Garden Glimpses : Late May 2008

Here goes for a few garden glimpses... As always, click the photo for a larger view.
I saw my first hummingbird a few days ago, and it was checking out the Weigela, which is fully in bloom:

This year the Genista pilosa (creeping broom) "Vancouver Gold" is spectacular, completely covered in bright yellow (shown here with a seedling of my treasured Geranium "Victor Reiter" peeking through):

I found this bumblebee sleeping on a geranium flower, so I was able to sneak in a bit closer than usual for a photo:

This one was not so sleepy, but I still managed (after a few tries) to catch a reasonable shot of him also:

The ants on my peonies bring back fond memories of my childhood, watching the ants on my mom's peonies:

This Menyanthes trifoliata (Bog bean) is a delightful addition to my garden, in a very wet spot in my garden (at a junction of two underground drain pipes). I pulled a small piece of it from Bunsen Lake during a canoeing trip last summer, and happily it not only survived the winter (dropping its leaves so it looked like a small green twig), but is flowering this Spring:

I love the foliage of the Petasites frigidus, so much so that I have allowed it to take over an increasingly larger area of the hillside on the moist and shady side of our garden:

And of course, who could not love the foliage of the Stachys byzantina (Lamb's ear)? All the kids who come to the garden are delighted by these leaves (or at least I'm always delighted to pick a few leaves to share with them).

I'm always delighted by my espalier fruit trees, and I will need to thin out the fruit to let it ripen fully, but in the meantime I am pleased to see so many tiny fruits, here on the asian pear:

...and here on the apple:


This tree peony flower is so delicate. I had 5 flowers this year.

I love how this little Japanese maple cascades gently down the concrete wall.

I am pleased to finally receive flowers for the first time on my Cornus canadensis (Bunchberry):

This is also the first time my lilac tree is in bloom (since I bought it in bloom, some 2 or 3 years ago now), and it is not only a pretty double flower, but also wonderfully fragrant:

This Sempervivum (Hen and Chicks) is nestled (almost smothered) by the Sedum growing around it, forming a richly textured ground cover. The small seedling in the top left is a Masterwort:

What pleasing texture and colour on these epimedium leaves (with again more Geranium "Victor Reiter" peeking from behind - this time a green variant; about half the offspring seem to come up with the burgundy foliage, and half with just green, but the flowers are always the same purple).

When the Campanula glomerata is in full bloom, it is stunning. So far I have this one "teaser" bloom, and the remainder is in bud:

Trio of Espalier Fruit Trees

One of the delights of my garden over these past few years has been to witness the growth of my fruit trees, and especially my two espalier trees. They have really developed and taken a nice form, since I first wired them up two years ago (see my post from February 2006).

This year, I was delighted to add a third espalier tree. Then today, my Dad arrived, with a heavy coil of a thick vinyl coated copper line, and re-strung my supports. The 19 gauge wire I had started with had broken in a few places, so this is a welcomed improvement. Tonight I removed all the original ties & wires, and re-tied the trees to the new supports.

Here is my espalier apple tree, grafted with 3 varieties of apple (click any photo for a larger view):

..and my espalier asian pear tree, with 3 varieties of asian pear:

..and my new espalier european pear tree, again with 3 varieties:


One of the many great things about gardening is that it is full of surprises. Tonight, as I was leaving the garden, I passed by my Morello sour cherry tree which we had only planted a month ago, and is now starting to sprout leaves. To my surprise, it is also sprouting some blossoms. This little guy is only 5' tall! What a summer this could turn out to be!

Garden Glimpses : Early May 2008

Here are a few more recent garden photos (click any photo for a larger image)... Sometimes an accidental pairing can have a pleasing effect, like these tulips blooming among the greenery of an iris. Oh yeah, I planned it that way. ;-)

I believe this is the first time I've seen this rhodo in bloom. Nice.

This is also the first time I have flowers on my Cornus canadensis (Bunchberry, a perennial dogwood groundcover). I'm very pleased, I was worried last year I would lose my few shoots, but it looks as if it's now established.

If dandelion were not so successful here, it would make an ideal flower. Deep-rooted, and such cheery yellow flowers. Look at this one among the rockery, I wished I didn't need to dig it out:

But sadly, I have dandelions by the dozen this year, as well as thousands of Carex pendula, which I am digging out by the wheelbarrow-full. My soil is a very rich garden mix (many, many truckloads of it were brought in to form a garden on top of the impenetrable clay beneath), so everything that lands in it, grows like crazy. If my weeds were edible, many of them would be "entree-sized".

The fruit trees are loaded in blossoms this year. Looking at the other fruit trees in the neighbourhood, it looks like it will be good year for fruit trees, all around. Here is my young bartlett pear tree, showing great promise this year:


Here is my Rainier cherry, about one week ago, in full blossom:

Agassiz BC Tulip Festival and Bison

My husband's parents recently moved out to Agassiz, BC, so we went to visit them on the weekend, and to check out the 2nd Annual Tulip Festival on Seabird Island, instead of venturing down to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The unseasonably cold weather meant that only half the tulips were in bloom yet, but still there was much colour to enjoy, as the following pictures will indicate (click any photo for a larger image).



Mount Cheam makes a majestic backdrop to the spring colour:

But in some unexpected way, so do these power transmission lines:


We also checked out a nearby herd of bison (buffalo), again with Mount Cheam as a scenic backdrop:

Their faces look like something out of a Star Trek movie, except these are the girls! There seemed to be one male, and seven females.

Garden Glimpses : Late April 2008

It's about time for some more photos of the garden, which is starting to emerge very nicely in spite of the very cold spring. First of all, our surprise snowfall in April (seriously now, this is Vancouver, BC!!) (Click any of the photos for a much larger image):

I'd have to say, though, it adds a nice touch to our million dollar view of Burnaby Lake and the North Shore mountains (and yes, we have been very blessed to have such a wonderful house in such a lovely neighbourhood):

I love the colours - and textures - of this Pulsatilla:

This Epimedium is so delicate and graceful, I wish I had it in better focus...:

This is my Rainier cherry about a week ago, just starting to bloom... I need to snap another photo, it is fully covered in white blossoms now:

To end on a light note, I'm really enjoying these mushroom folk which I picked up at a dollar store:

Aiko Dragon Rider

Aiko's back, and this time she's riding a fiercesome dragon (click photo for larger image):

Okay, for all you non-believers, who think she should be sitting and holding the reigns:

Aiko Rediscovered

First chance in a long time to go to sleep early, and here I am playing with Aiko 3. I wanted to try on some new hair I had for her, and give her some boots. I think she will need to find some better boots one day, but the hair really suits her. What do you think?

Three More Fruit Trees Makes it a Dozen

Work and life may be pretty crazy lately, but this week has been a very hopeful one for me. Last weekend I convinced my husband to buy me three more fruit trees. I have been so delighted by my multi-graft espalier trees, that last year I decided to put in another post, and prepare for a third one. Here is my espalier apple (three varieties) (Click any photo for a larger image - but please don't look too carefully at my weeds ;-) ):

...and my espalier asian pear (three varieties):

..and my latest, a multigraft (3 varieties) European pear tree (Rescue pear, Red Bartlett, and Anjou):

I searched all around town this year, and couldn't find any garden centres which carried the pear in horizontal espalier form. Most of them carried a multigraft pear, but in the basic tree form. I ended up finding it at Triple Tree Nurseryland in Maple Ridge, BC, where my other espaliers came from also. Before we went, I prepared my husband that I was entertaining the thought of up to 3 more other fruit trees, and showed him the spots where we could plant them.

I already knew that I wanted a Morello sour cherry, and a Frost peach. For the peach, I don't have any expectation about getting any fruit, but I have heard that the blossoms rival those of a flowering cherry, so it would be worth it even for the blossoms. The fun part was loading the three trees into the minivan, along with 4 bags of 30L soil, and 2 bags of manure.

Happily, the weather, which has been schizophrenically alternating between sunny & pouring rain & hail, co-operated a couple of nights this week, for my husband to dig in the espalier pear, and prepare the hole for the Morello cherry (at the center of the photo. See the Frost peach waiting patiently to the right):

He did such a thorough job of preparing for the espalier pear, removing 2 full wheelbarrows of clay, that we used up 4 of the 6 bags already, and it was still a bit low. So we will need to make an outing to get more soil. He removed 4 wheelbarrows of soil for the Morello cherry. Under the couple of inches of topsoil which the landscapers laid down for the lawn, it is hard clay and rocks. He used a combination of pick axe and shovel to dig it out.

In these first few years, I can really see the fruit trees taking form, and getting stronger. My husband remarked about our italian plum (which has yet to set any fruit), "Where did that tree come from?". When we got it, it was so skinny, it was hardly noticeable. I used to laugh when I pointed to the back yard, telling people "We have 9 fruit trees up there, you just can't see them yet". Wait and see. Patience and pre-planning is the key to growing fruit trees.

I am so happy now. I have 12 fruit trees, with 18 varieties of fruit. Not counting the blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and various other edibles. I can hardly wait. Maybe the birds will even leave a bit for us this year.

He is Risen

With His Stripes We Are Healed