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Wednesday 3 August 2022

A Treat

 It is funny as the years pass for a gardener , how your tastes change . I never was that thrilled with spider lilies . I thought why go through all that effort and have a "stringy" flower ? Well I was so wrong about what I have wanted to try lately. I loved "Desert Icicle the minute I saw it on the website.

It's size was impressive, the colours blended in with what I had around it. It came as a bare root so I was a little worried about whether it would carry through with blooms it's first year.
However it is a wow ! factor in this little section of the garden ... it sadly is not a rebloomer but it does carry through for quite some time .. the pollinators seem to enjoy it very much as well. So gardeners can be flexible over time .. I think it is our curiosity that finally wins the argument ?
I shot in on a cloudy day in a darker spot so the true degree of how Bright Diamond shines is not showing through .. plus the dreaded beetle lily is working the area as well . UGH !! I slowed down on the neem oil which is my fault because it does work when applied properly .. big PINCH to me !
Remember White Swan echinacea ? .... it's scent is heavenly .. it seems the old cultivars have been pushed back so far, new gardeners will miss how well these ones stand up and brighten a spot in the garden.
I had to add this double white lily because it is a favorite of mine, in fact white flowers (which seems to be the unintended theme for this post) are a huge favorite of mine.
Pee Gee hydrangea standard looks like it is floating in mid air here , like a huge hanging basket ? 
It has such a lovely scent as well, it is like honey.
Delft Lace astilbe is another favorite of mine (and it isn't white ? LOL) the remarkable red stems pop out of the almost lime coloured foliage. The unfurled ? flowers are also rather red but turn out to a soft peachy pink .. how much more can you ask of a plant in terms of colour and foliage !
Remember filipendulas ? I use to have Red Umbrellas but they expired and now I have just Kahome.
This is a dwarf version of meadowsweet with frothy pink flowers . I have a soft spot for it since it stuck out a lot of neglectful times ?
This flower structure seems to be a repetitive type from spirea flowers to the Bronze Peacock  flower stem. 
Now for a goofy picture of the "girls" a favorite past time is beating us to the bathroom and meowing for a chance to drink from running water .. hey, we bought them a water fountain and they ignore it ! Seems like it has to be from the tap ! They turned a year old July 31st and yet it seems they have always been with us .. Happy Birthday goofy girls !


11 comments:

Kris Peterson said...

You grow so many lovely plants I don't have a hope of keeping alive for a season, much less years. I can appreciate the appeal of that daylily. I fell in love with daylilies after moving to our current place (bad timing). I have a few dozen but only one variety, 'Spanish Harlem', made a good showing this year. As another blogger told me that rain is like fertilizer for them, I'm blaming 2 years of severely low rainfall for their poor performance and I won't buy any more as the rain situation isn't likely to improve anytime soon.

Happy birthday to your "girls"! They must figure that if the bathroom tap is good enough for you, then it is for them too ;)

Beth at PlantPostings said...

Your birthday girls are sweet! And what a great collection of plants to feature. Your first statement is so true: I really don't have favorite plants, but some of the plants I wasn't crazy about in the past have become more appealing to me (and even very appealing) over time. Also, it's always fun to try new ones.

Snowbird said...

Ahhh, those girls of yours are so very beautiful! I want them!!! That spider lily is simply delightful as are all those white flowers. You have so many beauties in your garden. I agree about tastes changing, I always disliked roses but am a huge fan now.xxx

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Kris and thank you ;-) I had to look up Spanish Harlem and what an intense colour ! Yes they need a lot of water and your situation is a tough one so of course you are going with plants that are drought tolerant .. but you have gorgeous varieties !! As I have said your gardens are like a Botanical garden .. they remind me of the one we saw on the coast of Spain.
Yup ... today they had to make nice with each other and the tap .. taking turns, which I have to admit was darn cute too .. go figure, only cat people would think that way ? LOL

Hello there Beth and thank you so much ! I wonder what it is that makes us change our minds about plants ? even my methods of gardening have changed, I don't go nuts when i lose a plant and I have been known to pull some and put them in the recycle bags for the city's compost. I don't have friends that garden like I do ..or I would give the plants away .. my neighbor has had enough of my "gifting" ? LOL

Hello there Snowbird ;-) Thank you !! The girls "know" how cute they are as well ? LOL
I have gone back to trying to train some roses up an arbor .. I failed miserably a few years ago .. now here I go again ? I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me ? LOL



Nadezda said...

What a beauty this hydrangea is! I also love your spider lily, Joy. Yes, it was in my garden. There were two of them, of white and lemon colors. This spring, I decided to transfer the bulbs into the garden greenhouse in April. It was my big fault. The bulbs died after an overnight frost that was unexpected. So now I don't have them :(( Yours remind me that I left the poor bulbs out in the cold.
Your garden is beautiful, lots of bright flowers.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Nadezda ;-)
Thank you ! I'm so sorry you lost your bulbs .. we keep learning about gardening and weather our whole lives .. I can't even begin to count how many mistakes I have made. But this was not your fault, weather can change so easily and we have no control over that. I have become fascinated by spider lilies now, and I have no room to put new plants in ... I will have to think of something ? LOL

Hoover Boo said...

Same here--did not like spider-form hemerocallis when I first saw them, but now they seem quite desirable. Your 'Desert Icicle' is a beauty.

All the deep rich green foliage your garden make a wonderful pairing with the fresh pure white flowers--a breath of cool air on a hot summer's day, even if the cool feel is only visual.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello there Hoover Boo !
I am searching for an on line provider now for ANY ? spider lily that will ship.
I have become smitten (I have no room in the garden mind you, but I will indeed find room if I strike gold with a shipper) I wonder what happens to our brain when we switch gears and actually like something we previously did not ?
I am a big believer in visual influence ... even in our sweltering temps/humidity.
So point well taken ! LOL

Rajani Rehana said...

Beautiful blog

RobinL said...

Spider Lily sure is a unique one! I enjoyed all your white flowers, as I tend to shy away from them. But it’s a silly reason. I stay away from them because they’re hard to photograph! I did not know white swan was fragrant. I have some tiny starter plants going of it, so I’ll be curious to give them a sniff next year when they bloom. It’s funny, my Firelight hydrangea was SUPER fragrant this year, and I swear that I never noticed it before.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Robin , I have never seen one quite like this lily so now I am obsessed of course ? LOL
The best way to take white flower photos is in at least light shade .. shade cuts the glare.
I remember one year I had White Swan in the back of my car while I was garden center hopping and the scent was heavenly ! I know what you mean about hydrangea and scent .. one year they have nothing and then the next year is WOW ! ... I'm not sure what the story is to that other than maturity maybe ?