Today's Show

Everybody take your seats. The trumpets are sounding. It's time for the show to begin.

Today's show is a Shakespearean play. The play always starts with odd characters. Like an ugly witch making a prophecy, Destined to See has bloomed somewhat deformed today.

'Destined to See' (Somewhat Deformed First Bloom)



But this witch has a secret. Sometimes she's a real beauty, as in this photo of her first bloom in 2006.

'Destined to See', First Bloom 2006



And another odd character makes an appearance here, a dwarf, called Mini Might. This one is a miniature double -- doubly odd in daylily terms. For this first flower, the full double presentation didn't appear, just an additional curly petal tucked inside of the flower.

'Mini Might' Miniature Double Daylily



And now it's Always Afternoon, a nice pink pink without any peach tones to it, a burgundy eye, yellow-green throat, and just a hint of a white midrib. This early bloomer is actually showing up a few days late this year. The other characters are teasing this one for sleeping in.

'Always Afternoon'



Wayside King Royale has lost his twin (twins are a very common theme in this type of play). I have one in the front garden and one in the back. In the past, they have bloomed together. This year, the one in the back has entered the scene first, wondering what happened to its counterpart.

'Wayside King Royale'



Elegant Candy is kind of a flirt. She flaunts her ruffles a bit to let us know she is the Shakespearean equivalent of a "dumb blonde" character. (Hey, I didn't make up the stereotype, I'm just using it as a metaphor.)

'Elegant Candy'



Justin Miller is new in town. (He would probably welcome some attention from Candy, if he could just meet up with her somehow.) He doesn't even know where he's going to live yet, as he currently resides in a temporary location on top of the deck box. That doesn't stop him from demonstrating his good breeding, however.

'Justin Miller'


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

Well, I guess that was less of a play than a parade of characters. This extended metaphor thing is a little difficult to get exactly right. We'll see how far it takes us, though.

Three, That's a Magic Number

Today started off with a bang, literally, as I awoke to the sounds of thunderstorm. It was a rainy morning, a perfect day for Cimmaron Knight's first bloom.

Cimmaron Knight



Ever since I got it in 2005, this daylily has always opened its first flower in the rain. Which is all well and good for that flower, but the rain has been pretty hard on the two other first bloomers today. For example, Persian Ruby (a new one I bought at the daylily farm last year) is definitely looking a little beat up.

Persian Ruby



Of course, so far you only have my word that it was a rainy day, because none of the photos I took this morning while it was actually raining turned out. Except for this one of my third new bloom today, Chicago Atlas.

Chicago Atlas


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

The Show Will Soon Be Starting

Because I was an English major (no, not that type of English major, the type that majors in English Literature at university), I know that the word for a clever extended metaphor is "conceit".

I'm not sure whether I should try to come up with a conceit for discussing and displaying daylilies. Jane Marie's clever "Cotillion" metaphor already covers the territory pretty well. I've been reading her posts with true enjoyment. (Jane's blog has sound, by the way, in case you need to know that before clicking the link.)

I think daylilies just naturally invite this sort of thing. A couple of years ago I wrote a post in which I suggested that one of my daylily plants reminds me of the ballet, and followed up that idea with another post where 'Cimmaron Knight' took a role in defending 'Catherine Woodbury', a ballet dancer whose honour was being threatened by the Russian count ('Russian Rhapsody'). For me it was a bit of whimsy that I quickly abandoned. Maybe too quickly.

Anyway, now that Jane is doing such a good job with her Cotillion, I've been thinking more along the lines of a show. Well, right now anyway, while it feels like I'm waiting for The Big Show to begin. The show could also be fireworks, because it always starts out small, with a few pops here and there signalling that the big display is about to begin. So get your oohs and aahs ready folks, because it won't be long now...

Here is 'Grecian Gown', scheduled to be divided and moved this year. This beautiful pale yellow competes directly with 'Moonglow' (another pale yellow) for attention. What was I thinking when I planted them so close together? I honestly don't know. And what am I doing with two pale yellow daylilies when yellow is supposedly my least favourite colour? I don't know that either.

Grecian Gown



The other first bloomer today was Dad's Best White. There is really no such thing as a pure white daylily. First of all, you are not going to get the blue-white that you see on most white flowers. The closest daylilies get is a cream colour. And most daylilies that are called white will have a greenish or yellowish throat in addition to cream-coloured petals and sepals.

Dad's Best White


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

Another curious colour anomoly with daylilies is when they tend to lose any cream or lavender from the original flower and drift towards yellow, pink, or peach colours. This might also have something to do with the age of the plant, how the plant was propagated, or water and soil conditions where they are planted. In any case, it's a common problem. I wish I knew more about the science behind it, especially if there are some nutrients I can give the plant that would restore the proper colouring to the flower. (Is it like pink and blue hydrangeas by any chance?) If anyone has any information on this, please pass it along.

Critters and a Flower

A couple of photos of critters, and one new bloom today.

I caught this camouflaged critter near the composter. I'm not sure which of us scared the other more. This thing is really hard to see on ground that's brown and bumpy.

American Toad (Bufo americanus)



At first I wasn't sure what it was, so I called it a frog, since according to my son with his Aristotelian exactness, "All toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads." Now I'm pretty sure this critter is an American toad.

And this, this I believe is a Common Whitetail, a type of dragonfly. It's a female. I know this because if it were male it would have a completely white tail (well, duh). The females have a white abdomen only.

Female "Common Whitetail" Dragonfly



I always knew there was a difference between dragonflies and damselflies, but I just thought damselflies were more delicate and that was the difference. But no, the official difference is that damselflies close their wings when they are resting, while dragonflies keep theirs open.

Well, that's it for critters, now for the flower. 'Little Business' had its first bloom today.

Little Business


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

Russian Rhapsody

Just one new daylily today. This is the first bloom for 'Russian Rhapsody'. It's a few days later than usual this year.


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

Spoof, Compost, and a Daylily

For those who enjoy satire, you might like to read this spoof article on gardening. Sometimes I wish I had a gardener instead of a garden.

But my main topic today is not satire, far from it. I am talking about composting, and a product that was sent to me by a representative of "Bag To Earth". These cellulose-lined brown paper bags can be used to collect wet kitchen scraps and then you can just throw them "as is" into the backyard composter. The thin cellulose lining ensures damp items don't soak through the paper, but yet is completely natural and will decompose quickly.

From the Kitchen Counter...



...To the Backyard Composter



And yes, they do decompose, but it isn't pretty.

Decomposing Compost Bags



These bags were sent to me last autumn, and I did say I wouldn't be able to test them until the spring. But as soon as the snow was gone, we started using the bags in order to test them in the composter.

I have a couple of months worth of bags now divided between our two composters. What I find with mine, since I like to take an active role in making sure the compost is forming, is that I leave the bags a couple of weeks, and then I sprinkle water on the top and chop the bags and their contents with a small hoe. This allows me to spread the contents around to the sides of the composter, and makes more room for the next couple of bags.

In the kitchen, I find that our kitchen scraps don't get generated quite fast enough to fill the bag before it's "ripe" and ready for the composter, but a larger family -- especially if they drink lots of coffee -- might be able to beat the clock better than we can. At the same time, however, the bag isn't big enough to be of help when I'm cleaning out the fridge. It's basically good for tea bags, coffee filters, bread crusts, damp paper towels, carrot peelings, and the like.

I don't imagine these bags are available to everybody, but certainly if you are in Southern Ontario there is a chance you might have seen these in your supermarket. If you've been looking for a solution to get your kitchen scraps from the counter to the composter, this might be it.

And to finish up on a prettier note, I leave you with 'Moonlit Masquerade', a daylily whose first bloom showed up today.

'Moonlit Masquerade' First Bloom Today


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

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.