>JANUARY 13.... This is the strangest weather!!! We've hardly had any snow at all, and the bit that does come down melts within a day or so. I'm not sure what this will do to the frost in the earth, and I'm not sure there is much of that either, since the temps haven't fallen far below freezing yet. The lake didn't freeze over until after Christmas which is very late and it isn't safe yet to go on. Consequently there are no snowmobiles roaring up and down, which makes it very quiet and peaceful here this year.
There has been a lot of activity at the bird feeders even though there is no snow. A large flock of little "Red Polls" flies in a few times a day and they are a treat to watch as they fight for territory. They are cheerful little guys and I can get almost up to the feeder before they fly away. We have the usual jays, chick-a-dees,nuthatches,doves and squirrels as well. I am expecting to see the chipmunks come out of hibernation any time, with it being so warm. I feel bad for the folks who like the winter sports, but I am thoroughly enjoying the lack of snow and the icy roads.
We spent a Christmas in Florida several years ago and this weather is not a whole lot different than it was there. A green Christmas was lovley, and we were commenting the other day that if this keeps up we shall be cutting grass in February. I have to keep reminding myself that we still have two months of winter yet to go and anything can happen in that time.
The seed catalogues are coming in with tempting pictures of new flowers and I MUST try a couple of new ones this year. I bought a very nice seed saving binder from Lee Valley when we were in Ottawa at Christmas time and I think this wiill make it a lot easier to keep track of saved seeds. There are little pouches and envelopes, all in a very neat binder and it will be nice to have the seeds all together and marked instead of all over the house in small bags that have no identifying tag in them. I have no idea what most of them are so it will be interesting when I get to the planting this spring.
I am looking forward to beginning the greenhouse as well. That will be a wonderful project. Unfortunately we have had to cut down two ash trees this season. I really hate having to do that, but they were both becoming a little dangerous. Both would have fallen on buildings if they came down, so it was better to bring them down before the new buildings were started. One was very ratty looking and had been badly damaged in the ice storm three years ago. Once the new buildings are up I am planning to see about planting something new in their places. Perhaps not in the exact places, but somewhere a little more convenient. it looks very bare at the moment with the lack of out buildings...three old ones were torn down to make room for one garage in their place. It leaves a large expanse of empty lawn that begs for a new garden but I know I have enough to do with the ones I have. They will be interesting this year with all the transplanting and moving I did last year. I am looking forward to having some vegetables this year. Due to the animals, I have not been able to grow much, but this year I can use the greenhouse. It should greatly extend my growning season as well.
>MARCH .... February's over already and here we are in March. I believe it came in very like a lion and hopefully that means spring is on its way. We've had a variety of weather this year.......mainly too warm for whatever season and we are wondering what the summer will bring.
March is bringing us high winds and rain, and the ground doesn't look as though the frost is too far down. The tulips and daffs are starting to show but will put themselves "on hold" if it gets cold again.
We've had some tragedy at the birdfeeders. The red polls have fallen to salmonella this year and while I haven't had to pick up any dead birds, I hear of others that have had several at their feeders. I haven't had any birds at all at the feeder for a couple of weeks and hope the cheerful little guys haven't all been killed. But then, I haven't had any of the other birds either. I hope it's because the lack of snow has made it easy for them to find wild seeds.
I have my seeds from MacFaydens and will see about starting them early under lights at the end of March. It looks as though my garden will have a preponderance of red and pinks this year which will be a nice change from my usual mauves and blues. I've always had reds in the HOLLLY HOCKS but few of the others are red.
MARCH 28.... The ice is out......at least where we are, though I can see some left in the bays that don't have the benefit of the wind to move things about. When I woke this morning there was a very thin skin of ice on parts, but as soon as the sun and wind got up a bit it all disappeared.
There were a variety of waterfowl just off shore this morning. I counted Merganzers, Buffle heads, Mallards, Canada Geese and Seagulls. The water is still a bit low compared to the regular summer levels, but that will come up quickly now that the ice is gone and the northern lakes start melting. There was hardly any snow this winter so I don't expect the run-off to be very heavy and it may take longer for our lakes to fill to the summer levels.
Of course, now that it is beginning to look more like spring I am counting the days til I can get out and dig. I think I shall have to start some seeds under lights though. I'm not at all sure what sort of spring we'll get after an unusually warm winter and we may be in for some cool weather.
MAY 11... Here we are in May already and half way through to boot. April was a horrid month with snow, sleet, high winds and in general just miserable. We despaired of spring coming as usual, though it was really only a matter of time. We were spoiled by having two or three days at the beginning of the month that were in the 80's. Ahhhhh..... we thought....early summer ...... and then we got dumped on for the rest of the month.
The first two weeks of May have been rainy and windy, greatly hampering any garden work and the plans for starting the new garage. Never mind the green house........ it may not even come this year, to my dismay. However, on the brighter side; the garden plants have come up very nicely and I've got a wonderful showing of Daffodills and a few tulips. Curiously enough, the bed of Daffs and Tulips that I had such hopes for last year; and that had been overrun with ants, is very nice this year with all the ones that refused to bloom last year doing very well. There are mostly white Daffs and red tulips, and perhaps that is the bed to put the new red and white flower seeds in. It will mean digging out the chives and some painted sage, but that's no problem.
I spent last weekend digging over and edging the fountain bed that I had started last year and left part way through. It looks good this year and I will wait one more year before trying to prune the junipers into a spiral. I'm a little timid of doing that, and may change my mind pending a plan involving the round raised garden nearby. I'm thinking of making that one into a combination water and plant garden and switching the fountain and the light standard that is in the raised bed at the moment. Both gardens are wired for electricity, so there should be no problem there. If I work it right, the fountain could possibly empty into the water garden, and have the water recycle back through the fountain again. It would mean some major digging, but it would be lovely in the end, I think.
JUNE 12... I've been waiting for a mystery bulb in one of the beds to open. I couldn't remember planting anything there since it is a bed that I had decided to make into a rockery of sorts. The plant is very tall and will have to be moved when it has finished blooming. I couldn't identify it from the leaves, which are long like a lily, but have three lobes. Now that it has bloomed with an interesting unbrel of hanging bell shaped flowers in green and rose, I believe it is from the ALLIUM family. I have seen it in one of the catalogues but must have thrown that particular one out. The next time I see the picture, I shall make a note of the name.
I have a new ROSE in another bed that should prove interesting as well. It has very tiny leaves that seem prone to mildew, though that could be because the thing was hidden behind a bit of lattice. There are flower buds on it and they are also very tiny, so I am interested to see what sort of flower it has. I don't remember planting this one either!!!! Good thing I like surprises in the garden. The shrub rose in the next bed is going to be lovely this year as well. I seem to do much better with the shrub kind or the wilder ones than I do with the Tea Roses or Floribundas. Too cold and windy here for those and except for one gorgeous one with coral flowers and dark red leaves, that I do manage to keep, I gave the rest to my brother, who has much better luck with roses.
One of the squirrel gifts this spring was a single lovely tulip that has white petals edged with dark mauve. It lasted for almost three weeks and gradually the mauve covered more and more of the petals. I've transplanted it to the space where I put the ANGELIQUE tulips. They were pretty much hidden by the daffs and I've got them, now, in front of the daffs and behind the dark purple dwarf IRIS and they should be lovely next spring. They bloom a little later than the Daffs and at the same time as the Iris.
Do I ever leave things alone long enough for them to establish????? Eventually things do find their proper place. The large IRIS have finally found their home and this year I have been rewarded with huge blooms of bright white on one, and dark golden orange on the other. They will stay there until they need to be thinned. The PHLOX is also in its place now, I think, at the back of the beds under the deck. It gets enough wind off the lake that I am not troubled with mildew on the leaves.
The POPPIES and LILIES are doing spendidly where they are now and will stay amongst the daffs, hiding that foliage as it dies down. I have read that LILIES do not like to compete for root space so shall keep my eye on them this year.
I've discovered a baby tree in one of the shade beds that I think may be a BASSWOOD. I try not to dig trees out until I am absolutely sure that I have no place to put them. It's always a sad thing to loose a tree and we've lost three this year. I've planted a baby POPLAR in the front bed by the road that will further shade that area and make the rockery even more of a good idea.
The BLACK BIRCH seems to be on its last legs as well, and I would like to replace it with another since the tree swallows love their nesting box there.I was afraid that building the new garage right on their doorstep would cause them to abandon the nest , but they have hung out their little door and watched with interest. They have great fun flying through the various door and window openings and we shall have to hang a piece of plastic in the big opening if we put the doors and windows in so they will not fly into the glass. Perhaps if that tree is not in danger of falling, I can grow a SILVER LACE vine up it and the birds can keep their nest for another year. We may end up having to build a swallow house on a pole if the tree has to come down. I don't know if it's the location they like so much or the tree since they have been nesting there for quite a few years.
JULY 27... I've discovered that the tall umbrelled plant was indeed of the ALLIUM family and is called MEDITERRANIAN BELLS. The flowers on mine were a fair bit darker than the ones in the BRECK'S BULBS catalogue, with less of the white, so the red and green on the hanging flowers made them a little non-descript. I've moved that to a sunnier bed thinking that maybe more sun, or different soil will lighten the flowers. It's rather a handsome plant and well worth keeping.It grows almost three feet tall.
The ROSE with the mildewy leaves did bloom with the most delicate white flowers. They are about the size of a penny and have no scent, but I do like this little rose. I wonder if it would do better in another garden that gets more wind and shall try to transplant it. I will try it in the bed that I have designated for white and silver floiaged plants. There is room there for it and it is not as sheltered as the bed it is in now.
Sadly we had to cut down the ELM TREE we have been hoping would grow to maturity. The DUTCH ELM DISEASE caught up to it and once that is present there is no saving the tree. It will not be replaced by another tree in that particular spot, since it opens up our view to the lake. I will put a short light standard there, as it is just off the edge of the verandah which is to be built onto the front of the new garage. The ELM was growing in a small clump of JUNIPER which I particularly like and which looks a little lonely now in the middle of the lawn, so the light standard will match one on the other side of the property and the JUNIPER will make the light standard less "out in the middle of nowhere".
I shall have to transplant, yet again, a clump of LILIES. They bloomed nicely where they are but are just too short for the back of the bed, so I shall just move them a bit to the front. I noticed a few in another bed that should have been moved last fall and got missed, so they shall come into the light as well. I'm very pleased with the LILY show this year and if they do multiply, they whould be glorious next summer. They don't seem to mind being amongst the POPPIES which were also lovely this year. The LILIES bloom after the POPPIES are done and that has kept that bed in color since early spring.
This is the first year I will have flowers on the VITEX plant, which I've had for several years in one location or another trying to get it into the correct place. It is supposed to have purple flowering spikes that are good for hummingbirds and butterflies. This plant is also supposed to be very beneficial to women, and I shall have to read up on how to use its parts. I believe a tea is made from it. I have a book on the various uses of the plant and shall have to root it out and read it again.
I'm in the process of grubbing out the overgrown shade beds at the front, that I began last fall. Maybe this year they will be completed. I usually put the fallen pine needles as mulch in these beds and that has made quite a difference to the soil which was not very good. They break down slowly and the earth is much looser now and things seem to be growing a little too well there. I'll have to dig out a lot of the ferns and a few other things that have tended to overgrow like the tall GOLDENROD which I do like but which also tends to take over. It will certainly look neater when it's done. I have a clump of short HYDRANGES there as well as HOSTAS, PRIMULAS, and some dark red DAY LILIES,WILD GINGER,JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT,and CORAL BELLS. The ones with the red flowers will do better in a sunnier bed but the ones with the dark leaves will stay where they are. There is also a large clump of SOLOMON'S SEAL that can probably be moved but will stay where it is for the time being. I may just leave the VIOLETS in this year as well since they don't grow too tall and give a nice ground cover.
AUGUST 21... Many of the flowers have finished now, but I am amazed that there is still color in most of the beds. I nipped off all the dead flower sprays on the FAIRY ROSE and it has sent up some more buds. I'm getting a second blooming from the pale mauve MALLOWS as well, though the HARE BELLS are on their last legs and I've pulled most of them out. No fear that they will not appear next spring. They are almost a weed.
The PURPLE CONE FLOWER is doing much better than I thought it would. I moved it last fall and sometimes it takes a couple of years to re-establish. It seems to like its space now in a sunnier location. Some of the other things just coming into their own are the BLACK_EYED SUSANS, and the HAIRY WILLOW HERB, but the HOLLYHOCKS just have a few flowers left at the tips of the stems.
I recently met a lovely lady who has had the same problem with her HOLLYHOCK flowers being puny this year. We think it was lack of rain early on. Gert's garden in Sandurst near Napanee has some really interesting plants. I've learned from her that cactuses will overwinter outside. At least they do in her garden. I wonder if being near Lake Ontario helps modify the winter cold a bit. I hope to be able to keep in touch with her and compare gardens from time to time. Thanks for the plant and a taste of a new cucumber, Gert. I've got some seeds saved for you.
I read in one of the gardening magazines, this year, that cutting back the wild ASTERS by half at the end of June would result in a much bushier plant. I was admittedly a little timid of doing this, because I love the cheerful flowers in the fall, and didn't want to possibly loose the only color in the beds at that time. I compromised by cutting some clumps by half and leaving some to grow as they would and splitting other clumps, leaving the back of the clump tall and cutting the front. It has all worked out just as the article said and the clumps I cut are, in fact bushier with many more flower buds. The other advantage is that they will not need to be staked up. I do like the height in some places, though, since the ASTERS grow up through one of the SHRUB ROSES and the GOOSEBERRY bush which will hold them up, and the clump I left tall at the back is being held up by the shorter bit in front.
I wonder if this would work for the TANSEY as well as by this time it is just blooming and has fallen over into the bed. It will be a thing to try next year. I managed to get two jars of jam from the BLACK CURRENT bushes this year. It's lovely stuff. Only one jar from the GOOSEBERRY. I did a pick of all the ripe ones and went back a few days later for another pick only to find that my friends the CHIPMUNKS had cleaned them out. Well....... at least I got one jar !! Maybe next year I can remember to put a cover over the bush in time.
DECEMBER 30... Another year is over and the gardens have been put to bed. I'm hoping the SMOKE TREE will be fine this year without a lot of mulch. I had enough leaves for most of the beds; most of which will stay the way they are for the next year. I think I have finally got some beds to give continuous bloom for the whole season.
As it turned out I didn't get my greenhouse built! Disappointing for sure, but I have hopes for next year. Another project is to turn a raised round bed in the center of the lawn facing the lake into a combination flower and fountain bed. The light standard there is really a little too tall for the location and it would look better to the side between two junipers that have grown conciderably in the last two years. I would like to move the fountain that is currently between the junipers to the center bed and place it at the edge of the garden so I can have access to the water works. I can then use the pedestal that the fountain is on to hold a pot or some kind of ornament, though I think a pot with trailing vines and flowers would look better.
We've had very little snow so far this year. Seems as though this year is ending about where it began. There didn't seem to be any damage in the beds due to the lack of snow cover last year, but the ground water was quite low in many places. We're lucky to have the lake here to help with the watering. Next year we'll have some new lawns to deal with, due to the removal of the cottage and the decision to turn the drive to the lake back into lawn. We seldom use it for driving vehicles on and it tends to cut the lot in half. Returning it to lawn should make it look bigger.
So I'm off now to try some new graphics for my next year's Journal. With the help of a new stylus pen, I'm hoping to be able to create some graphics of my own instead of having to adapt the work of others. People who can do grphics are very helpful and cheerfully put together tutorials for others not as talented to use. Perhaps in time I will be able help someone else out the way so many have helped me to create really interesting pages. And so.... on to a NEW YEAR .
