In My Neighbourhood

My neighbour's Endless Summer Hydrangea is blooming.  Our soil is alkaline, here in Edmonton, so the bloom is pink.  Hers is blooming but mine isn't.  Hmmm.  Could be the move last autumn from part-shade to full sun.  Mine didn't bloom last year so I decided it needed more sun.  We'll see.

Near the ravine, several homeowners plant beyond their fences.  Here a homeowner planted pumpkin, I think.  Several others plant flowers or raspberries.

A huge mushroom.  I've seen a lot of these and other fungi this summer.  They love all this rain.

My favourite back yard in the area, above.  This one backs onto the ravine as well.

Another neighbour is growing this pretty little poppy in the front garden.  I like how this photo captures the flower in its different stages of opening.

Liatris is starting to bloom, while the groundcover, Lamium, is complementary in pink.

Dwarf Alberta Spruce in spiral form.  A few neighbours thought this was a good idea this spring.  Not all have fared as well as these, though, turning brown before summer is even done.  I hope they weren't expensive.

The gorgeous maple!!  It is the beginning of August and this pretty tree was already in full finery by the end of July.  Such a beautiful tree!

She loves her flowers!  Look at all these planters!  I'd love to see her back garden!

One of the most beautiful small landscape trees, the Russian Olive, flowers late spring and the scent is divine.  Love the foliage of soft grey/green which hangs on well into the winter.  Look at the furrows in the bark!  This tree's bark darkens over the years, sometimes looking rather charcoal which is a lovely combination with the foliage.

What's blooming in your neighbourhood?  Do you take your camera with you when you walk your dogs?  (like I sometimes do)

Attracting Birds to Your Garden

When I worked at the garden center we'd often have customers asking what they can do to attract birds to their yard.  I've noticed an increase in visitors in my own garden over the past few years, in part due to growth of trees and in part due to water features I've added (or have been added thanks to my children).  Of course, setting out feeders, birdhouses and bird baths will draw them too.  There are three basics to keep in mind when wanting to attract birds.  They are food, shelter and water.

Think about the kind of bird you want to attract.  If you like cedar waxwings, plant mountain ash trees.  They are known to come by in winter in flocks, descend upon the mountain ash and devour the berries.  I saw this happen in my own yard just a couple years ago.  It is quite a site!  The following spring we had a pair that seemed to stick around and would visit the pond and trees.

Cedar waxwing in European Mountain Ash tree

If you want to attract chickadees, or sparrows or most other birds, plant trees.  Trees with strong limbs will encourage nesting behaviour.  Although, two years in a row, we had a pair of robins who nested in the supports for our deck.  Sadly a raven discovered the nest and such an upset that was.  The pair moved on to what is hopefully a more secure site.

If you want to attract hummingbirds select flowering plants with tubular shaped blossoms.  One year I had a large hanging petunia planter on our front porch and as I sat there in the cool of the afternoon shade, a hummingbird visited the petunias.  I sat very still, incredibly surprised that they like petunias!  Other flowers to attract hummingbirds include:  azalea and rhododendron, hollyhock, bee balm, fuschia, red columbine, butterfly bush and trumpet vine.  If you have had success attracting hummingbirds with other plants, please comment and let me know.  We do know hummingbirds are attracted to red, thus hummingbird feeders are red or the liquid in the feeder is red.

For more ideas on planting for hummingbirds check this site: 

 http://canada-gardens.com/2hummingbird.html

Blue jays like spruce trees; robins, cedar waxwings and bluebirds like cedars; chickadees and robins like white pine and crab apple; grosbeak and purple finch like maples.  More reason to plant trees in the garden.  Got to love it!   

"If you build it (or plant it), they will come"

For more information and a recipe for syrup for a hummingbird feeder, check my previous post for an excellent article by Canadian Living.

Pushing the Limits

We all know someone who likes to push the limits.  They like to see how far they can go without consequences.  However, I am not talking about people in this article.  I am talking about pushing zonal limits.  Did you know that in some cases, plants have not been tried beyond the zone listed on their tag?  Environment Canada began a study a few years back wherein they asked for volunteers throughout the country to try plants of their choice that were rated beyond their zone.  They were to record how the plant fared.  One goal in this was to determine if the zone map for Canada needed to be changed due to climatic changes.

I did not formally take part in this study but I have tried a few plants within my own garden rated a zone 4 and found them successful.  For example, barberry.  I have 3 Rose Glow Barberries (berberis), one Golden Nugget Barberry and another whose tag has long since disappeared but it is a dwarf yellow variety.  All those planted within my back yard do great with very little dieback.  The two Rose Glow Barberries in the front are a bit more exposed to the elements and had more dieback this past winter than the previous three years.  They are recovering quite nicely though.

Endless Summer Hydrangea is a zone 4.  It dies back to the ground for me every year despite mulching and burlapping.  Each year I hope for a long summer so it will have a chance to bloom.  Thank goodness it blooms on new wood as well as old.

Black Lace Elder (sambucus nigra) is another zone 4 in my garden.   It is in a very sheltered location close to the house but it dies back each year.  A quick grower, it regains its height and more in any given year.  Incidentally, this elder has never flowered for me.  Perhaps this is the year.

A neighbour grows a Crimson King Maple (acer platanoides Crimson) in his front yard.  It is fully exposed to all elements and does die back a bit after a bad winter but comes back in full glory.  It is a beautiful variation of maple with large crimson leaves which intensify in the fall.  A Norway Maple, it is absolutely stunning!!


I tried a Japanese Maple overwintered in the garden one year.  It is a zone 5 but no amount of mulch and burlap could save it its first winter.  Don't bother trying to overwinter it in your house.  Powdery mildew is a major obstacle here. 

I had customers who grew Cherry trees with great success.  I am not talking Evans Cherry or North Star (zone 2) which are both hardy here.  I mean a tree similar to the Bing Cherry with sweet fruit.  A lot of labour went into protecting one particular gentleman's tree.  He built a wooden raised bed.  Planted the cherry deep.  And in the fall he cut styrofoam sheets to fit in the bed around the trunk to insulate the roots.  I think he may have even mulched on top of that!  He swears it works!  Part of the key to success here too is watering well into the fall to create a proverbial block of ice around the roots.  This helps irrigate as the ground thaws and assists in protecting the plant from the upheaval of the soil during the freeze and thaw sessions every spring.

Many perennials can be grown successfully in a "lower" zone.  Here you have the advantage of the ease with which you can mulch a bed of perennials.  Water well into the fall too.  I have grown heucheras successfully for years in zone 3 that were rated zone 4.  This last winter I lost a few but have a few seedlings that self-sowed to replace them.  Try Palace Purple Heuchera (coral bell).  



Another is Astilbe.  I've grown Bridal Veil, a white one, rated zone 4, in the shade for at least eight years with success.

You might try the evergrowing variety of Echinacea such as Double Decker, Razzmataz, Harvest Moon or White Swan (all zone 4).  They don't like a heavy clay soil or wet feet.  Supply a well-drained soil and they will respond accordingly.  Especially important, be sure they are not planted where puddles form in the spring as snow melts.  Be courageous, and give a new plant a try.  You just never know.

Have you success stories in pushing zonal boundaries?  Let me know in "comments" please.  I'd love to hear about it!!

April To Do List

• Start annual seeds indoors such as marigold and lavatera.
• Thin seedlings previously started.
• To induce branching on seedlings, pinch seedlings above the first pair of true leaves (the second pair) thus removing the uppermost portion.
• Using a 20-20-20 fertilizer diluted to half strength, feed seedling regularly.
• If using grow lights, raise them to accommodate growth but no more than three inches above the top leaves.
• Transplant branched seedlings into cell-packs, one per cell.
• Finish pruning shrubs and trees (except birches and maples). Birches and maples are best pruned in January or July.
• Gently pull back mulch  from crowns of growing perennials.
• Cut down all clematis vines EXCEPT spring-flowering types.
• Using a fan-shaped rake, remove leaves and other debris from lawns when dry enough to walk on.
• Once garden beds are dry, remove dead plant material.  Amend beds at this time with compost.
• While working in beds, watch for early tulips, crocus, puschkinia, squill and hepatica flowers.
• Check eavestroughs and downspouts for proper drainage.  Set up rain barrels, clean and maintain as necessary.
• If you still have snow in your yard, shovel some onto your garden beds and around trees. 
• You may need to water, especially your trees and shrubs.  DO NOT allow them to dry out as they will soon be budding and the sap running.  Check your soil to the depth of the blade on your garden spade (careful of roots), if it is dry, water.

Canadian Gardening Ezine Blogging Contest

I recently entered a contest with Canadian Gardening to blog on their site.  Here is my entry:

My husband loves to remind me that when we were first married I killed all the plants he gave me! That is until he bought me a philodendron called the sweetheart plant! It grew to monstrous proportions, cascading down the wall, across and beyond! It and my sanseviera rewarded my tenacity despite my toddler's attempts, either accidentally or on purpose, to bring it to its demise by repeatedly dumping it from its pot! I am convinced the sanseviera is foolproof!

Years later; with a home gardening course, my own joys and experiences in my gardens and a job at a local greenhouse; I am much better equipped as I expand my horizons and the beds in my garden. Who said you need grass afterall? When I come across a plant that calls out to me to come home, I just remove a little more sod and widen the beds to accommodate the willing. Aren't you the same?

I yearn for spring to feel the coolness of soil under my hands as I weed and widen the everchanging landscape. Introducing new specimens and coaxing the less willing along. Will my Endless Summer Hydrangea actually bloom this year in my zone 3 garden? Tomato fertilizer, soil acidifier and patience in hand, I hope to coax those blossoms to fruition. Will I succeed? You will have to read my blog to find out. I love the challenge of pushing the boundaries in the garden. Trying tender perennials. Introducing new specimens. I love my rare three-flowered maple! A slow-grower, its branches cascade over the garden pond shading the fish within. Hydrangeas, topiaries, rare plants, roses and new introductions all abound within. I'd love the opportunity to share with you, my fellow enthusiasts, the joy, the serenity and accomplishments and, well, mistakes (we all have them) with you. Won't you join me here in Western Canada? Come sit awhile and we will learn and grow together here on my blog. Furry friends welcome!

Your fellow garden addict,

Shirley

 

Comments are welcome on their contest site.  The link is:

http://bloggercontest.canadiangardening.com/