It's beginning to look a lot like….

CHRISTMAS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, DEAR READERS, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Plants around the Swimming Pool

It's hard to believe we've been in this house 24 years! Well not so hard, really. The easiest way to see how the property has changed is by the plantings. The linden trees and Pin oak are 40 - 50 feet tall and all shrubs have reached their mature height. 

As with all homes, certain things need to be replaced and changed after a certain number of years. We noticed that the (original!) pool liner had begun to leak. Yup! It had lasted an incredible 24 years but now was giving up the ghost. So we called the company that had originally installed the pool and talked about what else could be done besides replacing the liner.

We decided to take out the original concrete decking and replace it with interlocking brick.

We gained about an extra 2 feet of space on each side of the pool and a lot of extra new "patio" space at the end of the pool. All in all I think we are really going to enjoy this new expanded area in years to come! I can picture putting some of our deck chairs onto the new patio part and adding some containers full of colourful flowers.

As with all renovations, once you change the first thing, you often need to change something else.

At the back, because the yard slopes downwards towards the back fence, they will build in some steps to descend to the back of the yard. This area could use some plantings so I started to plan what might be suitable.

I think my best bet will be to stick with ornamental grasses. They have a natural beauty that suits water and the lovely swaying plumes will add movement. Their root system is shallow so it will not interfere with brickwork.

What else? Perhaps daylilies and sedum. Both are tough and low maintenance and blend well with the grasses.

Annuals are always good for all season colour.

I will not plant even small trees because of possible damage to the pool by tree roots. Also, I certainly do not need anymore leaves/fruit/catkins in the pool!!

Probably good to stay away from plants that attract bees…. and anything with thorns.

Any other ideas would be more than welcome :)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Cranberry bush (Viburnum) and silver Colorado Spruce

Garden Year in Review

Dianthus - name unknown

I spent this past weekend cutting down the garden. I would have done so sooner except for the rain, our Florida vacation, rain, lots of other stuff to do and the rain. Putting the garden "to bed" pretty much signifies the end of the garden season for this year. Today the high was 5C and it's going down to -2C overnight (that's 41F and 28F respectively). It's darn chilly out there now, which isn't conducive to spending many pleasurable hours in the garden.
This past year I have started following a lot of garden blogs and besides having made many new "virtual" friends, have also learned to be more attentive to how I take garden photos. Many of their blogs and photos are so outstanding, they should be winning awards!! But I just observe and attempt to imitate.
So as a finale to autumn 2012, I would like to present 15 of the pictures I am most proud of.

Peony - a gift (therefore, name unknown)

Red trillium

Daffodil 'Tahiti'

Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum'

Autumn crocus - Colchicum autumnale

Violets - name unknown

Old-fashioned Bleeding Heart - Dicentra spectabilis

Parrot tulips - a gift - name unknown (maybe 'Starfighter?')

Clematis probably 'Multiblue' seen on a garden tour

A vase of Ladies Mantle, Coral bells, Euonymus, Stachys byzantium, and Columbine

Climbing Rose - New Dawn

Petunias and Browallia

Pink Gerbera daisies

Polyantha rose 'The Fairy'

Pin Oak - Quercus palustris

A Lovely Autumn Morning

Today is one of those famous Ontario fall mornings: crisp temperatures, sunny skies and soft winds. It is SO NICE OUTSIDE!!! Time to grab the camera and do a little photo shoot….

The Monkshood has finally made an appearance!!

One single David Austin rose still wants to bloom.

Pictures cannot do justice to the Pin Oak in sunlight…

The Linden tree is beautifully yellow. ( Don't worry Dear Readers - although we are of strong Nordic stock, we are NOT still swimming in the pool at this point! Brrrr!! We'll close it soon…)

The urns are a bit of a mish-mash of leftover summer "spillers" and autumn branches and grasses

The street looks great too.

The grown-from-seed ornamental kale has come into its own.

And the plumes of the Miscanthus grass are a soft purple………..