August garden update

 

Not too much new in the garden. I have been diagnosed with tendonitis brought on by gardening work. Which means my arms and shoulders hurt so much that I have no strength to do much work. Also I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, ouch!  which explains why I can't knit at the moment either.  But I did make a trip to Gerber's nursery last week and bought two plants. Gerbers used to be a busy nursery but it looks as if they are downsizing. The owners died and the son lives 4 hours away, I don't think he has the interest to keep the family business going. 

I bought Meadow Sweet, biological name is filipendula rubra  It grows about 4 feet tall and has feathery pink blooms that resemble astilbes. I planted this in the bed along the fence where there are hollyhocks and phlox.

 

In this bed are some annual lavatera that I grew from seed. They look like malva flowers.

Close up of the meadow sweet.

Daylilies and phlox in the same bed.

Japanese bottle brush planted last year as bare roots.

A couple of balloon flowers that need staking.

The weigela bed with pink yarrow planted last year and some new golden yarrow planted yesterday. A rogue black-eye susan is growing here, I will leave it undisturbed.

Annabelle hydrangea, now three years old. On the right is pink yarrow, on the left feverfew and in front some monarda and fuchsia veronica. The feathery foliage is Pasque flower.

A new Strawberry Sundae hydrangea planted this year. Behind is tickseed in the gingko bed.

The echinacea have begun to bloom, and the black-eye susans will be next.

I  love these flowers.

Firelight hydrangea, looking much better than last year.  It is fuller and has more blooms.

One of many dahlias coming on in the garden.

Bright coral phlox bought this year at Home Hardware.

Borage in the vegetable bed.

The main tomato bed, disappointing this year. Not many tomatoes on the plants. But the scarlet runner beans are looking great.

A container of nasturtiums next to the apple tree.

Some novel echinacea in the bed behind the garage.

Some dahlias behind the garage.

The gingko bed filled with cosmos that aren't blooming.  I have no idea why, they look healthy and I grew these here last year successfully.

The butterfly bush did come back.

Another view of the tomato bed. 

The cherry tomato bed, also not producing like last year.

Container plantings on the back deck. Coleus, begonias, impatiens and fuchsia. 

July Garden Update

Picture heavy to keep track of what's growing and blooming.

 Behind the garage, a small bed with purple veronica, echinacea and blue geranium on the left.

One of the tomato beds, fruits are forming.

A quick fire hydrangea that is blooming more prolifically than last year.

Another hydrangea, can't remember the variety, with its first year for blooms.

The viburnum recovering from a bug infestation in late spring.

The echinacea, black-eye susan and shasta daisy bed starting to flower.

A pot of black-eye susan vine, thunbergia is its botanical name, climbing up the fence by Ernie's yard.

 The lovely delicate clematis that climbs up the clothes line pole.

A new hydrangea this year, another Strawberry Sundae, with snap dragons planted at the base.

 The corner bed, called the weigela bed, with a new perennial salvia blooming.

 Fringed bleeding heart in the hollyhock bed.

 One hollyhock, extremely short.

 The daylilies beside the cherry tree.

 Annual lavatera, grown from seed.

 A tall pale yellow hollyhock, I don't know where it came from. It's further down the bed and I don't recall planting this one at all.

 Wild flowers creeping in from the field, I think these are wild phlox, also known as rocket.

 My favourite plant of the year - goose-neck loosestrife. Doing well, I'm glad to say.

A view of the gingko bed, with loosestrife, campanula and cosmos doing well.

 I put soaker hoses in five of the beds to cut down on the watering time. Even after two rains, the ground still looks parched. Usually the grass doesn't look this dry until August.

 A daylily in the gingko bed, such beautiful colour and pattern.

A gaillardia that returned!

 Another shot of the goose-neck loosestrife.

 A butterfly bush that is getting a very slow start.

 The deck planter with pink petunias. These are wave petunias, so dependable.

Another shot of the petunia planter with an ivy-leaf geranium in the hanging pot and a strawberry on the right.

June 26, 2020

Finally a day of rain yesterday. So very  needed.

The honeysuckle is full of  blooms for the first time.

A  quick  fire hydrangea will have a lot of  blossoms this year. It is the first hydrangea to show its blooms coming.

A plant  that I didn't remember planting - turns out to be a weigela that blossoms  white, then turns deep pink. It  is gorgeous.

Poppies!   just love their flamboyance.

 And behind the poppies is the first  weigela I  planted:  sonic bloom red. Doing well, despite the dog's numerous forays into this corner.

 Potatoes just  starting to flower and no sign of potato  bugs- yeah!

 And my favourite bed at  the moment:  the gingko bed with white salvia, several daylilies, a goose-neck loose strife, gaillardia and many many cosmos dotted throughout the bed.

Oh,  my  poor climbing hydrangea. I have moved it yet again to get it away from the dog's chases after squirrels. There are few leaves on it, but it has a sizeable root system and I'm hoping that it can recover and take off in this new location.

What's blooming now

Here in central/northern Ontario, our summers are very short.  Little begins to bloom until the end of June and much of the garden looks bare. The temptation is to fill it all up with annuals, but then the perennials will struggle to get through.

Here in the bed beside the driveway, a peony blossomed today. And just behind is a gorgeous iris  with one bloom out and four more waiting to pop. I love the intricate flower of iris and these two-toned ones are simply beautiful.

The soft purple and blush pink is outstanding.

 

I think the day's  heat  is making  these peony flowers curl. We have gone from cool spring to full-on  summer and today is already 30 plus with a humidex of 37. (89 Fahrenheit to 96). And dry, there has been no rain for over a week. This seems to be typical Ontario summer, hot and dry.

Lupins flowering in the driveway bed. This bed gets full morning sun, from about 7 am to 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

Some irises that surprised me when they  bloomed.  I don't remember planting them here but I must have.

And some  lovely aliums in the bed on  the  east side of the house.

In a corner of a front bed, I have struggled with various plants and nothing seems to survive. So I put in a Gold Lace Juniper. I hope that it will get enough sun to do well here.  It gets about 6 hours of sun here. The plant makes me think of people who have got blonde highlights put in their hair. Highlights that are well done.

Pots on the back deck. Several begonias with lobelia and bacopa, a fuchsia and some coleus just taking hold.

A  pot  at  the bottom of the deck steps, with a grass in the centre, and  pink and purple flowers around, I've forgotten their names.

Meanwhile it is watering, watering and more watering.

Sewing and Knitting

A pair of socks made with Italian sock yarn, bought from KnitPicks while I was in Texas. I was excited when I  started the second sock and realised that they were going to match!  But look  what happened at the toe on sock number 2.  Suddenly the yarn had a different stripe and everything changed from there on. Not that it matters all that much, but I was a little bummed when they matched so well to that point. Oh well, it wasn't my doing, is all I can say.

A birthday present for Sarah who turns 8 on Saturday. I had everything but the buttons in my stash, including the pattern, and I think it is adorable. This was a cotton purchased to make myself a blouse, but really it will look much better on a very cute little girl. 

There is a  matching pair of shorts that I will make, so that Sarah can run and play without worrying about her knickers  showing. And the latest rage is a ponytail scarf. I made four on Saturday for the grand-daughters and their mother grabbed one right away and tied it in her own hair. I have to say that mustard yellow is  Elena's best colour. She has very dark skin, with an olive undertone, and those strong colours look great on her. I will try to get a picture.