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Friday 9 April 2010

A few old and new favorites

Well when gittan of "Joy of Life" (Joy included in a blog title is a WINNER for me ? ) stopped by my blog and said "come on over and see my Spring plants" and I saw she had been puzzled at first trying to figure out a mutual plant we have .. that used to get me every year too !
Golden Jubilee Hyssop is a beauty even when it is just emerging from the plant bed .. the colours are amazing with purples and yellows mixed together .. and when it is up and at it .. well it is GOLDEN with purple blue flower tops .. eye candy for sure !
Thanks for reminding me gittan about how cute this one is as a baby : )
Now this is a lesson .. it is anise hyssop, one I have had for YEARS and now you see it is time to dig it up and divide because of the "dead" spot in the middle .. plants TELL us when it is time to get busy ! You just have to pay attention ;-)
A new one I planted in both the front and back garden. Mountain Fire Pieris .. Lily of the Valley shrub/tree .. their tiny bell flowers are amazing : )
I think this one is fine in the back .. but I have my doubts for the one in the front .. I think it took the "cold" a lot more to heart and I am a bit worried about it .. we shall see
A FAVE in my books .. Walker's Low nepeta .. I sheared these plants down a couple of times last year and they came back SMILING even more at me .. I am hopelessly in love with them : )
Sutherland Gold Elderberry .. I have a few different ones but this one has been steadfast in performance and beauty .. although I admit I have not had many flowers because I tend to snip here and there to get the shape I want for each year .. it also has remarkable foliage in the Spring .. the cutleaf is gorgeous and perfect in my shadier part of the garden .
I might just see a flower from it ?
Another steadfast friend has been Golden Mockorange .. I have not had a lot of flowers from it because I snip this poor thing too .. I think I have a snipping problem ? .. but the foliage is gorgeous especially with the darker plants I have near by.
OK .. this is my really really favorite shrub Summer Wine Ninebark .. I have had a few Ninebark which have flopped big time on me .. can you say POWDERY MILDEW from HELL ?
For some blessing this beauty has never had a problem with it .. not like Coppertina and Center Glow .. they were disasters .. the dark foliage all season and then that impossible burgundy in Autumn .. it truly does it for me : )
On the subject of failures .. I can NOT say how many heathers I have tried .. my friend in the UK can laugh her socks off at me .. I think I tell her each year that I think I have winners this time .. looking at these three (bottom of picture not the poppies thank god !) well .. they look like they have ascended to heather heaven ?
So on a lighter note ... Scilla or Squill ... who doesn't love these darlings of Spring ?
I don't care how you judge what true blue is .. these are blue to me and they make me smile : )
And then there are the bulbs still in "promise" mode .. I can't wait to see them smile at me !

How pretty is this little one ?

11 comments:

Jean Campbell said...

Great presentation. Maybe if you snipped the mock orange just after it bloomed... uh, just after it should have bloomed?

Lona said...

So much going on at your home besides coon hunting that is. LOL!
I was glad you had a good report on the Walkers Low. I just planted on last fall so from your report it was a good addition to the garden.
have three little heathers that were doing so well last year until I decided to move them in the heat of summer. Ugh! They are alive but so sad looking.I pruned them the other day and there is still a few twigs growing. LOL! When will I learn. I heard that! ;-)

Vetsy said...

Joy it's a wonderful thing to have steadfast friends that are lovely to look at and reliable as well..

Everyone should plant one or two, it saves money and extra time spent toiling in the garden.

Squill are cute little darlings..I happened to pass some in the outdoor garden section today at Home Depot.

Nice choices you've made for your garden, they are all darling.

Anonymous said...

Those are beauties, Joy, and thanks for the tip about the hyssop. We just last year got a few to live and were wondering what next? The Summer Wine is a fantastic shrub, you didn't mention the blossoms, too much snipping to get them? lol Sorry, I couldn't resist. :-)
Frances

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello NellJean and thank you !
Yes .. my timing probably throws things out of wack ? LOL .. I just like to have symmetrical shapes and I should really just "let them be or be free?" LOL

Lona girl .. I hope that is all behind us now .. phew !!! ..
I do love Walker's Low .. the shape and colour is beautiful .. I should find a picture from last year and show you : )
Hey I have moved my heathers in previous years and my friend said NOT to do that .. so I am with you girl !

Thank you Vetsy girl .. there is so much to do out there no it is overwhelming but I have so many things to do in the house as well talk about a tug of war .. it is very windy and cool out there now so I will attack the house first ? I have to start looking at the garden centers soon !

Thanks Frances girl .. I have had that hyssop forever ! They are long lived and this is actually the first time it has screamed at me to dig and divide : )
Summer Wine is my fav .. and ummmm .. it has had a "few" flowers but that snipping thing .. might be a problem ? LOL

Anonymous said...

I had to laugh at your snipping. My dad used to "trim up" Mom's plants, usually, when she wasn't home. What a ruckus!

Heather doesn't do well here, either. I can get it to grow a year or two, but it always dies back. How does Jodi do it??

Anonymous said...

So much to look forward to this season in your garden Joy! :) Don't feel bad, I've had no success with Heather in my garden either. Looks like you finally lucked out this year, congrats!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Sandy I just dropped over at your place again and that forsythia is a wow factor for sure .. We have to nail Jodi to find out what she does do to keep her heathers happy ! LOL

Hello Racquel girl ! I have so much to do in the garden and haven't gotten to it yet it makes me a little more crazy than usual ? LOL .. but I will eventually get things under control .. I hope ? ;-)

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

Wow, it's amazing how many plants are surfacing in your garden, Joy. And it must be so exciting. Hubby and I spent the day outdoors carving out a planting area and adding a border to another. It was quite cool out there, cooler than we expected, and we froze our butts off! LOL... But it was fun to dig around in the soil. I hope you've gotten a chance to get out there and work on your garden. How is the landscaping stuff going?

gittan said...

If you do the little snipping thing a bit later in the season you might even enjoy the blooming first =P Your heathers looks just like mine. They don't like my garden I believe (or is it me!) Every fall I buy a few new once and every spring I can tell that they are gone to heather heaven as you called it "lol" Didn't knoa that there where so many different Pieris! I think that they are real beauties. I love my 'Rosalinda'!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Martha girl and thanks ! Yes !! didn't it get COLD after those lovely days we had .. darn ! This morning , after the rain we had last night .. the garden is growing in leaps and bounds and I NEED TO WEED !! I have a gazillion maple keys trying to root in the beds and it is time to toss them out on their .."keys" ? haha
Millar dropped some samples of bricking stone off and I choice the light gray one .. but it will take a couple of weeks for them to get the work done yet .. BIG sigh .. nothing is fast and easy with us ? ;-)

Hey gittan ! Yup : ) I get what you are TELLING me girl .. haha .. and we should all form a "whats up with our heathers ??" I'm so glad I am not the only one they do this to ? I have to look up what kind of pieris you have and yes it is amazing how many different cultivars there are of the same ? plant !!