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.

Summer has arrived

                                     

The apple tree has blossoms!  It was planted three years ago and is coming into its own.

This was the very first thing I planted in this garden so I am particularly fond of it.

In the corner of the back deck, some tulips and daffodils share the space with forget-me-nots and behind them is the climbing hydrangea which is slowly making its way up the lattice.

The garlic bed into which I put some leftover daffodil bulbs. They are doing better than any others.

The Montmorency cherry tree, now in its second year, it has blossoms too.

Tulips in the far corner bed, that I call the weigela bed. For obvious reasons.

And the seedlings, now outdoors, question is where to put them. Cosmos will go with the gingko tree, and snap dragons around the clematis but there are many more to dig in. 

Our weather has gone insane and we are in the middle of a heat wave. Yesterday it was 33 degrees Celsius which is 91.4 Fahrenheit. But the humidity made it feel like 39 degrees which is 102 Fahreheit. The poor dog had to be forced indoors for her own safety. 

Seedlings waiting

These plants want to get outside into sunshine and warmth. 

A dozen Celebrity tomatoes, 9 cherry tomato plants
a dozen cosmos, zinnia, asters, lupins, african daisies, shasta daisies, nicotiana, coleus, snap dragons, sweet peas and at least  2 dozen petunias

Come on summer weather, you are desperately needed here.

Snow in May!

A cruel joke.  4 inches of snow fell overnight, temperatures were below freezing.  And just yesterday, I got all my pots and planters out ready for summer flowers.

I think the farmers call this spring fertilizer as they like the last snow to melt slowly and saturate the ground with moisture just before sowing their crops.

First Spring Flowers

We wait a long time for flowers in this zone 3B so pardon me if I think this small display is just wonderful to behold.

So glad I added more crocus to this bed last fall. Must add many more for next year. These are the very first flowers to bloom here. Right next to the remaining snow banks. 

And glory-of-the-snow in this small bed. Chionodoxa is their biological name.  Must put in more of these as well. Once they bloom, they just fade away so you don't have to deal with dying foliage as you do with daffs and tulips. 

I have also transplanted the tomato seedlings into larger pots where they will continue to grow until it is time to put them into the garden. There are 12 Celebrity tomato plants and 9 cherry tomatoes. I also weeded another raised bed yesterday and was surprised to find it was frozen just 4 inches below the surface. This bed will be planted with potatoes if I can find some seed potatoes for sale.