And so the garden sleeps....

To all my fellow gardeners, I wish you all the joy and blessings of the season as we dream of greener days ahead.

For those of you who are on Instagram, you can see what I'm up to at @lifewithlatitude. 

Here comes the sun...and it's alright...

The solstice has passed and we turn again towards the light. So thankful. My daydreams are filled with visions from seed and plant catalogues. I bet yours are too!

My lovely hubs gave me three hydroponically grown white hyacinths for Christmas. Better than Faberge eggs, I say. They are from a local grower and were ready for indoor forcing. Well, this morning I got up in the dark to a glimpse of white shimmering in the dining room. Lo and behold, it is a sign of life, of hope, of the returning light. If I get close there is the promise of scent that will soon fill my house. 

And so I will wait. Wait for spring, wait for green, wait for this year's garden to emerge. In the meantime, I have the most delightful visitors to sweeten my days. 

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Merry Christmas to all, and remember, seed catalogues are coming!

Sherry

But does it come in pink?

Yes, my girly-girl side must be asserting itself. Maybe it comes from being the only female in the house?(My husband's idea of a bright colour is navy blue and my son loves orange! What's a girl to do??) Whatever the cause, I'm going soft on pink.

I bought a pink rose once on impulse and every year I said I was going to dig it up because it simply did NOT go with my white floral palette, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It just looked so darned happy. Then I got this Quick Fire hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Bulk') standard. Whoa. When that white lace begins its blush to pink, I am a goner. Unfortunately, it also blooms a month earlier than many of my other woody hydrangeas so there is no escaping its candy sweetness. Really, does it have to be quite so pretty? Hussy.

This is the second year I have put these adorable little annual petunias in a feature spot by the seating area. They are so cute!!! I fully expect they sing and dance the can-can at night.

Two summers ago I put this nodding beauty in the west-facing bed. She is Clematis texensis 'Etoile Rose' and this year she has gone all out in a dazzling display of bells, bells, bells! My poor trellis collasped under the weight of all the flowers and now I have it propped up until I can provide more permanent supports in autumn. Am I complaining? Absolutley not. Like so many other shots of pink I've recently added to my garden, she goes beautifully with all the white.

I've added a few Hydrangea 'Invincibelle Spirit' to fill in around their sisters, the glorious white Hydrangea 'Incrediball.' Hello-does anybody else see cotton candy here? OK, so it's just me then is it.

And finally, there is this bold patch of Veronica spicata ‘Foxy Lady’ at the front of the south bed. (I really must name my beds...they deserve better than being called by their orientation!!) I don't know if ever there has been a plant more aptly named. She sasses up that bed big time. I swear I want to break into song when I walk by her. I bet if you click on the link, you will wanna join me. I dare you.

Who knew my inner glamour girl was going to rear her head and bat her eyelashes? Next thing you know, I will be wearing fuchsia suits and sporting matching heels. Except I'm no good in heels. A new handbag will have to do. And not in navy blue.

When the rain is warm and soft

We finally had relief from the heat wave today. The morning started with a crack of thunder amid some odd curling clouds, and then settled into a slow, light, warm rain--much needed, I must add. 

A little rain has never stopped a girl from enjoying her garden. So, of course, after my son went to sleep this evening I wandered out amid the rain drops to enjoy the roses.

There is something about the first flush of roses that melts me. It's not the same as the first flash of bulbs in the spring. No, this is deeper, and a bit soul-stirring. Their beauty moves me. They are so beautiful that surely they are a gift. I have four bushes along the front walk so that passersby can enjoy them as well.

However, the ones in the back garden are all mine. Each flower is fleeting and I deadhead eagerly because I never want them to end. But then each year June comes and again they return, flushed and as beautiful as ever.They must sleep some kind of immortal sleep. If only winter were so kind to me.

This year I bought a long-coveted Claire Austin rose. I know it won't last here. I know it is only visiting. But we only live once and I had to have her, even for a while. Tonight, in the rain, was her first flower. I am smitten. Agog. Do, I have it bad? Yes, I don't even pretend to be sensible in the garden this time of year. I am rose drunk. Roses have the power to tap directly into whatever spirit it is that compels us to become gardeners in the first place.

Just to prove that roses aren't the only thing I noticed out there, I also made a point of admiring my potted Nikko hydrangeas, another fleeting visitor. They are the party girls, and I have them stationed at all the social points in my gardens....the front entrance, the deck, and the patio. They are the extroverts and put my guests at ease. But when the guests are gone and I sit in the twilight, it is the roses that sing to me.

You are responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Little Prince)

When Night Shimmers

"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast that it invented romance.”~Bern Williams

it's that time of year, here at latitude 53, as we approach the shortest night of the year, when it doesn't really get completely dark at night. I find that in June I barely sleep.

I think I just don't want to miss anything--the birdsong, the lilac perfume on the air, the soft, fresh green of new summer. Because our back garden is private, I like to sneak out in my pyjamas and soak it in--dozing in my lounger with a blanket.

June makes me feel like a teenager again going to a summer dance. The world is beautiful and everything is possible.

Signs, signs, everywhere are signs...

We have double-digit days and nights above zero on the way according to the weather station. We are at least two weeks ahead of last year so I feel like this is a real treat. The crows landed in our 'hood yesterday and the robins are already here. A crocus even opened on our front lawn this morning!

Gardening in the Great White North is an exercise in patience and fortitude. Luckily, I did get to cheat these last days of winter with a trip to Victoria, BC. (OF COURSE I went almost directly to the Butchart Gardens to find my bliss!)

And, yes, Victoria was blissful....

We were outside all day, every day, and soaked up all the good sea air. We travelled up to Tofino for a few days of nothing but surf and seafood. Our lodge was right on the Pacific with gorgeous views.

Our little son (well, eight now and almost to my shoulder!) was thrilled when a local guide took us out in a boat to the pristine wilderness of Clayoquot Sound where we saw wolves, sea lions, eagles and a pod of grey whales feeding on spawning herring. It was actually quite moving to be in what felt their territory.

The nine days of spring break flew by, and now we are back awaiting our own spring.

In the meantime, this lone crocus, the bravest of the bunch, is getting a lot of love. :)

Let's all virtually hold hands and chant for spring to hurry up!!

Anticipation

Some people looks for signs of the apocalypse, gardeners look for signs of spring. And that's why we rock. 

Last fall--a late, beautiful fall--we went a little crazy planting bulbs. The spring before was very late and the few bulbs we did have were the only thing that sustained me. To ensure my sanity this year, I really stocked up last September.

What keeps me dreaming...

Now, wonders of wonders, we are having an early spring. (Thank the gardening gods, I must have been a VERY good girl this year to get both a nice fall and an early spring!)

Signs of spring abound. A robin AND a buttercup were spotted about 100 km south of here (the buttercup even made the news!), Canada geese have been flying over our city all week, and snow piles are melting. Yesterday, I was almost sure I saw some greening grass on a southwest facing slope.  

So, yes, the signs are here. However, I am the proactive type so I'm going to meet Spring personally. That's right, at the end of the month during my son's spring break we are once again off to Victoria, BC, to visit Spring at her home. I can. not. wait!!! Now, hopefully, when I come back, spring will have arrived ahead of me. :)

I hope you are all enjoying the anticipation this season brings. :)

The Sweet In Betwwen

After a July of storms and heat waves, this first evening of the August long weekend has come in soft with an apricot sky. We've been sitting outside for hours, appreciating our long days of northern light.

Of course I had to get up take pictures...to deadhead...to clip...to tie up...to rotate pots.... But finally, glass of wine in hand, I have settled to pretend this is going to last forever. 

Happy, sweet, blissful summer to you all. 

And now they're gone...

At last, I get to enjoy being out in my garden listening to the birds.

We were really pleased with the work the landscapers did, and they were very pleasant guys. But we are glad they are gone. :)

My south facing bed is about 2 - 4 ft deeper. And that can only mean one thing--plant shopping!!!

I did get one little treat for a shady corner of the patio, and that is this sweet meditation Buddha. It makes a very soft musical sound so nice to have it close to the seating area. I added some aqua sea glass to the bowl the lotus flower spills water into. The flower has orange LED lights in it under the water so I am really looking forward to seeing it later this evening.

I better enjoy this quiet evening before the planting begins!!!

I hope you are all enjoying this kick-off to sweet summer! 

Update: I captured a short clip of the fountain at night. I think the water looks like liquid flames. I like!

http://vimeo.com/99002679

The landscapers are here, the landscapers are here!

My beloved garden is torn to bits right now, but all in a good cause (I hope!)

The moving and expansion of our cobblestone patio has the garden looking like a construction site, not the place of peace and tranquility I generally strive for. But I must say, so far, these strapping men are moving at an amazing clip. As I see the precision and care in their work, I can feel excitement rising up to meet the anxiety. It will be fine, I keep telling myself. 

Soon, we will have a better placed patio, more soccer ball kicking expanses, and a deeper south facing bed to add more sun loving beauties. Patience is a virtue, right?  *breathe*

It's raining...It's snowing....

...At least my garden's growing!

Yes, the weather is terrible (-5c tonight!), but my garden is showing signs of life nonetheless. I am so grateful for all the bulbs we planted last fall. Most of them are still little green stems--brave souls--and determined.

Most exciting for me, however, is that teeny deep red spot in the bottom right photo. That, my friends, is one of the five hellebores I planted last summer---wooooo hoooo!!!

If I jump up and down and pump my fist in the air like I'm at a big-hair band concert, you will know I have FLOWERS. Oh, and I will publish photos, of course (of the plant, that is! ) :)

Wishing you all the best with your spring dreams.

I am where Spring lives

Spring break finally arrived & we packed up our little family and flew west to where Spring lives. I know you understand why I had to touch green, even for a little while, before I go back to our "SPRinter" season.

Wish me soft days.

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!

Saw something green emerging from the soil on the edge of a west facing garden bed today (not mine!), but thrilling just the same!

Although freezing temperatures are still ahead, spring is closer than she appears. I've already seen my first robin and a friend saw a Canada goose. Surely signs that warming is just around the corner here in the GWN. Two more days, people, then it's official!

Anyone else got that old Beatles song "here comes the sun" running through their head. :-)

Do you hear what I hear?

Happy New Year Gardeners! Are you, like me, turning your thoughts to the coming season? 

Last year was a big one in the garden for us. I realize I went offline as the going got hectic but I did peek in on you all. :) In a nutshell, I'll give you the good news, bad news & more good news. 

First, some very good: We removed all the gravel from our front garden, scraped down the clay and brought in top soil. Some may recall the entire front and back were gravel when we moved in 6 1/2 years ago--sans plantings except one rhubarb and some fine, well-placed, mature spruce and mountain ash. It now looks good. I can see where I will want to add more structure, but the difference between grey, sharp and weedy and green, soft and pretty is heart lifting. We are now entirely gravel free! 

     The parting view of colour in 2013

The bad(ish) news: This is a pretty big bad depending on how you choose to look at it. We are not comfortable with the placement of our stone patio in the back garden. It is too close to our neighbours' property and when our gazebo is up it blocks the sun to our south-facing bed. (My poor roses are flopping!!) It will be a huge job to move it, and undoubtedly will be costly and disruptive. So what's the good news in this scenario? Well, let me tell you (*she grins mischievously*).

We are going to move the patio over so it is more centrally placed and closer in to the house. What we lose in angles of vistas will be compensated for with increased depth of the sunny beds and more privacy. (Of course, those bigger beds will be crying for more plantings...;-))  The other good news is that it won't disturb existing plantings in our beds. Now, this all means more work, but I think we will be happier in the long run if we get the fundamentals down right. 

Oh, and the bonus good news? We loaded up on bulbs last fall and planted madly in anticipation of accelerating spring blooming time here in the great white north. Many of these bulbs I have been coveting so I am so excited. We also added to existing beds with the last of our tree purchases, a few new hydrangeas (love!!), some gorgeous ferns and much anticipated hellebores.

Some 2013 bulb purchases 

So, has the new year brought gardening fever with it? A resounding yes!!

I suspect I am not the only one with this winter fever--so all the best to you in your garden fever dreaming for 2014!!

My new garden boyfriend

There’s a new man in my garden and he is a little fierce looking, don’t cha think? I mean, all that long hair and what about those teeth? I’m okay with it though. Because, really, he is quite the pussycat.

Since he appears to be sticking around we have named him Lionel (after a favourite character in the show As Time Goes By.) I have a bit of a crush on him actually. He is the strong, silent type and doesn’t ask for much besides a drink now and then (like many men).

  

He brings a certain ambience to the garden and soothes us with his gentle song after a long day. To be truthful, we don’t know how we lived without him for so long.

I find myself wanting to plant at his feet. First, I moved a languishing maidenhair fern from a too shady spot to his base. It will keep the ostrich fern beside him company. Next, perhaps a silvery fern like the Japanese Painted Fern?

I don’t want the spot to get busy and plan to stick with a pretty monochromatic palette with emphasis on texture and maybe one or two stunning plants that bloom in succession. How about something with some white candle-shaped flowers to contrast against his dark complexion? Off to his side is a Limelight hydrangea which I think will look gorgeous against him later in the summer.

I am open to suggestions from all you experts with such good taste. The bed is south facing but gets dappled light for most of the day. I know he will appreciate your efforts.

I think maybe he likes to be adorned, and, um, admired. :)

The plant that makes you go 'Awwww'

I know the Internet is full of cute kittens and giggling babies doing adorable things, but really, is there anything cuter than muscari? I think not. We planted 30 bulbs of the 'magic carpet' mix last fall in our flurry of last minute bulb planting and now these little guys are popping up in the cutest bunches.

They are a mix of white, blues and combos of various blues and/or whites together. I swear if you listen closely you can hear them singing joyful songs.

If I told you I got down on my stomach JUST TO LOOK AT THEM (not even to take their pictures!) would you understand? :)

Pretty much all thirty of them have come up but it is not enough. I need more.

There is something about their miniature perfection that delights me. They make me feel like a kid again (my dolls would have loved a bouquet of these!). At the same time they are terribly romantic and old-fashioned.

I will be haunting the garden centres at the end of summer to pick up more of these cuties. I mean, really, after a long winter, don't we all need a flower that makes us go awwwww... :)

And then there was life...

After the longest winter I can remember there is life emerging in the garden.

We went on a flurry of bulb planting last fall and our efforts have been rewarded with these tiny jewels, galanthus.

I'm sure I looked like a mad woman on my stomach, in my slippers, wiggling through the wet mulch, but so worth getting close up to these beauties.

At least I didn't start singing Hallelujah...! :)

Dream a Little Dream of Green...

Are all you GWN gardeners yearning for a little green? Is the only green on your thumbs from the ink of seed catalogs? I've been perusing garden photos from the last year and dreaming of the colour green. In doing so, I came across these greenest of photos, the Japanese Garden at the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia. We were there at the end of March last year and spent a misty (sometimes rainy) day in the garden. The rain only served to intensify the colours and give the whole day a dreamy quality as we had the place mostly to ourselves. So, please join me and get lost in a little of the green...

I was profoundly taken with this garden. In fact, it has caused me to rethink the look I hope my garden to evolve to. While I need more colour than this, perhaps because my season is so fleeting, I really enjoy the prominence of form and texture in a limited palate. Maybe also, because for many months of the year my garden is mostly white.

I've always been a big fan of moss and it was used to great effect in this garden. The moss on the branches highlighted their form and echoed the garden floor. With the green on the evergreens and the moss on the branches the vertical element lent a sense of enclosure. Although it was raining, we felt enveloped in a velvety green space.

The variations of green included spots that glowed. Even in the gloom of the rain the shaded garden made its own sunshine.

My favourite memory is of my little boy, in green, stepping in wonder back and forth across the "magic" stepping stones suspended in the water.

So, if you're getting weary of thumbing the seed catalogs and dreaming of your gardens as they will be, take a look back over your photos from the last year and remember how nice it is to dream a little "green" with me. :)  

Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises. ~Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Bliss in the days of repose

We are loving these days after the grand excitement of Christmas. The secrets of new toys are being discovered, the piano is being played several times a day, cheeses and chutneys are making a regular appearance on the snack tray, and we are all falling a little more in love--with life and with each other.

I've always thought the week between Christmas and New Year's feels like suspended time --golden and shimmering. I hope you are all enjoying this special time in the ways that matter most to your heart.

"It feels like marshmallows out there, mommy." ~ my 5-year-old son