Convergence of Passions

It's great when one's passions complement each other.  Like my current obsessions with creating pottery and gardening.  There is nothing better than being able to use a piece of pottery, not just admire it on a shelf.

Like these Japanese anemone, which I was fighting back in a section of my garden today, where it's spread too far.  It looks great in contrast with my handmade ceramic vase :

That same vase came in handy for displaying crocosmia which I was also cutting back a few weeks ago :

This crackled vase (the effect achieved with sodium silicate) looks pretty natural holding back some ribbon grass which I was also fighting back in my garden.

I have a number of platters which I use to hold fruit on my countertops.  This large swirly one is the most practical, and here is holding pears and asian pears from my garden :

That same platter is also great for floating camelia flowers, which tend to fall off their stems too easily if displayed in a vase :

Prettier in Pink, and More Spring Flower Photos

That tree peony bloom is still getting bigger and fuller and more beautiful.  Here it is today :

It's not the largest tree peony bloom I've seen, but then again, I haven't needed to prop the branches to support the blooms either, so I'm really happy with the size of it, and the colour.

I like this pale helleborus flower, it has faded from pink, and is developing a seed pod.

Pretty heart shaped leaves and cheery yellow flowers of my Epimedium.

...complete with a monster lurking underneath.

I am really impressed how these painted rocks have held up, we must have painted those about 8 years ago.  Then sealed them with several layers of clear acrylic sealer.

These fern fronds look like they're having a conference.  I wonder what they are discussing?

Finally, one of my favourites in my garden, my little Cornus canadensis (bunchberry) :

Pretty in Pink

I love this time of year, when something new is blooming every time I visit the garden.  I am fortunate to be able to view my pink tree peony (I am too lazy to look up the name, which I have recorded somewhere) from my kitchen window.  A few days ago, a bud began to swell, and was quite large when I left for work yesterday.  When I returned home, the flower was open.

How gorgeous is that?

I have another tree peony, with pure white blooms, but I managed to plant it so that it is hiding behind a bush, and not visible from the kitchen window.  So I'll need to visit it often, to make sure I don't miss the blooms.

I love my bleeding heart, which after a number of years, is finally taking hold, and produced a lot of blooms this year.  I like this branch.  It made me think of hearts, and love, and how it can be up and down sometimes.

Today it suddenly turned to rain, after a long (more than a week) stretch of dry warm weather in Vancouver.  So now it feels more like Spring again.  I'm glad for the garden, I think it needed a bit of watering.

Surprise Rhodo Purchase and Dreams of Cherry Cheesecake

A landscaper knows what type of spot (size, orientation, sun, etc) needs filling, and finds a plant suitable for it.

A gardener has various spots available, and watches for plants suitable for them, and sometimes moves them about to find better spots for them.

A plant collector has no garden space available, but buys a plant because he/she must have it, even though 5 minutes before he/she didn't know about this plant, and then proceeds to find a space for it, whether it means lawn must be removed, or other plants need to be hacked back to make room.

I am definitely a plant collector.

Tonight I walked into a Canadian Tire store, looking for a moss killer for my lawn.  After 10 years, it has built up to being more moss than grass in many areas.  I don't care about the look of it, I quite like the look of moss.  However, it gets to be very wet and squishy, and takes a LONG time to dry out, so is not so good for enjoying the yard.  So finally after 10 years of letting the moss grow, I am planning to fight it back, and restore the lawn, at least somewhat.

I found a moss killer, although it wasn't the format I was looking for.  I still had extra time, so I bought a cheap pair of $10 bypass pruners, since they felt reasonably good in my hands, and my current pruners are pretty much at end of life.  I still had a bit more time, so I went outside to look at the plants.  Canadian Tire never carries anything very exotic, it is basic landscaping plants and basket stuffers, for the most part.  For curiosity, I looked at the tags of a few rhododendrons.  I was surprised to see a rhodo with the name Hachmann's something-or-other.  Since I fell in love with a rhodo "Hachmann's Charmant" a couple of years ago at a specialty rhododendron farm, but only took photos, and tried to think about where I would plant it, and then never returned to buy it.  (Probably because it was information overload at the time, and I decided to study their rhodo list a bit more before deciding.)

Anyhow, here is the photo I've been carrying around (on my phone) of Hachmann's Charmant :

Isn't it pretty?

Anyhow, I flipped the tag on a small rhodo today, and the photo was just as pretty.  The name was "Cherry Cheesecake".   I love cheesecake!  The description indicated that it was just like Hachmann's Charmant, but a more compact shape.  OMG.  It was true love on the spot!

So I brought home the small plant (it is probably only 8" tall), and will find him a cherished spot.  I think in the front yard, where others can adore him also.

Here is a photo of my beloved Cherry Cheesecake, from a UK based plant nursery's web page :

I can't wait until I have the chance to plant him in.  I'm so excited.

Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, BC

My absence of posts from my garden are in no way reflective of lack of activity there, since I've been spending a lot of time weeding and pruning and hauling away wheelbarrows of plant material every week.  But I guess I've been getting lazy with not carrying the camera with me into the yard.

Today I went with my 13 year old to Queen Elizabeth Park, and was also too lazy to carry my camera, mainly since I knew I had my mobile phone camera anyhow.  I ended up taking a number of photos, because there was just so much beauty there.  I hope I convey some of it with my sample of photos here.

The beautiful dome roof of the Bloedel Conservatory, which apparently was built in 1969, is under repairs (although the conservatory remains open for visitors), so in the meantime there is this funny tent-like scaffolding rising high above the dome.

As you may have noticed, the Gunnera manicata (which as a kid I used to think was a giant rhubarb!) is featured in many of my photos.  This plant is the highlight of the park, in my opinion, and is now also a much-loved plant in my garden, too.

Another much-loved plant in my yard, the Davidii involucrata (dove or handkerchief) tree, was also inspired by the grand old tree at Queen Elizabeth Park.  Mine is still years away from blooming, but the QE tree not only blooms but is full of fruits/nuts at this time of year.  The gardeners had removed a branch, and I pinched off this piece, which shows the beautifully textured leaves and the nuts.  (If you follow my ceramics blog, you'll soon see some pieces which were inspired and created from the Davidii leaves.  The first one is #28 of this set, and I have two more pieces in progress.)

Hey You!

Oh, hello there!  What are you doing there, on the edge of a commercial parking lot?

Who me?  Just hanging out, lookin' pretty!

Liriodendron Tree

I walked to the nearby playground with my kids this evening, and while I was sitting on one of the playground rides / structures, I noticed the beautiful lobed leaves of a large tree next to the playground, and then was surprised to see yellow flowers, too.  The flower reminded me of a magnolia, but the leaves were very different than what I'd expect from a magnolia.

Looking it up this evening, it seems to be a Liriodendron, and it seems the Liriodendron tulipifera (although with all the inconsistent information, I couldn't be absolutely certain it's not the Liriodendron chinense), and it is in the Magnolia family.  What a beautiful tree.

Thanksgiving Arrangement

We just celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada.  We had the big turkey dinner on Sunday, and were happy to get almost all of the extended family (14 of us) together.

I have seen photos of pumpkins used for flower arrangements a few times now, so decided I would try my hand at it.  I think the arrangement turned out pretty nicely, with branches and flowers from my garden :

My sister had the idea of adding the fresh cranberries (on a bamboo skewer).  I think that was a nice touch.  I asked my husband to cut off the top, and we cleaned it out, scraping the insides until clean, not stringy (I managed to get 4 cups of cooked pumpkin, and a small tray of baked pumpkin seeds out of this part).  I didn't bother with an oasis, I just crossed the stems as I added them (a trick I learned from a professional flower arranger).

I hope you all had - or for our U.S. neighbours, will have - a great Thanksgiving.  We have so much to give thanks for, in this part of the world.

Cathedral Lakes Provincial Park, BC

Our family just returned yesterday from one week in the Cathedral Lakes Park, near Keremeos, BC.  It is part of the Cascades Mountain Range which extends from southern BC, through Washington state, Oregon and California, and includes many of the mountains we have visited and loved, including Mount Baker, Mount Rainier and Mount Hood.  The Cathedral Lakes Park is closed to vehicles (other than the transport vehicles used by the private operators of the Lodge and associated cabins), bicycles, and pets.  So it remains rugged wilderness, and a great location for some pretty serious hiking.

Of the 5 full days we were there, the first 3 we hiked 5 or 6 hours per day, typically climbing about 250 meters of elevation, to visit the many lakes and ridges in the area.  Then we rested one day, followed by a 10.5 hour hike, climbing about 500 meters that day.  It was pretty challenging for me, so I was proud of myself for just surviving that journey.  Hopefully my photos will portray some of the beauty of that area, and its flora and fauna.

First, some landscape and hiking spots :

In this hike, we had originally planned to take it easy and hike to Scout Lake, a mere 75 meter elevation above our cabin, which was at about 2000 meter above sea level.  But we accidentally started on a path which was marked in ribbons (not the park's standard wooden signs), and ended up climbing up the side of Scout Mountain, coming out about 200 meters above the lake.  See the patch of snow just below where I am standing for the photo?  Then we hiked down to the lake, and back to our cabin.

These are some more photos from the top of that ridge.  I love the green and black lichen on the rocks up there, and in many of the areas we visited.

There were a total of 6 lakes in the area within reasonable hiking distance which we visited.  This is Glacier Lake.

This is Quiniscoe Lake, which is where the lodge and cabins are located.

The scenery was an  interesting mix of lush green wildflowers and young healthy trees, and large dead trees (apparently wiped out by an infestation of spruce beetle).

Did I mention we were hiking?  I found the long hikes quite challenging, but the scenery was really quite beautiful.

As you see, I may not have had a big backpack, but I was carrying a lot of weight.  :-)

Getting up close with some of the local wildlife - mule deer and mountain goats, was fun.  On this hike past Glacier Lake to the Rim Trail, a family group of mountain goats passed us on the way up....

...and came to rest on a big patch of snow.  We continued to climb the mountain, above them.  (Although I would have preferred to join them on the patch of snow.  I think they had the right idea.)

If that encounter wasn't close enough for us, then passing them on the trail at the camp was even closer.  They seemed quite comfortable to wander about, passing beside our cabin and next to the tents at the nearby campsites.

The mule deer were equally bold, passing very close to us on the trails.

The kids spotted this healthy looking bunny during one of our hikes.

Being the northern (Canadian) part of the Cascades mountains, the wild flowers reminded me a lot of those at Mount Baker and Mount Rainier.

What hiking trip would be complete without wild berries?  I was amused by these huckleberry bushes, which were only a few inches high, but the berries were amazingly sweet (albeit tart).

The grouse seemed to think so, too, and we found a family (mother with 3 chicks) enjoying huckleberries beside the hiking path.

A few more floral scenes :

A black lichen "heart" which made me think of Clytie at Random Hearts.  I had to take a photo of it, for her :

And finally, one of my favorite locations in Cathedral Lake Park - a big granite rock next to our cabin, which was perfect for relaxing in the sun, when not on one of our hikes.