Canning Perennials and a WEDGIE® in the Mail

We made a trip to Canning Perennials this weekend. They had a buy-two-get-one-free sale. It sort of made up for the fact that so many of the best plants in their catalog were just not available anymore. (Normally we go to Canning's earlier in May when the pickings are good.)

I'll tell you all the plants I bought -- as I've been happy to do before -- but I'm just not inclined to go and take photos of them all, though I do have one I took of this echinacea:

Echinacea 'Big Sky Sunset'



I also got an 'Orange Meadowbrite', and a compact variety, 'Raspberry Tart'. It's about time I jumped on the bandwagon with all the new echinaceas coming out.

Along with the echinacea I picked up some beautiful sedums ('Linda Windsor', 'Pink Chablis', and 'October Daphne'), and several sempervivum which I bought by appearance and not by name. I'll have to do a post soon on my sempervivum planters this year. It's not been a great year for them, with all this rain. They are used to drier weather.

I've never grown this plant before, but two monarda caught my eye: 'Grand Parade' and 'Marshall's Delight'. I bought them specifically because they are compact varieties, resistant to powdery mildew, and bred in Canada.

And of course, what would a plant shopping trip be without new daylilies? I bought two of them, 'Africa', a deep purple that didn't have any scapes so I'm hoping it will bloom, and 'Justin Miller', which is deep red in the center with lighter edges.

Speaking of daylilies, I've actually had some blooms in my garden this year. The first (which I missed taking a photo of) was 'Siloam Plum Tree'. The second was an unknown purple one that came with the half-price perennial planter I bought a week or two ago from the Canadian Tire garden centre. I think it might be 'Purple d'Oro'. It's not likely to be anything exotic coming from a generic planter.

New Daylily (Possibly 'Purple d'Oro')



Oh, and of course I can't forget that 'Moonglow' also had its first bloom. It also looks like 'Barbara Mitchell' is about to bloom, tomorrow or the day after at the latest.

'Moonglow' Daylily First Bloom



As well as the daylilies, the Asiatic lilies have been blooming. I got a pretty good picture a couple of days ago:

Asiatic Lilies



That's 'Sugar Baby' honeysuckle in the background, along with some poppy foliage dying back. The beautiful vermilion lily was actually supposed to be crimson. At least, that was the colour in the photo on the label. Ah well, I am very good at misjudging flower colours and making "interesting" combinations.

On the same day I took that photo, the blanket flower was in full bloom, and I managed to get this photo of it:

'Burgundy' Blanket Flower



At the same time, both hardy geraniums 'Rozanne' and 'Splish Splash' got blooms. Here is 'Rozanne':

'Rozanne' Hardy Geranium (Cranesbill)



Oh, and I don't have a photo (mostly because I had to crawl through hip-high thistles to get to it), but my Lewisia plant that I bought at Wal-Mart earlier this year is blooming. It has flowers similar in colour to 'Regenbogen', only with more yellow. (I have since removed all the thistles and other weeds from that neglected corner of the garden. It was a big job.)

On the way to Canning Perennials, we stopped at a new garden store that opened in a location that used to be a wonderful bakery. Sadly, the bakery that we loved is no more, but the new garden store wasn't bad. With all the rain we've been having, I decided that a new umbrella was just the thing.

New Umbrella from the Garden Store


Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without permission.

There's something else I hope to blog about soon, and that is the new WEDGIE® garden tool that Cookie Wherry sent me from Chicago. Wedgie promises to make my container gardening so much easier. I can hardly wait to try it out.

Oh, and for those of you with a sense of humour, I don't need to tell you about the look on my husband's face as he gleefully informed me that I got a "wedgie" in the mail. (If you not familiar with vernacular English, "wedgie" is a schoolyard word for what happens when you pull upwards really hard on someone else's underpants so that the fabric becomes wedged between the buttocks.) My husband is just a big schoolboy at heart.

Now That Summer Is Here...

Just a few garden photos today. We had pounding rain -- and some hail -- yesterday, but the plants managed to come through it all right. Here is a Bicolor Pixie asiatic lily that I bought at Wal-Mart to keep company with the lily my mom gave me as a gift a couple of years ago.

'Bicolor Pixie' Asiatic Lily

Here is an ordinary albo-marginata hosta that is starting to flower in the front garden.

Albo-marginata Hosta

Still sticking to the front, here is what the 'Burgundy' blanket flower looks like today. It's starting to get yellow in its petals. (I like how some of the petals look like they are cursing you with a raised index and baby finger salute. At least, I was taught that it's a curse. It might have other meanings too.)

'Burgundy' Blanket Flower

As I said, it was raining, so here is a picture of some pretty pink flowers still sporting little raindrops. These flowers live in the tall urn container by my front door.

Pink Flowers in Container

And even though I haven't seen any frogs for a while, the backyard garden is not devoid of creatures. Here is a little snail waking up in the morning.

Snail in the Morning Light


Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without permission.

First Day of Summer

Photographing and spending time in my garden isn't as compelling now as it has been in the past few years. I have a few ideas why that might be, but for now I'll just blame it on the cold, rainy weather we've been having.

It's perilously close to July, and I'm afraid of how few of my daylilies are sending up scapes. I fear it will be a scant year this year. (I hope my fears are unjustified. Sometimes they are. I once thought my wiegela had died over the winter, before I realized how late it "wakes up" compared to the other bushes I have.)

I've had a tough time with irises this year. The ones that do well every year have done amazingly well, but none of the others have done anything at all. Here is 'Before the Storm', a lovely dark iris that was supposed to be surrounded by other irises at this time, but is a lone bloomer.

Iris 'Before the Storm'



This bed by the chain link fence gets a lot of sun, but unfortunately doesn't provide a great backdrop for the plants.

One plant that is blooming this year (even though it doesn't get many blooms) is the Climbing Hydrangea. I've been told by knowledgeable gardeners that this plant will take over my fence, but I have a secret. My secret is that I am a no-holds-barred pruner.

A lot of people are afraid of pruning, and I agree that overzealous pruning can ruin or even kill some plants. But I have never let that stop me. So that is why my Climbing Hydrangea, which always wants to branch out and become a "Creeping" Hydrangea, will NOT take over my fence. I won't let it.

Climbing Hydrangea Flower



Even without my usual enthusiasm, I have managed to put some new plants in the garden this year. The Asiatic Lilies I planted to give some company to the one my mom gifted me with will be blooming soon, as will this 'Burgundy' Blanket Flower (a little earlier than I had thought; I had hoped it would be around at the same time the Black-Eyed Susans bloom).

'Burgundy' Blanket Flower



And there are always the containers. I got a pre-planted perennial container on sale for half-price last weekend. Some of the plants in it were not very desirable, so I yanked a few out and replaced them with perennial pansies and two 'Blue Mouse Ears' hosta.

New Perennial Planter



Of course, the casual appearance and cool colours of this planter does not match with my own bright concoctions of hot summer colours, so it's a little off to the side of my other planters, which are heading into summer with a bang.

Hot Summer Colours in My Planters This Year



It's the first day of summer today, and what is a summer blog post without a picture of an insect on a flower? (Okay, well, that is a pretty weak introduction for this photo, but I had to say something.)

Wasp on 'Ankums Pride' Cranesbill


Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without permission.

Harlequin Honeysuckle and Eco-Lawn Follow Up

When I planted harlequin honeysuckle at the base of our lattice wall a couple of years ago, this is how I pictured the result I wanted when the plants were established. Yes, I call this a gardening success:

2008: Lots of Blooms -- A Gardening Success!



The same plants last year (after bloom time):



And the lattice wall garden soon after it was installed in 2006:



This 'Hollywood' heuchera still holds its own at the base of the lattice wall, even though this year the 'Cricket Dance' daylilies are begging to be divided (as so many of my daylilies are this year -- I wish I knew more people to share them with).



To call this combination of 'Velvet Night' heuchera and plantaginea hosta "pleasing" is an understatement. This is one of my favourite plantings in my garden.

'Velvet Night' Heuchera and Plantaginea Hosta with Harlequin Honeysuckle Blooms



Another pretty bloomer at this time (oh yeah, some people do Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th of the month) is 'Ankums Pride' hardy geranium. It thrives because it's aggressive, but it hasn't quite taken over this small space yet.

Ankums Pride Hardy Geranium in the Bed by the Stone Steps


Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without permission.

I have an ulterior motive in showing this photo. It gives you a good idea of how badly the Eco-Lawn grass came through the winter. It was so nice last autumn, but sadly the low maintenance solution we were looking for is NOT found in Eco-Lawn grass. To maintain this grass it would need to be raked over and reseeded every spring, and possibly even in September again -- not the kind of lawn we were looking for.

The Orange and the Pink

The poppies are finally starting to bloom, quite a bit later than last year. I find it hard to get good close-up photos this year, so the best photo I have is this long shot of the front garden porch display. The short, bright red poppies in the background are 'Carmen', new ones I just planted. The tall orange poppy is a well-established 'Allegro'. Other poppies are taking their time to bloom in this cold spring we've been having. (In the foreground is a potted 'Prince of Silver' heuchera, just starting to bloom.)

Poppies Blooming in the Front Garden

My garden has a few other fantastic orange flowers, these rock roses in the back yard under the Deborah maple. Usually this plant blooms at the same time as the 'Chocolate Chip' ajuga, whose purple spikes provide a great contrast to the rock rose's cluster of tiny red-orange flowers. The weirdness of this year's weather has thrown everything off, though. Plants that thrive in cool weather are blooming normally, but anything sun-loving is way behind. So the beautiful combination I have looked forward to in previous years didn't happen this year.

Rock Rose in the Back Yard

In spite of those vermilion blossoms I have just shown you, I can't help noticing an increasing trend in my garden towards "preciousness". I can't explain what I mean by the term, except that I know Kim from A Study in Contrasts would probably hate it. At this time of year, as the tulips are nearly gone and the heuchera, heucherella, hardy geranium, and moss phlox is conspicuously blooming, much of the front part of the garden is full of pink and purple blooms.

This did not emerge on purpose. I did not "go for" this look. In fact, I sort of got a little queasy when I realized the full effect. Even the 'Patriot' hosta, which promised a hint of military vigour when I planted its fellows 'Red October' and 'Blue Cadet' nearby, has taken on a look of Victorian frou-frou with its cream-edged leaves. I may have to rethink this arrangement.

A Little Too Pretty, Perhaps?

Although I must say that this look I'm decrying probably came about gradually because I like pink and purple flowers. In fact I am happy to say that the weigela in the back yard is absolutely covered in blooms at this time, something I look forward to every year.

Weigela Blossoms

Although the weigela is healthy and full of blooms this year, I cannot say the same for my 'Johnson's Blue' hardy geranium. It's half the size it normally would be, there are no blooms, and what little foliage there is is dying off as if it were late August right now instead of early June. So I did what any self-respecting gardener would do and bought a healthy replacement. (I went to a lot of trouble to get this plant. The garden centre had decided to water its plants using an oscillating sprinkler. It took me several forays during opportune moments when the sprinkler was watering the opposite end of the shelves to finally extract the plant I wanted to buy.) This one bloomed while it was waiting to be transplanted.

New 'Johnson's Blue' Hardy Geranium

And for anyone who likes to keep track of the progress of container plantings, here is a recent picture of my globe planter to finish off the post.

Globe Planter


Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without permission.