Mosaic Monday - The Garden Today

It has been very hot this week in southern Ontario, more like July weather then late May. The grass has gone dormant and the spring flowers do not know what to make of the temperatures and the summer flowers are not large enough to showcase their lovely blooms.

Hubby and I spent most of the day planting the veggi garden with tomatoe seedlings and sowing the seeds of carrots, beans, swiss chard and squash.  The lettuce, radish and peas are having a tough time with the heat.

My mosaic shows what was happening today in the garden.

Join Mary, our host, at Little Red House to view some fantastic mosaics.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

What's New in the Garden

My favorite peony in the garden has started to bloom.

Paeonia lactiflora 'Flame' has a soft reddish orange flower that ages to hot pink with yellow stamens.

 It does well in full sun or partial shade.

A close up of the yellow center, what a beautiful combination.

The William Baffin Shrub Rose is also in bloom in the same garden.

I love the single flowers of peonies and roses.

Mr. Frog from the 'Frog in the Garden' post has found a home by the pond.

He looks very dapper nestled in beside this Heuchera.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Sky Watch Friday

I took this sunset in the early spring before the leaves opened.

Visit SkyWatch to view sky pictures from around the world.

Plant Profile - Iris

From the stately Bearded Iries, long known as the flag iris, down to the tiny plants that grow from bulbs, these flowers provide a delicate beauty in any garden.  I have many types of Iris growing in my garden but I favor the Tall Bearded Iris.  They grow from rhizomes and have fleshy hairs like a beard on the outer petals, or 'falls'.   Bearded Iris are classified by height, starting with the standard tall forms (at least 28 inches high), followed by four classes;  border, miniature tall, intermediate and standard dwarf.  The smallest bearded iris, the miniature dwarfs vary from 3 to 10 inches. 

Bearded Iris grow from rhizomes in any well drained soil in full sun, but some will tolerate partial sun. They can be transplanted between midsummer and early fall.  If midsummers are extremely dry and hot, early fall planting will help reduce stress on the plants.  Inspect the rhizomes carefully for evidence of rot or borer damage and cut away, keeping only firm healthy rhizomes.  The leaves should be cut back to 1/3 of their height.  After transplanting water thoroughly, being careful not to wash the soil away from the rhizomes and exposing the roots to the sun.  Irises should be watered often for up to three weeks after planting, particularly if the weather is dry.

They grow very well in my sandy, zone 4b garden.  A must for any garden.

Watery Wednesday - Centennial Flame

First lit on January 1, 1967 the Centennial Flame is situated at the entrance to the Parliament Buildings of Ottawa inside the Queens' Gate.  The flame is fed by a natural gas jet that sits under a metal dome depicting the Centennial year logo.  The flame, however is not an eternal one as it is routinely extinguished during bad weather or for cleaning and relit.   The fountains' water runs from beneath the coat of arms for each of the provinces and territories of Canada as they existed in 1966, into a moat surrounded by a wall that lists the year each province and territory joined the Canadian Confederation of Canada.

More water pictures can be found at Water Wednesday.

Mosaic Monday - Enchanted Forest

Come step into this magical forest with me.

The wind is softly blowing through the trees and the birds are singing.

This is where the faeries live and pass away the hours,

Dancing thru the trees, playing in the flowers.

Come and take the journey to find your child within,

Open up your heart and mind and watch the magic begin.

Take a moment to stop at Little Red House to enjoy some wonderful mosaics.

Plant Profile - Clematis

C. macropetala 'Jan Lindmark', Lindmark raised this cultivar in Sweden before it was
introduced to Britain by Raymond Evison in 1983.  It has
mauve-purple flowers and is one of the first spring flowerers.
It belongs to pruning group 1, so it needs virtually no pruning. Clematis in this group flower early in the year on stems
produced the previous year.  Little pruning is required other than to train them and keep them within bounds.  Enjoy their
prolific flowers but do not cut away any of the previous year's
growth.  Another, C. serratifilia 'Snow Queen',  grows on the north side of the garage and receives only 3 hours of morning sun.  It has not bloomed, but has lots of buds and will rebloom again in early autum.  The last clematis I own in this group is 'Scartho Gem'. It was a new purchase last summer, I do not know if it will flower this year. It has no buds.  It was introduced by Pennells in 1973 and is a bright pink color with wavy eadges.

Group 2 includes those that flower in early summer, again on woody stems produced in the previous year.  These need to be pruned lightly in early spring since they are only a few weeks away from flowering, but they do need some of last year's growth removed, especially where it is dead.  Check by breaking a piece of stem well away from the plant to see if it is green and healthy inside.  If not, then it is dead at this extremity and may be removed.

Group 3 includes the late summer and autumn flowering clematis that flower on the current year's growth.  You can remove some of the old growth after flowering in autum, since this will prevent the plant from being damaged in winter.  This group are best pruned hard in early sping, when they are still many weeks away from flowering.  Cut back to a pair of buds  from where you would like the plant to burst forth, or at about the lowest set of buds from the ground. I own two clematis in this group, C. viticella 'Polish Spirit' and C. intergrifolia 'Blueboy', they will not flower until July or August.

Bumblebees on Clematis macropetala 'Jan Lindmark'.
This clematis is flowering in the garden now.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Quilt Festival - Oh, My Tangled Stars!

This is a Border Creek Station Pattern Company design.  I have always wanted to do a quilt in autumn colors.  But the year I had this marvelous idea the only fabric I could find as my main/border fabric were novelity prints.  I did not want the quilt to say autumn just feel autumm. So on a trip to Florida I found the  border fabric with all the colors I wanted.

It is longarm quilted with a leaf design, I wanted the design to look as if the leaves were blowing across a field of fabric.  

 

This is my first time joining Amy for the Quilt Festival.

So join our host at Amys Creative Side is view what other quilters have in the Festival.

Sky Watch Friday - Fluffly Clouds

Fluffly white clouds to celebrate a picture perfect week.

Visit Skywatch for more beautiful sky pictures from around the world.

Watery Wednesday - Bubbly

I found this bubbly birdbarth in a front garden I visited last summer.

Head on over to Water Wednesday to view more wet pictures.

Mariner's Compass Quilt Dilemma

Well the time has come to ask my blogging friends for your input on a decision concerning my Mariner's Compass wall hanging. The finished quilt will measure 48" x 48" and I started with this selection of fabric.

I have now progressed to 2 and a half round blocks, using the paper piecing method (oh how I hate paper piecing). The pattern calls for five round blocks, so I still have more paper piecing to do.  Yuck!

These round blocks must be made into square blocks measuring 12" x 12", so my question is, what background fabric should I use to turn these circles into squares.

This cream fabric?

Or this pattern fabric, what do you think?

Mosaic Monday - Wedding White

My middle son proposed to his girlfriend and she answered with a happy yes.  Being a gardener my thoughts turn to what flowers will she pick for her bouquet, what will look nice on the tables and will they have a garden wedding.  To celebrate their engagement I am using an all white mosaic.

I encourage to you visit Mary at Little Red House to view some wonderful mosaics.

Have a wonderful week.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - May 2010

It has been an unusual spring with a very warm dry April, a cool rainy May and snow for Mother's Day.

 But my garden has come through without one complaint.  

I still have some lovely tulips in full bloom.

Dicentra spectabilis (Old-fashioned Bleedingheart) is a favorite with the familiar drooping ladies dancing along the stems.  The white form 'Alba' is a refreshing change from the pink, I have both the white and pink growing together and they look especially nice together.

I do not know the name of this Iris as I found it overgrown in a corner of the property when we first moved in many years ago.  I rescued a few rhizomes, replanted them and the following year this dainty, blue iris bloomed.  They have a heavenly scent.

 

The Native Chokecherry has been in flower for a week, but today was the first day with sun and it was very busy with bees, wasps, flies and five Red Admiral butterflies this morning.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, you must stop by to see what other gardeners have blooming in their gardens.

I'm Back - Ruby-throated Hummingbird

I was in the kitchen making dinner when I spotted the Hummingbird at the feeder.  They are late arriving this year, but I was so excited to see him I just grabbed my camera and took a picture, through the window and the rain.
It seems odd yet fitting that such a tiny bird (only 3 1/2" in length and weighing only 6 to 8 grams) can generate such huge interest.  But once you see a couple of ruby-throated hummingbirds, and then become skilled at attracting them to your garden, you will feel as though you are their friend, benefactor and protector.  Just watching these bundles of energy in action warms the soul and makes you feel good.

When the male hummingbird arrives in the spring, he established a territory that includes several sources of food.  Both he and the female aggressively defend their food and its surroundings against intruders.  Hummingbirds feed on nectar, but insects and spiders are also a very important part of their diet.  They catch insects while flying and search them out among vegetation, so make sure you have a healthy insect population.  No pesticides and a diversity of native plants, especially small-flowering plants.

To supply water, add trees and shrubs with large, smooth leaves.  The tiny birds like to take advantage of water collected on their leaves for drinking and bathing.  Hummingbirds like to locate their nests, which look like a natural knob, on the branch of a tree or shrub that allows open access underneath but is protected from above by overhead leaves.  The female constructs the nest with a collection of down from plants such as milkweed, thistle, cattail, willow or fireweed.  It is held together with spider webs that the hummingbird collects.  The third element of the nest is lichen or bud scales.  These are used on the outside of the nest to camouflage it from predators.

Watery Wednesday - Rest and Relax

A perfect place to sit and relax at the end of a long day.

Visit Watery Wednesday for water pictures from around the world.

Native Plant Profile

Phlox stolonifera (Creeping Phlox)

Creeping phlox is a very hardy and attractive groundcover to use under large shade trees, I use it under Acer platanoides (Norway Maple).  It is very showy when in bloom, particularly when planted in masses. Clusters of blue flowers carpet the ground in early May with a height of 10 to 12 inches (25-30 cm).  It ranges from Quebec south to Georgia and Alabama.

It spreads by rhizomes and will fill a large area in humus-rich, slightly acidic to neutral soil, in partial shade to full shade with moist to average conditions. But, I have sandy soil and it is doing just fine.  Divide the clumps in spring or fall.

Creeping phlox looks fantastic with Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) and Christmas Fern (Polystchum acrostichoides).

Mosaic Monday - Our Capital City

I had a pleasant time in Ottawa last week

 and thought I would show you some of the sights.

Ottawa is the captial of Canada and every May they host a Tulip Festival.

There are tulips in planters on the downtown streets,

 around the Parliment Buildings and in park beds.

Please join Mary at Little Red House to

enjoy more wonderful mosaics.

Posy In A Teacup

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,

Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,

But only one mother the wide world over.

 Happy Mother's Day 

Camera Critters - Dinner Companion

I was sitting on Sparks Street in Ottawa eating a Mr. Sub, when my dinner companion quickly arrived for some handouts.

So I handed out some of the bun in small pieces and we had a one sided conversation about how my day had been.  But he ate faster then I could get shots off. So I offered a larger portion of my Mr. Sub.

My companion politely made the piece of bun smaller and we continued our conversation while I took a few more photos, all was well until another dinner guest arrived.

This little sparrow was not as polite and off he went with dinner. 

So my dinner companion and I parted ways, he to do pigeon stuff and I to head back to my hotel.

Visit Misty Dawn for more great Camera Cittters.

May Blooms

Hello Everyone,

I will be away at a conference in our nations' capital, Ottawa, so I am taking a small blogging break. 

I will leave you with some pictures of whats blooming in my garden.

Magnolia 'Susan' is in full bloom with her large purple-red flowers.

Bergenia cordifolia is in full bloom and the bumblebees are always visiting.

A smaller version of Bergenia called 'Baby Doll' has smaller leaves and small white flowers.

Both are hardy from Zone 2-9, are evergreen in most climates and the leaves take on a rich bronzy-red tone throughout the fall and winter.  They are tolerant of a wide range of soils and conditions, including dry shade. Which make them perfect for my shady and sandy conditions.

 Pinus strobus (White Pine), P. mugo (Mugo Pine), P. sylvestris (Scotch Pine) and P. banksiana (Jack Pine) are growing in my garden and they are starting this years new growth.  In a couple of weeks clouds of yellow pollen will be seen blowing from the trees.

I bought these tulips for the Ontario Horticultural Associations' 100th Anniversary 5 years ago and they still look great, even being crowded by the 'John Cabot' Explorer Rose.

I wish all of you a wonderful week.

Take care.

Camera Critters- Peek-a-boo

This Red Squirrel has been checking out the woodland garden for a few days. He runs up the tree, stops and then pecks out around to see where you are.

Join our host Misty Dawn to see other Camera Critters pictures.