Gone Walkabout

In one of my favourite films, Sue comes looking for Mick "Crocodile" Dundee. The doorman says he's "gone walkabout". For Australian aborigines, this usually means a period of time spent walking in the bush. For me today it meant "a walking trip" around my garden.

I decided to walk in the front, side and back, take photos of my late summer garden and make notes as to what worked, what didn't and how to improve plantings for next year.

Note: Allyssum like cool, moist conditions - not high heat and humidity. Do NOT grow from seed anymore.

Note: the true workhorse of the summer was red tuberous begonias. Buy flats and flats of these as annuals next summer. Make it the only annual front and back.

Note: Balloon flowers will re-bloom if deadheaded.

Note: After cutting down Elaine bed, check if the wasps were ground digger wasps and if yes, destroy nests.

Note: this fall or next spring, chain-saw the pussywillows.

Note: Skip the tomatoes and plant herbs in raised beds instead.

Note: Prune bottom branches of walnut tree so that they don't hang into and obscure the Feather Reed Grass

Note: prune Fairy Rose and remove purple Harebell to give the emerging Quince bush more room to grow

Note: move new Carpet Rose and 2 Lavender plants into sunnier spots

Note: Stake Miscanthus grass early in summer using strong metal stakes and wire, not string.

OK - notes have been taken and recorded! Now to enjoy these last summer blooms before I start the huge job of cutting down the garden in mid-October.

Please check my food blog - the latest recipe is Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Bacon Tart.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day August 2013

Summer 2013 has certainly had every type of weather! Environment Canada promised that there would be no drought like last summer but we have gone a number of times without rain for 2 1/2 weeks. Every day a promise of thundershowers but very rarely did they happen. There was severe flooding in one thunderstorm (especially in Toronto) but not here in Burlington. Now we have had a really chilly snap (overnight temps of 13C) but a promise of high heat and humidity for the weekend. Maybe this is the "new normal".

Regardless, some flowers are still blooming in my garden. Many are at their peak and quite beautiful. Please take a look.

The Oakleaf hydrangea bush at the front door is full of pink blooms

The Lisianthus are blooming strong

The white phlox are open and very fragrant

The blackcurrant bushes are full of berries

The Sweet Williams are re-blooming 

Agastache foeniculum, commonly called anise hyssop, is a species of perennial plant in the mint family. Very Bee-friendly.

My balloon flower has had more blossoms than ever this year. 3 weeks and still blooming. 

Achillea 'Coronation Gold' is always bent over, reaching for the sun

Most of the hosta flowers are gone but the smaller blue hostas are still in flower

I'm not sure if this is Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' or 'Zagreb' but it's a dainty little pop of yellow

A few blossoms are left on the Rose of Sharon

The Explorer Rose 'John Cabot' rarely re-blooms but it's doing it now :)

Here's the star of the show: Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm')

And at the side of the house, the self-seeding Sweet Peas are all over the fence

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day is a Meme created by May Dreams Garden

Gardeners post images of what's blooming in their garden on the 15th day of every month. All are welcome to participate.

Also, please check out my recipe blog Astrid's Home - the latest post is Zucchini and Summer Squash Gratin with Parmesan and fresh Thyme

Top Perennials Part 2 (of many)

Garden Tours are beneficial for many reasons but my favourites are that you get to (legally) snoop in a stranger's garden and you usually pick up the names of some wonderful new plants to try!

This was how I discovered Dictamnus albus. My friend and I saw it for the very first time on a Toronto garden tour. We asked the volunteer if she knew what it was and she said it was a Gas Plant. Weird name, we thought.

Here's what Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/dictamnus-albus.html says about it:

"...Not often seen in gardens, the Gas Plant is slow to establish, but very long lived. Plants form a bushy, upright clump of lemon-scented, glossy green leaves. Spikes of spidery-looking white flowers appear in early summer, rather showy in effect, and worthwhile for cutting. On still days a match held below the spike will ignite a burst of methane gas. Attractive to butterflies. Clumps resent being disturbed, once established."

It's true that it takes a while for them to grow tall and strong but once there, they never disappear. I have had mine for over 20 years. It's a lovely plant and I look forward to seeing it come up every June near my arbour.

Brunnera 'Jack Frost' was a plant I coveted when it first became popular. All the nurseries charged an exorbitant fee for a small 4" pot of 'Jack Frost' when garden columnists and garden magazines described it as THE plant to buy that year! So I waited and waited and finally purchased it last year, whereas many of my gardening friends have had it forever. It is a beauty with its variegated leaves and Forget-Me-Not type blue flowers.

Again I quote from Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/brunnera-macrophylla-jack-frost.html

"...A superb introduction, forming a clump of heart-shaped silver leaves, delicately veined with mint green. Sprays of bright blue Forget-me-not flowers appear in mid to late spring. This is a choice collector's plant, but an easy-to-grow perennial that performs well in all but the driest of shady conditions. Excellent for the woodland garden. ‘Jack Frost’ handles more direct sun that most other variegated types of Brunnera, though in hot-summer regions some afternoon shade is recommended to prevent leaf scorch. Selected as the 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association."

Another favourite that comes up beautifully year after year is Platycodon grandiflorus the Balloon Flower. They show up late so I have to be careful not to plant an annual on top of them! But I know now exactly where they are.

Last year they bloomed and bloomed for over 6 weeks. I guess they like their partially shady location. Before they bloom, they look like balloons about to pop. And when they open, they are such an intense shade of purple/blue!

Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/platycodon-grandiflorus-fuji-blue.html says:

"...Balloon Flowers are summer-blooming cousins to the more familiar Bellflowers. Plants form a mound of green foliage, bearing inflated buds that open into star-shaped violet-blue blossoms. This medium-height selection is great for the border, or in mixed containers. Especially good for cutting. Because they come up very late in the spring, consider planting tulips or daffodils beside the clump to mark the location. Division is seldom necessary, and not always very successful because of the carrot-like root."

My one and only small complaint about Balloon flowers is that they need to be staked. But that's a very small complaint.

If you add these three plants to your garden this summer, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Daylilies in the spotlight

While we were on a 2 week vacation, I was wondering what had bloomed and what would be blooming when I got home. Well - the most prolific are the daylilies!!
The one above is a tetraploid that I've had for years - so glad it hasn't converted into a mediocre orange "ditch" lily (that happens sometimes…)

As I walked around the garden, I discovered a number of them blooming…

Here's another original from 25 years ago: 'Whimsical'

'Mateus' is a dainty striped beauty

My Dad gave me this one but I have lost the tag :(

'Jay' is almost burgundy in real life but photographs dark red

I have many Sweet Williams scattered throughout the yard

Platycodon grandiflorus (Balloon flower) is at its peak

Achillea 'Coronation Gold' are a strong yellow atop sturdy stems

Helenium (Sneezeweed) is like a yellow daisy

If you trim back Spirea 'Anthony Waterer' after blooming, it will bloom again in the fall!