Mellow Yellow

Climbing Hydrangea
Originally uploaded by Philosophical Karen.

The whole garden, it seems, is turning yellow. The climbing hydrangea is particularly striking against the drab fence. I will post more "mellow yellow" photos later. I just wanted to get this one up quickly.

Now It's Easy Being Green

The city brought us our green wheelie bins today.


Inside there was a kitchen bin.


And beneath that, lots of paper bags.

Summer Bloom, Autumn Colours

I found this photo buried on Flickr. It's my 'Frans Hals' daylily, taken back on August 2.

Wild About Gardening

The Canadian Wildlife Federation, of which I am a member, is promoting native plants in its Fall Bulletin. The cover story features a native plant garden created by the Canadian Wildlife Federation in Montreal's Old Port. In another story entitled "Greening Suburbia" the newsletter talks about CWF's Backyard Habitat Certification program, and profiles the small (12 metres by 12 metres, or approximately 40 ft. by 40 ft.) suburban garden of Rosemary Pauer.

View of My Garden, Looking West (Summer)



Wide Garden View in Autumn



As soon as I read this I thought about the diversity of wildlife that visits our small (12 metres by 19 metres, or approximately 40 ft. by 60 ft.) suburban garden, most of which I have shown here in this blog. I thought of all the things we do--some purposely, and some not--that attract wildlife to the garden. So I decided to look into the Backyard Habitat Certification program.

Jackrabbit in the Garden



We could do this! The hardest part about the whole application process, from what I saw on the form, is cataloguing the native plants in the garden. Since we don't consciously "plant native", anything in our garden that is a native plant is there by coincidence. So going through the huge list of native plants and picking out the few I have here and there is a tedious activity. However, this is not something we have to do right away.

Campsis Radicans is a Native Plant



So Is Columbine



Next spring, we are considering putting in a pond. Although our birdbath meets the criteria for certification, ponds seem to be more favoured. The web site also lists resources for acquiring native plants. (There used to be a place in our area which I always wanted to go to, but it seems it was a "fly by night" operation. When we finally went there, it turned out to be an old run-down farm.) Once I find a reliable source of plants, I will be able to add more native plants to the garden, and do it consciously.

A Birdbath Meets the Criteria for Certification



A couple of things worry me though. We actually discourage skunks from stopping to stay (although we don't mind if they pass through). I hope the CWF understands! And please don't tell them about the mousetraps I set out for the voles. I wouldn't mind so much if they stayed in the garden, but they make a big mess in the shed and we put the traps in there for them so they won't get in and chew my garden gloves to bits and make nests in the cushions.

Skunks: It's Okay to Visit, Just Don't Stay Too Long



We'd Like to See More of the Downy Woodpecker


All photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without attribution.

If you would like to learn more about attracting birds and wildlife to your garden, visit the CWF gardening web site, www.wildaboutgardening.org.

Tubers

You really know you are a gardener when you start to get excited about finding a big fat Ipomoea tuber when you clean out the last patio container.

Big Fat Ipomoea Tuber



Unfortunately, there's nothing to show scale in this photo, but it's a big fat tuber. I might just be able to close my fist around it. (I do have small hands though.)

I'm trying to guess if there is any relationship between size of plant and size of tubers. I don't know. The Sweet Caroline Ipomoea didn't get big tubers, and some got none at all. However, the "old regulars" seem to have given me a couple of decent tubers, which I will now save in a paper bag in the garage and see what happens if I plant them. I hope I will remember to start them early enough.

This is the container that yielded the nice big tuber.

This Container (Seen Here in Better Days)
Gave Me the Tuber Above



From this container, I got nothin'.

Nothing From This Container


Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be borrowed without attribution.

Weather

It's just hitting me, what this snow means.

Since I had to go to class last night, I didn't really have the presence of mind to think about the plants. They could have been covered with sheets. The remaining containers could move inside. The echeveria and Lewisia Cotyledon that I've been meaning to transplant and move to storage -- it hasn't been done. I figured there was still a couple of weeks left to take care of it.

We haven't even really had a frost. A few days ago we were wearing T-shirts (and some people were still wearing shorts). Snow was not up there on the list of things to worry about where the garden was concerned.

Today the temperature is below freezing.

It's really been a strange autumn for weather.

Here are some photos I took yesterday morning, when snow was the furthest thing from my mind.

Bike Path Trees Through the Upstairs Window



Backyard from Above (After the Rain)



Cutleaf Sumac



Delphinium Rebloom



Trellis Leaves

Snow!!!

Can you believe we got snow today? It's not even the middle of October yet.

The Wind Whips Through the Willow



It Gathered on the Furniture



Squirrel in the Snow



Luckily our weather is so strange that a short time later the sun came out and now we just have little puddles everywhere.

EDIT:

I spoke too soon about the "little puddles". The snow came back and this time... it stuck.

I drove through a snow squall on my way to my evening class, and this is what greeted me after class when I got home:

One Leaf, Two Poems

l(a
le
af
fa

ll

s)
one
l

iness

~ e. e. cummings

Please come to visit,
for I am lonely. One leaf
falls from the kiri.

~ Basho

Now, In October

There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots
may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on
the feelings, as now in October.


~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Autumn Garden

Here are photos of the autumn garden. The thornless honey locust and the magnolia in the front yard have yellowing leaves, and everything else is looking really raggedy. It's (a bit past) time to clear out the containers.

Rudbeckia Hirta


Shelf Rock Planters


Raggedy Container


Magnolia and Burning Bush Euonymous


And in the backyard, the new Japanese Anemone is still blooming, despite the long deep shadows and crisp autumn nights.

Japanese Anemone


Long Deep Shadows

Turtleheads

I've never in my life before seen this plant.

Well, not live anyway. I had seen a photo on Alison's garden blog and sort of tucked it away in the back of my mind. You can't really forget a name like 'Turtlehead' when you see it.

I mentioned that when I got my freecycled plants, there was a pretty flower that I didn't recognize. I didn't post a photo, but here is one now.


Photo belongs to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without attribution.

While looking in the Canning Perennials catalogue I somehow ran across a picture of the plant Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips'.

I was originally looking for another plant, Euphorbia marginata 'Snow on the Mountain'. I found out that Canning doesn't have that one. But that's all right, because I've decided that I like Euphorbia polychroma 'First Blush', another euphorbia they do have.

Don't ask me how I got from 'E' to 'C'! It's a plant catalogue. Any section is fair game, even if I'm looking for something specific. In this case I was also lucky enough to answer a nagging question. It's so much fun to browse, isn't it?

Downy Woodpecker

I've never been able to capture a hummingbird, though I've seen many. However, this is more exciting to me, because it's the first downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) who has visited our yard and I managed to get a photo.

I am seeing a slightly wider variety of birds visiting our yard than the past few years. Maybe our trees are finally inviting enough to attract more visitors.

Downy Woodpecker on the Birdfeeder


Photo belongs to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without attribution.

According to the poster sent to me by the Canadian Wildlife Federation:

"A good snag (standing dead tree) or large mature trees are the best ways to attract downy woodpeckers, which will hunt for insects up and down their trunks. However, these birds will also partake of some fruit, nuts, and seeds."

Backyard Evolution

This post is similar to one I did before, even using some of the same photos, but this post tells more of the story and explains about how some decisions were made.

This is what the backyard looked like in the summer of 2002, when the patio was newly installed.



The rest of the yard was a boring expanse of grassy slope, with three trees on it. We decided to bring in a landscaper to help us do something with the slope.



Two weeks before the work started, they sprayed Roundup (herbicide) to kill the grass.



See the open windows and fans? We had to deinstall our air conditioner (in July!) so that they could get the heavy equipment into the backyard. But it's easy to forget that temporary hardship after seeing the result.



This was already looking different from what I had envisioned. I thought the rocks at the front would be straight (following the edge of the patio) but the landscapers added a curve to the rocks and decided to fill in the "floor" with flagstone. No big deal.



At this point, the landscaper's work was done. Our work was just beginning.



See the two islands of green? I had wanted the landscapers to put a grass path between them, at least so that the lawnmower could mow the backyard in one pass. But the landscapers had transformed our boring backyard into a beautiful space, and complaining too much didn't seem right.





By early fall 2003 we had installed the arbour bench and a path of flagstones, plus a lot of new plants.



Here is a rare photo. Our shed was a golden-orange colour for about a week when it was first installed, the result of a miscommunication between the builders and my neighbour, who ordered the sheds together and got us a discount. The builders were very good about coming back and changing the colour for us.



In May of 2004, you can see that the two islands of lush green grass are connected by a path of flagstones. (Oh, and the shed is blue.)



I wanted to show this picture from June 2004 because of the bird feeder. The first incarnation of our bird feeder had a natural birch log that I dragged home from the woods. Eventually the bark got torn off by the squirrels and it was an eyesore, so we replaced it with a gazebo-style feeder on a sturdy cedar rail.



By August 2004 we had replaced the west railing of the deck with a lattice wall. The neighbours, whose choice of fence was chain link, installed a big blue pool in their side yard. For a few years we had had a nice view of the trees behind the bike path, but as all the neighbours started building structures in their backyards, we no longer had a clear line of sight worth preserving.


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

I'm so glad we made this decision. I love the lattice wall because it provides more privacy and more shade, and also now I am growing my beautiful harlequin honeysuckle on the other side.

Some October Planting

Well, you know I wasn't going to just leave that new bed unplanted if I could help it. So during the brief respites between rain showers, I've been working in the garden, including planting the new bed. So, here are the plants:

New Bed Planted, Part 1



The large green plant in the centre is a Japanese Anemone. Going clockwise around it from top left: Blue Fescue (Festuca glauca), an unknown late-flowering Stonecrop (almost invisible behind the anemone), 'Nile Crane' Daylily, Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis 'Icee Blue'), 'Ankums Pride' Cranesbill, and 'Cappucino' Heuchera.

New Bed Planted, Part 2



To the right of the daylily (the same 'Nile Crane' from the previous photo) is a variegated sedum I'm assuming is 'Frosty Morn' based on Zoey's post about hers, and another unknown heuchera that's been moved around so much I don't know which one it is any more. (I have way more heuchera in my collection than I have tags for, so I've never been able to properly identify all the ones I have anyway.)

Now, here is a good wide view of the end result.

A Good Wide View



Here is a view looking east. You can see the relatively large expanse of ordinary mulch that is still there, which is where a pond will go if we decide to install one next spring. I find that the fence is looking very plain right now, and I will work on decorating it next year, either with a garden plaque, a metal sculpture, or an old window frame (perhaps with mirrored glass in it).

Looking East at the New Garden Bed



I almost moved my variegated coreopsis from under the maple into the new bed, but the main reason I didn't is because I like where it sits now, among the heuchera and in front of the 'Purple Knockout' sage. It's a very photogenic little flower.

No More Photos Like This One if I Moved the Coreopsis


All photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without attribution.

In an upcoming post I will talk about my backyard landscape design and how the original flagstone "stepping stone" pathway (the one I have just extended) came to exist in the first place. (Just like the current extension, it was not part of the original plan.)