Although the summer is far from over (I keep telling myself), I’m already looking at what plantings worked and what didn’t. It’s educational to keep at least a mental note of these successes and failures so the next time I’m tempted to buy, say, another fabulous rose bush, I’ll just slap my hand. In a previous post, I mentioned that I was wildly inspired to buy new rose bushes after spending time in Italy. Although the bushes I ended up planting are not dead, they are not thriving either. All of them were badly attacked by blackspot, and one was...
Weeding Therapy
August 12, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
If you were to ask me what my favourite part of gardening is, I might not mention weeding, but it really is a therapeutic practice. While I’m pulling out unwelcome guests, I know I’m also making room for the plants I want to encourage, and making the garden look neat, tidy and beautiful. Also, when I get down there on ground level I see things I miss when I’m gazing over the whole view from my deck. For instance, in moving aside a plant that has grown too big I see there’s another one under there that I once had high...
Mid-Summer Beauties
July 31, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
A fellow gardener and I were talking today about how there is often a slump in the middle of the summer where there isn’t much blooming. There’s no problem in the spring and early summer because so many perennials, bushes and trees get there blooming periods over early, but somewhere around now (end of July), the garden can look very lush but not very colourful. I noticed this for many years in my own garden and finally decided to take some steps to improve the situation. As I look out into the Tranquil Garden today, the plants in full bloom...
These are the Bees’ Needs…
July 11, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
I suppose most people have heard about the plight of the bees. How they are suffering from “colony collapse” and have been for several years. The reasons for this syndrome are not fully understood and may be numerous. However, one culprit that is being blamed, at least in part, is a type of pesticide in wide use for agriculture, called “neonicotinoid“. Europe has already instituted a temporary (two year) ban on the use of neonicotinoids because of the unacceptable risk their use poses on the honeybee. This is welcome news, but unfortunately, North America has not followed suit. For that...
Deadheading 101
July 9, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
I’ve had quite a few novice gardeners ask me about deadheading lately. Even experienced gardeners are not always sure when to leave the faded blooms alone and when to chop them off, so I thought I’d offer some basic advice on deadheading, a somewhat tedious, although some find it zen-like, gardening chore. Deadheading refers to the removal of a spent bloom; current wisdom says to cut off the stem down to the nearest bud or leaf below the spent bloom. Plants produce blooms in order to produce seeds, so if you cut off the seed pod, the plant will...
Plant Life Cycles
July 1, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
Every once in awhile I notice that a plant that was previously doing well has disappeared or is a shadow of its former self. This happened to a ‘bleeding heart’ (Lamprocapnos) this year. In the last few years it has been a star of my spring garden, but this year it was about half its former size and had only a few blooms. I had to take stock of what may have changed in the plant’s environment. I noticed that a siberian iris had grown around the bleeding heart and probably hogged the nutrients and space it needed to thrive....
Back from Italy!
June 24, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
Just returned from a lovely two weeks in Italy. For the second year in a row my husband and I stayed at the same Agriturismo in the Emilia Romagna region in central Italy. It’s called “Podere Prasiano” and it’s run by a lovely couple called Emanuela and Massimo. I’m mentioning it because, besides having fantastic food and a wonderful setting, there is a beautiful garden tended by Emanuela herself. I’ll post some photos at the end of this so you can see for yourself. In particular I want to mention Emanuela’s roses. She has many rose bushes and I’ve rarely...
Wonderful Shade Gardens
June 6, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
I was over at a friend’s newly purchased home the other day helping her decide what to do with her neglected, shady backyard. I started suggesting plants, starting with hosta and ferns (of course), and she said, “It just sounds so boring!” I sympathize with my friend, because there are a lot of plants you must give up on when you have a shady garden. Roses, clematis (although I think there are some varieties that will grow in semi-shade), poppies, poenies and many other flowering perennials. However, a shade garden can be a wonderful, welcoming, cool and magical place. I remember...
Creating a Deck Water Garden
June 1, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
Yesterday I set up my container “pond” on my deck so I thought I’d say a few words about the joys of water gardening. For years I thought longingly of having a pond in my garden but was put off by the work it takes to dig it, line it, set up the pump, plus the expense of the plants and fish to fill it, and then the maintenance…it all seems too much. My sister, Nora, already cited as a gardening inspiration to me, has a beautiful pond that she dug and set up all by herself many years ago....
Thoughts and Plans on a Rainy Day
May 23, 2013June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
We’ve had a few rainy days lately, as my local readers can attest. Whenever there’s an hour or two of sunshine I feel compelled to race outside and pull some weeds or plant containers. The nice thing about rain is that it gives you a break from gardening (guilt-free!) and, of course, it’s good for the garden. You can imagine the plants slurping up all that moisture and getting taller by the hour. Last August we installed a large awning over the deck, which allows me to sit outside in the rain and enjoy the smells and sights of the...