bloomingwriter: gardening in Nova Scotia

Bouquets of Thanks...

2012-02-19T15:25:00.001-04:00

It's been just over two weeks since my last post, though it seems like an eternity of things have happened. When one's world explodes, it's hard to pick up and put it all back together again. But since I'm the sole supporter of my world now, I have to keep working, keep focusing on the future, even as I grieve. It's not easy, but people do it all the time. And I will as well.

While grieving and functioning at the same time are not easy tasks, the process has been and continues to be made somewhat easier by the outpouring of support from friends and family, colleagues and associates, both as near as next door and as far away as all over the world. Your notes, emails, comments here, letters, cards, gifts of food and offers of help, are so deeply appreciated by me, by my family. Thank you, dear friends, dear family, for your love and support. There aren't enough words to share all my appreciation. It's both humbling to have such wonderful friends and amazingly comforting.

The way forward from here isn't clear to me yet, but I'm working, and tending my health, being nurtured by kittens and trying to figure out how to keep body and soul together without my beloved soulmate Lowell. I may take a bit more of a hiatus here from the blog but I am working on bloominganswers.com as well as planning out projects for the coming months. I'll drop in to visit other gardeners when I have time & spirit, just as I drop in to visit friends when I have enough emotional strength to do so.

The days are getting longer, and some days there's a definite hint of winter's surrender in the air. Forward we go together, friends. There is strength in numbers.

Fare thee well, Love

2012-02-04T22:23:00.002-04:00

There was no warning on Monday, just a phone call from Kathleen, mother of Lowell's son Darren. The news was horrifying in its finality. Lowell, the love of my life for 13 1/2 years was dead, stricken by a massive coronary event.

My world has shifted. Everything has come awry, and there are many uncertainties, bills, and worries.
But there is also the knowledge of his great love for family, friends, life itself.

Today, we said goodbye to my soul mate, something I had not thought to do for another 25 years--if even then.

I'd like to share part of the service with you.

Prelude, read by our friend Ami McKay:

The fog's just lifting. Throw off your bow line, throw off your stern. You back out around the edge of the wharf, around the Shoe Bridge Rocks. Blow your airhorn and throw a wave to the younger generation of Huntleys, Steeles, Thorpes, Tuppers fishing off the wharf. Picking up steam as we roll past Clam Cove. Past Lady’s Cove where we used to play as kids even as our parents warned us to stay away from the water, watch the tides. Then the birds show up, black backs, herring gulls, cormorants and the occasional eagle, out looking for an opportunistic meal. The sun hits ya, you head west past Cape Split and the voice of the moon. .Open up to 12, steamin' now, wet exhaust thrumming the primeval beat.. The guys are busy, you're in charge. Ya know what? You're a lobster boat captain, fishing the waters of the upper bay of Fundy! Is there any thing better in the world?

Adapted from The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

Encouraging a spirit of fairness in the gardening world

2012-01-27T20:43:00.002-04:00

The 6th anniversary of Bloomingwriter passed quietly a couple of weeks ago. I was busy with work projects and with developing the growing community of bloominganswers, and I needed some time to think about a retrospective post. Now into its seventh year, Bloomingwriter has long been one of my ways to give back to the gardening community. I've learned so much from other gardeners, other writers, over the years, made some terrific friends, some of whom I've yet to meet face to face but whom I consider close friends regardless. Some of you are cat fans like me, and some continue in the quest for the blue poppy.
Several of those friends are outspoken, frank, and honest, passionate about gardening in all its forms. Colleen Vanderlinden is one of those gutsy writers who stands up for what she believes in, and who works hard to educate people about the pros of organic gardening and the need for responsible stewardship. It's been fabulous to watch her develop from writing a blog to writing for some well-respected publications including Treehugger.com, and she has two books on gardening for midwestern US to her credit, one forthcoming.

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Conifers to brighten your winterscapes

2012-01-16T20:44:00.001-04:00

If you aren't a fan of conifers and other evergreens yet, you're missing out on some fantastic garden plants, to say nothing of a fourth gardening season--now, the time of winter interest.

There are more to evergreens than ever-green, I always say. I think many people swore off evergreens because of the uninspired plantings found in many subdivisions. You know the kind I mean. A couple of tall cedars, some overly pruned yews and junipers, all standing huddled against house foundations, or slowly dying from being planted in the wrong location.

Oh, there are just so many more choices, and more plant sizes, shapes, colours...

I can cheerfully say that my ongoing fascination has been encouraged thru several friends who happen to be nursery operators: Jill Covill of Bunchberry Nurseries, Rob Baldwin of Baldwin Nurseries, and of course, our mutual late lamented friend Captain Dick Steele of Bayport Plant Farm.

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Wordless Wednesday: Dreams of Warmer Days

2012-01-11T11:33:00.000-04:00

Mostly wordless, except to invite gardeners to join the discussions at bloominganswers.com And warm thanks to all who have already joined and are participating.

Happy New Year from Bloomingwriter and Bloominganswers

2012-01-03T03:03:00.000-04:00

Here it is only the third day of 2012 and I've already managed to pull a bit of a post together! I learned some years ago not to make resolutions, so that I don't have to feel guilty about not keeping them. Instead, I do the best I can. As Master Yoda would say, "Do, or do not--there is no try." He had a point, didn't he, and not just his ears.

Mostly I wanted to take the time to say thank you to all those who have already signed up at bloominganswers. It's still very much a work in progress, with some facets that are confusing to me when I'm working behind the scenes to make things as easy to navigate as possible. I'm delighted that we have members from the United States and the UK as well as from across Canada--this is a site for any gardener, whether indoor or out, whether in the tropics or in the tundra.

It's been nearly six years since I started writing this blog, so actually it's entering its seventh year of posts. Much has changed during that time, especially in terms of my personal, physical abilities. Yesterday, since we were having yet another overly-mild day, I finally got the last of my bulbs planted, a task that would have normally been done by mid-late November, when I was laid up after my knee surgery. But bulbs are tenacious, and they were in good shape when I plopped them into the soggy ground, and they will mostly all bloom come spring. I remind myself that I'm also tenacious, and that others have far more serious ailments than I do, so I need to be grateful and carry on.

It's important to me to thank my readers, both online and in the publications I work with, and those who have bought my books. Also I thank everyone who comes out to the presentations and workshops I do from time to time. One of the greatest joys about gardening is the sense of community it fosters, and the sharing that goes on between gardeners, between friends across the miles.

I have several potential projects in the works along with the new website, and so I shan't promise to blog every couple of days, or even every week. Nor will I promise to get to everyone's blog as quickly as I used to. There are so many now, which is exciting because it's great to see the passions for planting and how people do things differently. There are also so many other social media demands on our time, from Facebook to Twitter to Google+ (whatever that latter is--I don't know yet) and it can become overwhelming. I remind everyone that we garden for pleasure, and that reading and participating in garden sites ought to be for fun too. No stresses, please--we have enough of those in the other parts of our lives.

So here's to 2012, and more garden adventures, wherever you are, whatever you plant. For me, I'm hoping winter will arrive soon, to cover up the wet yucky yard, and to bring on the snow buntings!

Bloominganswers: A present for fellow gardeners

2011-12-29T21:04:00.001-04:00

You know you're pretty busy when nearly a week past Christmas you still haven't had time to write a Merry Christmas card to family, friends, fellow gardeners. It's been that kind of a crazy year, though, all the way around. So belated but still heartfelt wishes to everyone, and I hope that Christmas was a kind, happy, and peaceful time for you and your families.

At our house, it was a lovely Christmas, made more entertaining than usual because of the five kittens of various sizes that have taken up living here since the summer. They are unable to knock the tree down, it being fastened securely to two walls as well as being in a durable stand. But they've enjoyed removing unbreakable ornaments from the bottom of it, batting at garland, climbing into bags and boxes, and otherwise being quite charmingly cute.

This has been a curious year for me, blogging-wise. Because of the publication of my book, Plants for Atlantic Gardens, earlier in the year, I was really busy with book promotion work, touring, signings, garden talks, research for articles and potentially other books, and so on. Then there was my brainwave to have an open garden fundraiser for the Captain Dick Steele memorial scholarship at my alma mater, the NSAC. Then there was the arrival of the itty bitty kitty committee, which grew from 3 to five very quickly, and seemed to octuple the amount of work to be done around here. Then of course I had my knees scoped, and although they're still sore and limiting me somewhat, they're improving, thanks, and the first one will be replaced next year.

So not only did I not blog nearly as much as I normally do, I didn't visit blogs as often as I should. But I answered an awful lot of email, many of them asking questions that could be answered somewhere as a collecting site, so I wouldn't have to answer them over and over again, right? Hmmmm....

I decided to start a new website, instead.

It's called bloominganswers.com and it's written for gardeners, by gardeners. It's all about gardening. There are no posts to like, no popularity contests to play with--it's a forum, a garden table, where people can share their experiences, their wisdom, their challenges and their solutions on all things pertaining to gardening. And while it's based here in Atlantic Canada, it doesn't matter where you live--you're welcome to join.

Bloominganswers is free to join. I bought the domain and signed up with a company for a paid service, and there will be advertisers coming on board in the coming days and weeks. For now, there are some Google adsense ads, but if you use an adblocking service you won't even see those.

This is, of course, a work in progress. I'm chattering about it on Twitter, on Facebook, and anywhere else I can think of. It's early days yet, but we're throwing open the door to all comers. The wallpaper isn't all hung, the curtains aren't all up, but we're here, and we hope you'll find this site useful.

Here's wishing everyone a very Happy, Blooming New Year!

Decking them halls...

2011-12-14T09:03:00.001-04:00

It's that time of year again, somehow! I've sort of lost the past few weeks as far as much productivity is concerned, because I had knee surgery and it slowed me way, way down. The good news is I'll be getting new knees; the bad news is, not sure when, but hopefully starting next year.

The other good news is, even if you're challenged by mobility, time or other issues, you can still do some effective and wonderful Christmas decorating without a huge amount of effort.

Amaryllis make spectacular decor when they're in bloom, but even when they're just preparing to bloom they can be highly effective simply by adding a couple of sprigs of greenery, real or synthetic, or a decorative seasonal pick. (those ready-made, corsage like clusters of flowers, foliage, accents, wrapped and wired to a wooden stick).

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Nothing Subtle about November in Nova Scotia!

2011-11-13T19:50:00.001-04:00

Today was one of those weather-perfect days that are rare gems in my province during the month of NO-vember. Regular readers of my writings know that I regard this month with about as much enthusiasm as I do filing my taxes or cleaning out the cats' litterboxes, because it can be such a dreary month, full of storms and grey drabness.

This November has been a month of bombast. We've had several wicked wind and rain storms, and when it hasn't been raining, it's still been blowing gales of wind. Enough wind happened this weekend that it knocked down my blue pergola (since repaired and uprighted by Longsuffering spouse), flattened some perennials not already flattened, and just generally created garden mayhem. But it's getting to be that time of the season, when things are truly winding down.

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Not so Wordless Wednesday: Hibiscus for Curing Winter Blahs

2011-11-09T00:17:00.000-04:00

It comes as no surprise to readers of this blog that I am not a fan of NO-vember, surely the worst month of the year in the really Northern Hemisphere. Between the cold winds, the grey bleak landscapes, the lack of sun, the lack of daylight, the fading gardens...it's just not a happy time for those of us who like long mild bright days of the gardening season.

Happily, I've long found that a relief for the NO-vember blahs is to surround myself with colourful tropical plants. One of my all-time favourites is the hibiscus, which makes a great patio plant in the warm months, and is well suited for a bright indoor location in many homes.

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The closing down of planting season...almost!

2011-10-20T19:05:00.000-03:00

Hard to believe we're into the latter part of October already, isn't it? The days are so much shorter now, and of course windy, often rainy, and sometimes even cold-ish. When it's not raining, blowing, or cold, there's plenty to do in the garden. My planting bench may be finally cleared of things to actually plant (except for bulbs, which I haven't started yet)...

But there's still a surprising amount of bloom in the garden. This fall monkshood variety is aptly called 'Cloudy', and although it's late to bloom, I think it's my favourite aconitum.

There are also all kinds of interesting seed heads to admire, if you're into seed heads like I am. Here we have telekia in the foreground (something similar to Inula), with the teasels and Miscanthus 'Malepartus' towering in the background. I leave most seed head stalks stand for bird food and for winter interest, or interest-as-long-as-they-stand-the-wind.

Still have several varieties of tricyrtis (toad lilies) in bloom in our garden, though the foliage is definitely looking moth-eaten (actually, probably leaf-cutter bee eaten, plus wind whipped.). This one, I think, is 'Empress'.

This is a great time of year for the warm-season grasses that flower in late summer and autumn. Many of the pennesetums aren't hardy here, but I think this one is. 'Hameln' and 'Karley Rose' certainly are, and hopefully 'Red Head'. This, I think is a species, unnamed.

Lots of bright red berries festooning shrubs around our garden now, even though much foliage is still holding on as well. The common burning bush is a cheery plant, and while it's invasive in some areas, I've never seen so much as a seedling from mine.

The same with its relative, the amur cork tree, which has even more interesting seed heads.

This common green barberry becomes electric with foliage colour as fall progresses, but for now it's extremely heavy-laden with fruit. Birds eat the berries on the outer branches, but they don't try to get too deeply into the shrub.

Meteorologist Cindy Day remarked on CTV Atlantic the other night that heavily-laden mountain ash trees means a hard winter in weather folklore. I don't know whether that pertains to high bush cranberry but this tree is well-laden with fruit for now--til the birds clean it off. The mountain ashes ARE really laden with berries too, but I don't have any right in the garden, just in the wilder areas of the property.

I planted a grapevine maybe 7-8 years ago, long enough ago that I don't know what variety it is. I don't tend it other than to prune it some in the spring, and string some support for it. This year it has a lot of grapes, enough that I'm tempted to make jelly out of them. If the birds don't get them before it stops raining around here.

The berries of Hypericum 'Albury Purple' start out red and turn to purple-black as they ripen. These sorts of berries are often popular in flower arrangements, although not this hypericum in particular as it's low-growing with short twigs. It's going to be carefully mulched as cold weather comes on, because it's a bit marginal for our garden. I'm getting buddleias (butterfly bush) to come through the winter now, though, so I love a challenge.

The native witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is in bloom in woods and gardens now. Mine has lost many of its leaves in the gales of wind, which makes those dainty, spidery flowers easier to see. Often you can smell witch hazels before you can notice them, because the blossoms have a light, pleasantly spicy scent.

Also native, winterberry or Canada Holly (Ilex verticillata) needs both males and female plants in order to produce berries. It took me a couple of years to sort out which of my shrubs were male and which female, and then I had to plant another male and a female so as to have good berry production in different parts of the garden.

More blooms still coming on the 'Purple Bowl' ironweed (Vernonia crinata). This is a beautiful variety, with flower heads that do cluster in a bowl-like shape. The bees certainly appreciate it, and so do I.

Many people have problems with Physostegia, the so called obedient plant, being disobedient. It's actually called by that common name because you can move the florets around on the flower spike and they will stay put, but the plant itself often has roaming tendencies. I have the variegated form, and it's never been disobedient, growing quietly in its part of the garden, its clean green and white foliage nicely attractive. Then in September, it starts producing flowers, and keeps on flowering for another couple of weeks yet.

Next week calls for fairer weather, so I should be able to get some weeding, thinning, and cleanup done in the garden before I start with bulbs. What about you--are you finished planting for this year, or just getting into the next phase of 4-season gardening?

How we got the Itty Bitty Kitteh Committee!

2011-10-05T20:31:00.001-03:00

So, back in mid-July, we discussed getting a couple of kittens, as a friend of mine was breaking up housekeeping due to personal reasons, and had a number of young cats and kittens that she wanted good homes for. My son and I went to see them, with intent to bring home two of them, both males.

However, when we got there, we found a third kitten that I felt very sorry for. He was older than the 8 week old kittens, about 6 months, and he was sad because his brother had been adopted without him. So, we came home with three little cats, all males. Or so we thought. You know where this is going, don't you?

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Finding my way home to the October Country

2011-10-02T18:59:00.001-03:00

Well, it's been six WEEKS since I've updated here, but in my defence, life has been crazily busy, mores than usual. Between adopting three kittens that became five kittens, travelling around to various events, working on some interesting projects for clients, and trying to do some home and yard improvements, there hasn't been much spare time for writing blog posts. And now suddenly, it's October, and that happened very quickly. Unfortunately, it's been a rainy October so far, as two large weather systems dump a drenching on the province. It's good for the gardens, but a little hard to get anything done.

There is still a gratifyingly large number of plants in bloom in my garden, partly because I do manage to sneak time to deadhead, and partly because I've planted with fallscaping beauty in mind. The 'Sungold' buddleia in the top photo is in its second year of life here, highly unusual for butterfly bushes of any colour but especially of the delightful golden-yellow cultivar. My Japanese anemones have settled in very well here, being planted where they have decent drainage, and they continue to bloom like crazy.

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Lotsa August Colour & Heading to New Brunswick

2011-08-21T22:33:00.000-03:00

What a wonderful few days I had on the road, talking gardens with fellow enthusiasts, photographing plants, cheering on fellow gardeners...thanks to my gracious hosts for their many kindnesses and generosity of spirit. We had great attendance at the talks and seminars, and as always, I think I learned as much as or more than those who came to the events. Tuesday I head out to New Brunswick, and I'll have more to say about that shortly.

My mantra in these dog days of August, as many people know, is that we CAN have plenty of colour as we go through late summer and into autumn. The photos in this blog post were all taken today, in my gardens. Above is part of the coneflower garden, but all of the garden is looking pretty enthusiastic. Perhaps there are a few weeds, but we'll declare those pollinator plants and carry on.

Astrantia 'Lola' is in the background of this photo, and I did cut back all the dried flowers, the better to encourage more bloom and show off the richly coloured 'Beaujolais Bonnets' scabiosa and 'Jade Frost' eryngium.

So Tuesday morning I head out first thing to catch the Digby-Saint John Ferry, which is always a great trip. I love taking the ferry every chance possible; the ship is lovely, the crew knowledgable and pleasant (I've been up on the bridge on one crossing, and had a great time). After landing in Saint John, I will hustle off to Fredericton, or more accurately, Lincoln, to visit Scott's Nursery, which I profiled in the most recent issue of Saltscapes magazine. I'll be at Scott's from 130-330, and hope to see some of my New Brunswick gardening friends there. Plus of course we ALL know there will be plants I can't live without, won't there? I'd better sell some books so I can afford plants without dipping into the grocery fund. Tee hee.

When Yellow isn't, and On the Road Again (soon)

2011-08-15T20:20:00.000-03:00

Once again I am madly charging along trying to catch up with the rest of the blogosphere, and have been absent without leave. Or is that without Leaf? In truth, between plenty of work, some family matters, mostly quite pleasant but time consuming, new kittens, and other entertainments, it's just a very full time of year. There's way more social media to follow now than there was even two years ago, and there's no way I can keep up with all of it, so I don't even try. I do read blogs but don't comment too much because I often read them at night in bed on my iPad, and I dislike typing on that. I don't have those 20-year old flexible thumbs...

The next two weeks are busy, and I do mean busy, as I combine book sales with garden talks and article research. This week, Thursday sees me doing a morning Talk, Tea, and Walk at the Carmichael Stewart Museum in New Glasgow, 11 am-130 pm. I'm looking forward to this especially because it's a fundraiser for the Museum, so I hope we have a good turnout.

After I leave New Glasgow, I'm off to the Other Island, Cape Breton Island. Hugely looking forward to that as well, because I'll be doing two events at The Bayside Garden Centre and Farmer's Market in beautiful Whycocomagh. (If you don't know how to say that name, you should come visit and we'll teach you). Friday, I'll be at the Farmers Market with several other authors, and we'll all be reading from (or talking from, in my case) our books and doing sales and signings to coincide with the grand opening of the Market. Saturday, I'm scheduled to do one or two seminars on "Never too late to plant!" and hopefully doing more book sales and signings.

Next week, I'm going to be in New Brunswick from Tuesday-Friday, doing assorted events at several of my favourite nurseries. I'll be at Scotts Nursery in Fredericton on Tuesday; Kingsbrae Garden on Thursday, and Corn Hill Nursery near Petitcodiac on Friday. I'll have more to say about these this coming weekend.

So, now what's all this about when yellow isn't? Well, we all know what yellow looks like, right? It's not a colour that's easily mistaken for another colour. That soft yellow rose in the top photo is definitely yellow, whereas you might find it more challenging to describe the Rudbeckia in the photo above. (It's called 'Cherry Brandy', by the way, but that doesn't help you to determine the shade it is.)

Sometimes flowers are named with a description. This hemerocallis (daylily) is called 'Sweet Hot Chocolate', and despite the challenge in photographing some daylily colours, I think it's pretty well named. It doesn't smell of chocolate the way chocolate cosmos does, but oh well.

This spider daylily is as yet unnamed, and is described as being green. Even with the wonky colour of one of my monitors, I don't see anything green about it. However, this is also its first year to bloom so who knows what it will look like in a year or two.

There are several varieties of true lilies in this photo, including 'Golden Splendour' trumpet lily, one of my favourites, and 'Tom Pouce' oriental, which is sort of yellow and has a yellow throat. Pretty much as advertised.

Now, I have no idea who this fragrant, splendid oriental lily is, but I can assure you it is NOT Yelloween, which is what I bought it to be. Neither are any of the other bulbs that I planted as Yelloween. Now that's not the end of the world, because I never met a fragrant lily I didn't love, but still...I believe sometimes I'm cursed when it comes to yellow.

This is a yellow tiger lily that was here when we moved here. It has multiplied over the years and is a very pretty yellow shade. Again, it's pretty hard to mistake yellow for any other colour.

Now, if you've been a reader of Bloomingwriter for a couple of years or so, you know there are certain things that thwart me. One of them of course is goutweed, which we should just all say no to. The other is my inability to get yellow hollyhocks in my garden. The only way so far I've succeeded is to plant a metal sculpture of one. Even that isn't quite yellow.

People take pity on me, send me seeds, give me plants. Last year, my friend Lee Dickie at Briar Patch Nursery in Berwick took pity on me and gave me two plants, one supposed to be yellow, the other red. She had them labeled, and I planted them carefully, marked where I planted them, and waited for this year to arrive. I anticipated finally, FINALLY having a yellow flowered hollyhock in the garden.

This spring, one of them had succumbed to the weather. The label said it was the red one. I was okay with that. The other was healthy and vigourous. I started to hope. Until today, when I went out and discovered THIS...

This is not yellow.

Not even close.

I know when I'm defeated. I'd better not see ONE yellow hollyhock on my travels over the next two weeks. Not one. :-)

No time for my blog, I am too busy planting!

2011-07-31T12:26:00.000-03:00

Hello, friends, fellow gardeners, and other visitors. Did you think I had run off to far away lands? Not exactly...it's been a busy busy month, this July, which of course kicked off with the Open Garden weekend. My voice finally came back completely after about two weeks, which was surely a record for laryngitis. Highly entertaining when one makes a living asking questions of others.

I don't know how YOUR garden is going, but ours has exploded into a rhapsody of lushness. Shrubs are covered in blooms, daylilies are filled with scapes and packed with high bud counts, grasses are growing taller and taller..in fact, pretty much everything is growing taller and taller.

Naturally, I can't resist bringing home new or new-to-me plants, and there have been more of those than ever, this year. They range from tiny saxifrage alpines to fascinating perennials like this yellow stokesia...

To the not-hardy but definitely delectable chocolate cosmos, which really does smell of chocolate. I have to remember to dig and store the tuber of this plant this year!

Long ago, when I was a student at NSAC, the greenhouse lab technician wrote a poem for me. Ken and I were always bantering back and forth, playing little tricks on each other, and as I was going into exam time I spent even more time in the greenhouses, either playing with plants or actually studying. The last couple of lines of the poem, which I still have somewhere, went thusly:

"As she runs to the greenhouse we still hear her chanting,

No time for degree, I am too busy planting!"

Some might think "I'm not finished planting yet!" will be my epitaph. They're probably correct. But you know what? This is the perfect time of year to do planting, at least in our climate. Warm days, cool (ish) nights, adequate rainfall...all these things are highly welcoming to new plants whether they be annual transplants that you just had to save, or container grown trees and shrubs!

There is LOTS of colour in our gardens these days, but as far as I am concerned, there always is. There are the big showy annual poppies with their brilliant colours, countless lilies and roses, astilbes and hostas, cranesbills and filipendula...

But there's also a feast of foliage here. When I look out one office window (the other is obscured by the ever-joyous 'Limelight' hydrangea), I see a feast for the senses--lots of flowers, yes, but also rich foliage from golden tansy to copper beech to purple barberry to blue oat grass. It all makes me happy.

I spend a LOT of time when not actually gardening, staring through my camera's various lens at plants and their visitors. What I love about macro photography is that the camera's lens 'sees' things I can't with my naked, aging eyes, like the hairs on this bumblebee's legs.

If you aren't growing astrantia (masterwort), I'd like to know why! It's a fantastic plant, very floriferous, attractive to a huge number of pollinators, makes a nice clump, and some varieties self-seed, though I haven't had that pleasure yet. There are about half a dozen varieties in our gardens, from white 'Star of Heaven' seen here to deep red flowered varieties, to pink varieties, to 'Sunningdale Variegated', which has gold and green leaves.

Summer is also a time for family, and I've been very happy to have my son home visiting. He is a film and camera buff, creative like his mother but more into making films to tell stories than into writing. He has been teaching me more about my camera, too.

And the happiest of things I can share? I am back riding my horse after more than two years of not riding! This is pretty important to me, especially as I'm going to be getting new knees within the next year, which will make all things easier to do. After losing a number of cherished friends in recent months, I decided that what I'm dealing with is only pain, and no matter what I do I hurt. So I might as well do what I love, and to heck with the pain. Leggo, my faithful Morgan horse, seems to approve too.

I'll try to post more regularly in coming weeks, but if not, you'll know why...I'm still too busy planting!

Heartfelt thanks to EVERYONE who came out (well, almost)

2011-07-06T21:59:00.001-03:00

I'm back! Amazingly, after the assorted cold, wet weather we had in May and June, I didn't expect we'd have three fantastic days for our Open Garden event. But we did! The sun shone, it was warm (and at times, downright HOT) from the time we started on Friday until the last car left late Sunday afternoon.

There was plenty to see, from the drifts of perennials like 'Lola' astrantia,

The roses all popped on cue, providing colour and fragrance (this photo was taken in the fog on Monday evening!).

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Catching up, with an Invitation

2011-06-19T13:03:00.000-03:00

It's been quite a while since I posted here, but I think the reasoning is pretty obvious to most fellow gardeners. June in Nova Scotia has been almost as cranky as May was, weather-speaking, and we have to garden when the sun shines, so to speak. Since I decided to increase the size of some of my beds this year, it's meant a lot of extra work, often during less than pleasant gardening weather--either too cold, too hot, or too wet!

As many of my readers know, I've felt a bit like Hank Williams lately..."I've been everywhere"...while on my book promotion tour and the garden club speaking circuit. I'd like to extend yet another bouquet of thanks and appreciation to all those who have come out to the various events, bought books, swapped stories, and been just the fantastic gardening buddies that you all are. It's been a hectic, rewarding spring and I'm honoured by all your support and friendship.

Now it's my turn to give back, or in this case, pay it forward.

My friend Captain Dick Steele passed away in March of 2010, to the sorrow of many, many friends and fellow plant aficionados. Captain Steele was fondly known as Mr. Rhododendron for his passion for these handsome landscape plants, and he spent many years breeding hardy varieties for our climate. Dick was a founding member of the Atlantic Rhododendron & Horticultural Society, and there has been a scholarship endowment set up in his name at my alma mater, the Nova Scotia Agricultural College.

Being a self-employed writer and sorta-photographer, I'm not exactly what you'd call well off. However, I do have a rather large and rambunctious garden, which is ever-expanding because I test so many plants here. I have no idea just exactly how many plants we have in the numerous beds around the property--I should count them but it might scare me! Especially as there are about 50 still waiting to be planted. And that doesn't include the annuals in containers.

So what I'm doing to help raise awareness and funds for the Captain Steele Endowment is holding an Open Garden weekend at our property on July 1, 2, & 3, 11 am-5 pm daily. Admission will be by free-will donation, with all proceeds going to the Endowment fund. I'll have some milkweed plants to give away courtesy of my friend Rob Baldwin's nursery, some of my own plants for a free-will donation, and some books for sale, too.
Yes, that's a puddle from the monsoon we had last night and this morning. Gardening here can be entertaining...

I've stressed before: our property is not the perfect sort of display you'll see at a public garden, or at someone's property that has landscapers designing and/or maintaining it. We do everything here ourselves, and as I noted above, I test a lot of things here to see how they'll do, including plants from Proven Winners, from local nurseries such as Baldwin's and Bunchberry Nurseries. But it's a happy, lush garden, with a lot of focus on pollinator-friendly plants, handsome foliage plants, winter interest, native plants...something for pretty much everyone.

The weather here in Scotts Bay can be highly capricious. Today, for example, we had a bombastic thunderstorm roll through with heavy rain and a bit of hail; then it partially cleared, was sunny in the front yard while more moody clouds rolled up the Bay of Fundy. So while it might be hot and sunny in Halifax--or down in Canning, or two miles up the road--during the July 1st weekend, we're never sure what it might be like here, so please bring foul weather gear if coming to visit that weekend.

For a few more details, including how to get here, please check out the dedicated page here on our Open Garden weekend. I'll relink to it if I do more posts before July 1st, but given the pile of work still needing doing here...there might not be another post til after that! So if you're interested in seeing what it's like to garden on the Bay of Fundy, and contribute to a great cause...we'll look forward to seeing you!

Catching up with some great catches

2011-06-03T14:55:00.000-03:00

Well, I'm baaaccckkk! Vast improvements in the weather coupled with a need for a bit of a break have kept me in the gardens and away from the blog, but today is cool and showery, a great day to do a little catching up. I've been roaming around the province, doing book events plus of course checking out nurseries; I haven't been to all my favourites yet this year, but have certainly visited those in the Valley and part of the south shore. With the book-travel winding up soon, there will be more time for just relaxing travel to gardens and nurseries.

Before I go on about some of the great plants blooming here, a couple of interesting housekeeping tidbits for those who visit Facebook and nursery websites:

Baldwin's Nurseries now has a Facebook page, and I hope people will visit and 'Like' it.
Glad Gardens has a new website as well as a Facebook page. I think these pages on Facebook are extremely useful for keeping people current quickly.
The Friends of the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens are holding their Native Plant sale tomorrow from 9 am til noon at the gardens. The gardens are at Acadia University in Wolfville. Baldwin's Nurseries, Bunchberry Nurseries and I will all be there, and the Friends are selling a host of native species great for home gardening.

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Containing our Gardening Enthusiasms

2011-05-22T15:18:00.000-03:00

A few days of warm weather has made many things leap ahead in our gardens, and in my greenhouse. I spent part of Friday up my containers, most of which are filled with a variety of annual flowering and foliage plants. I use containers as portable gardens once the risk of frost is past, moving them around the yard to where I want a burst of colour. My Halifax Herald column today is about container plantings, and I didn't have a lot of room to provide a lot of plant examples, so I've added some here for people to try.

One of my most beloved annuals for containers is the African daisies, of which there are a number of different genera. The Osteospermums or osteos are among the most common, and are vigourous, longflowering container stars. The top photo includes a white variety, while this one is called 'Summertime Blueberry.'

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Here, there, and back again

2011-05-17T10:21:00.000-03:00

The merry month of May has been not so merry if you're a nursery operator or a gardener here in Nova Scotia, because the weather has been, to say the least, terrible. Rain, fog, drizzle, repeat as necessary, very little sunshine to speak of, and chilly temperatures have meant that a lot of people haven't been able or willing to work in their gardens.

For this gardener and writer, however, it has been hectic, regardless of the weather. I've put a lot of miles on my car, and brought home a lot of plants from assorted nurseries, doing my part to improve the provincial economy. I've been giving talks and signing books at assorted locales, and visiting gardens whenever I have a chance. This garden outside of Annapolis Royal features a wonder selection of conifers and flowering shrubs and trees, with some bulbs and perennials interspersed for added colour.

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April Showers did bring May blooms for not-wordless-Wednesday

2011-05-04T11:04:00.000-03:00

Although the weather in Nova Scotia continues somewhat cool, cloudy, wet, and definitely sluggish, our gardens and our plants will NOT be denied, will they? It's been a hectic week, and being away for a few days really brought home the changes when I got back Sunday after Saltscapes Expo. Then we had an election, and while that was good for my riding with the return of my excellent MP, Scott Brison...I worry about my country. That's all I'm going to say about that!

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Poison Plants, Pollinators, Perennials: It's Time for Saltscapes Expo

2011-04-27T11:30:00.000-03:00

One of the regular signs of spring in Nova Scotia is the annual Saltscapes East Coast Expo, a celebration of the best of Atlantic Canada. For those who have never been to this event, it's not your average trade or home show. If you know Saltscapes magazine, imagine that the magazine comes to life at Exhibition Park for three days each spring. There's awesome food, terrific entertainment from around the region, exquisite and unique retail, lots of presentations.

This year I will have my own gardening area, set up near the Honda Power Equipment Garden Booth. Look for the brilliant blue bench (painted by LSS) and the colourful plants and containers I'll have there. The great thing about having my own area for presentations is that there will be time and space in which to talk with gardeners after the presentations, without having to rush off the stage for the next presenter. There's nothing we gardeners like better than to talk about plants and planting.

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Sorta Wordless Wednesday--Hellebore Happiness

2011-04-20T10:55:00.000-03:00

This collection of hellebore blooms comes from three different sources: some are in my own garden, some are at Baldwin Nurseries, and some are blooming happily in the Historic Gardens in Annapolis Royal. Given that we're having a storm warning for possible snow, rain, ice pellets, etc tonight...I thought we'd better celebrate these today. The nursery-grown plants are safely indoors in a greenhouse, of course, and I'm going out to cover mine with evergreens yet again.

You can read more about hellebores for our Atlantic Canadian Gardens at Baldwin's blog, or of course if you haven't already, there's a section on hellebores in my book...

Small break for promotion of an event I'm doing with a great nursery operator this weekend: For those out and about this weekend and looking for some inspiration and maybe an Easter gift or two, I'll be at the fabulous Bloom Greenhouse and Garden Centre on the Hammonds Plains road, at 1 pm this coming Saturday, 23 April. Please come on out and see what Cathy and her team have in store for you this spring, get your book signed (or buy a copy if you haven't already), and we'll have a talk on Plants for an Atlantic Garden! We'll be discussing hellebores, of course, as well as pondering the age old problem of what to do with deer and goutweed. See you on Saturday, regardless of weather--it's warm in the greenhouse and we'll have plenty of room to hang out and talk plants!

Now, back to being wordless...enjoy the hellebores.

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Actual Blooms for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day! Imagine that.

2011-04-15T01:06:00.001-03:00

It has to be spring now, because I took my studded winter tires off the car on Thursday afternoon. No more snow allowed until November, now. I mean it. It's time for spring, because look, I has blooms, serious blooms, just in time for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. I'm so excited to be able to participate in outdoor blooms that I'm actually posting before Carol even has the link up for this month. Whoo hoo!

Okay, calming down now a little bit, but still leading off with the prize, the jewel, the most delightful beauty in the garden next to those naughty blue poppies...Helleborus 'Golden Sunrise'. Knowing our spring weather as I do, my hellebores are still protected by some evergreen limbs because of the excessive cold winds we're having, but a couple of warm days and warm rain prompted these to peek out long enough for me to snap a photo last evening just before dark.

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