Yes, definitely worth it. I wish you could help me with my new camera, sigh. Your vines are terrific, but I have to ask, is the bittersweet not invasive? It is a thug here, the birds drop the berries everywhere and there are so many wild areas even though we are in the city that are covered in bittersweet along with many other terribly invasive vines. The vines will take over the world if allowed. But I do wish the moonflower would take over, yours is great. Now about the maypop, another thuggy native here, but at least it dies completely down in winter. Much more containable. Good luck with yours wintering over too. Ours is very late to come up in spring, just now showing actually, and never comes up in the same place either, so be on the lookout all over your yard for it. :-)
Frances

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

Joy, those are lovely pictures! And I'm happy to say that I had the pleasure of witnessing that moon in Kingston too!

Love those Doves. I have a pair that shows up every morning under the finch feeder. They're such quiet, pretty birds. I look for them every day while I'm preparing my morning coffee. They never head over to the other tree, further down the yard, where the rest of the bird feeders are hanging and the feeding frenzy goes on. Maybe they prefer quiet, peaceful areas? Or they're intimidated by other birds?

Anonymous said...

Hasn't the moon been lovely, Joy? Last night, it was mostly covered with fast-moving cloud formations, which made it all the more mysterious and magical. :) Your shots are great! And the garden looks wonderful. We're SUPPOSED to see sun today, but as of almost noon, nothing yet. :-?

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Frances girl .. did you have your glasses when you were reading my post ? LOL 26 x op zoom ! .. I would love 28 but I have to settle for 26 ; )
The Bittersweet isn't a problem here .. probably because our weather is so cold and we have a relatively short garden season. It can't run away on me .. my precious sumac how ever has "kids" popping up all over the place .. but I love it so I just hack them down where they are not wanted.
I'm glad you told me about the Maypop being a Houdini ? vine (haha) .. so if I think it has over wintered I'll keep searching for it ! I would so love to have my Moon Flower vine really have Moon Flowers .. fingers crossed !: )

Martha that is so funny thinking about it .. you are actually here some where off Princess St. ? LOL
Yes .. no matter where you go , you will hit Princess St. some how : )
I think that is true about the doves .. they are a little nervous, so quiet time means a lot to them .. once you have them in your yard they will keep coming back and bring their kids with them too !

Hello Nancy girl !
I love clouds moving across the moon .. especially in October to gear me up for Halloween ? LOL
My neighbor just said to me this morning that the weather sucked this year for Summer .. and we don't really have a Spring any more .. seemed true to me too .. "global warming" ? they could actually be right ? ; )

Pat said...

Your Bittersweet vine is very handsome. Love it !
Your gardens are kick a__ !

Darn, do you have to be so neat ? lol

Wow, you captured an AMAZING picture of the two doves.
Way to go girl !

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Patsi girl .. good grief ! I only take pictures of the neat areas of my garden ; ) LOL
I haven't had a problem with the Bittersweet vine as of yet and it has been about 5 years, so I guess it behaves itself for me ?
I love those doves .. they are such a sweet and quiet couple : )

Dee/reddirtramblings said...

It is all looking just beautiful. So fresh and green. Here, more brown and yellow are starting to creep in because it's been so hot.~~Dee

Cheryl said...

Joy, you had asked on my blog about the smokebush and I'm not sure how to email you directly. It is a cotinus coggygria royal purple smokebush. It seems the camera is making the edges look redder than they are, it's more of a deep pink like magenta.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Dee .. we have been lucky to have enough rain to keep things looking lush .. but many a year we have had the brown and yellow look here too girl ! so I know what you mean : )

Hi again Cheryl .. the colours looked so different from my Royal Purple , I actually thought it was a different cultivar of the cotinus .. I know some pictures can make the colours look a bit distorted .. it just looked so neat, I also thought "is there one I don't have ?" LOL
Thanks for getting back to me girl : )

Anonymous said...

The moonflower vine will grow 15 to 20 feet - how high is your trellis? Thanks for the mention!
Rose

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Rose girl ... I am totally unprepared (yet again) .. I just didn't think I would be lucky with these seeds so the trellis is not that high .. now how do I "fix" this situation ?? LOL