Victoria Day

Here in Canada the first long weekend of the season is officially called Victoria Day, and it's held the closest Monday before May 24 -- unless, like this year, May 24 actually falls on a Monday.

Victoria Day Is For Mulching
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I suppose I could bore you with historical details of how this holiday came to be, but what if I just refer you to an article here instead. That way you can read it if you want to, or skip to the gardening stuff.

Mulch in the Side Garden


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For gardeners, this weekend has often been one where a significant amount of work is done in the garden. Here at our house, for example, we tend to use it as the day to put down mulch.

One thing Victoria Day has NOT usually been is the day the first poppy blooms. That's more often sometime around the beginning of June -- but not this year. This year, incredibly, the first poppy bloom opened on May 24.

First Poppy


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As usual, once the poppies start blooming, tulip time is over, and while my husband was laying down mulch, I was clipping tulip stems, leaving the foliage in place until it starts to turn yellowish-brown and die off.

The End of Tulip Time


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Besides poppies, other plants that are just starting to bloom right now are some of the many hardy geraniums I have in place throughout the garden, and the heuchera that have pretty little flowers.

Hollywood Heuchera


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Heuchera 'Gypsy Dancer' and 'Mocha'


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Note that, according to me, there are three types of heuchera: those that have pretty foliage and ugly flower scapes that must be cut off to keep the plant attractive (examples include 'Green Spice', 'Beauty Color', and 'Dale's Strain'), those that have pretty flowers with unexceptional foliage (ordinary Coral Bells), and those that have gorgeous foliage with pretty flowers ('Hollywood' and 'Gypsy Dancer' are my two favourites, of the ones that I own).

But moving on to another type of plant of which there are many varieties in my garden: cranesbill, or hardy geranium.

'Ankums Pride' Hardy Geranium


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'Ankums Pride', which is a very aggressive variety I got when someone was giving it away, has bright pretty flowers of a good size. I always have to trim it back every year. 'Samobor' has tiny flowers on tall stems, but is mostly remarkable for its variegated foliage in green and black.

Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'


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This is just a generic white hardy geranium. I don't think it even has a special name.

White Hardy Geranium


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Oh, and I finally planted the garage urns today, thus making "permanent" my decision to keep the baskets I bought at Home Depot for hanging at the front door.

Hanging Basket


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Garage Urns


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Oh, and finally one last thing. I thought I had somehow discarded my yellow irises, since they didn't bloom last year. But they are still there, right where I planted them together with some purple ones. The purple are 'Cherry Garden' and the yellow might be called 'Flemming Gold'. (I have an ancient label in my gardening binder from about the right time, so I'm just guessing that's the one.)

Irises, Purple and Yellow Together


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And with that, I will leave you.

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