As the Garden Grows

I can make it rain

Tricia — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:00:30 PDT

Why is it that whenever I pull out my garden hose and start watering the garden it suddenly starts raining? If this keeps happening I’m going to begin to think I’ve got magical powers!

Seriously … we haven’t really had any rain over the last week and a half to two weeks. Oh sure, every day has called for showers, rain or thunderstorms and it’s definitely rained in other parts of the city, but hadn’t rained here.

Yesterday there were dark clouds all day, but when by 6 pm it still hadn’t rained I decided that it was time to water the garden. We hadn’t watered since Saturday so the garden was really dry.

Ironically, approximately two minutes after I started watering the front garden beds it started spitting. The rain soon began to fall harder, but I knew if I stopped watering the rain would stop. All in all it rained here for about 15 minutes, but it wasn’t enough for my garden. By the time I got to the backyard it had pretty much stopped raining and I could still see lots of dry areas in the garden beds. So I continued to water.

Strange though, how it happens to rain whenever I pull out my garden hose!

Does that happen to you too? You get frustrated that it hasn’t rained for a while (even though the forecast says it should), go to water and it begins to rain or it starts raining shortly after you’re done watering? I’d say it happens to me maybe 50% of the time!

Time to enjoy the garden

Tricia — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:34:07 PDT

July has arrived and I think that I’m just about ready to sit back and enjoy my garden for the next few months.

What I mean by this is that from early April until last week or so, every time I visited my garden I had work to do! From spring clean up, pruning the roses and other plants to weeding to planting annuals to finally completing the big task of adding approximately 30 bags of red cedar mulch on my back and front garden beds.

We put mulch on our garden every year, but the last two years we only topped up the beds with a light layer. This year we noticed that the previous applications of mulch had really broken down, so we made sure to add a 3 inch layer this year – hence all the big heavy bags of mulch!

Other than doing a little pruning here and there as the roses grow and become floppy, and or staking the roses and other plants as they grow, most of the work is done. From here on in the main gardening job will be keeping it watered.

Actually there’s at least one more job. My husband and I made up a large garbage pail of Alfalfa tea about a month ago and it should be just about ready to be applied to the garden. Alfalfa seems to contain a growth hormone that causes the plants to row quite well once either alfalfa pellets are added to the soil and break down, or in our case once our evil stinking brew of Alfalfa tea has been applied. It’s a great natural fertilizer. Obviously it’s also organic. We are organic gardeners and never use chemicals on our plants or lawn.

We just have to make sure that we apply it to the garden when most of our close neighbors are indoors! It’s stinky! We usually apply alfalfa tea twice a year – once in early June and then again near the end of July, but we’re behind this year, so the garden might only get one dose this year.

Speaking of enjoying the garden … The first huge flush of roses is just about over. The roses started blooming in early June and now that first flush seems to be dying down. Most of my roses are re-bloomers or continuous bloom … but nothing beats that first Spring flush of roses as it’s usually the largest!

Other plants in bloom include Lavender, Salvia, Heuchera, some of my hostas, some of my clematis, Gazania, Marigolds, Petunias, Dianthus (Sweet William), Impatiens, Alyssum, Portulaca, Hollyhocks, Lilies, Daylilies, Maltese Cross and the list goes on. More plants will begin to bloom soon as well!

We also have a number of veggies growing ranging from Tomatoes, Tiny tom and Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peas, a variety of lettuces, spinach and carrots. Plus we also grow strawberries and raspberries. Yummy.

Now if only it would get a little warmer here in Toronto. It’s been kind of cool the last two weeks with below average temperatures. It looks like it’s supposed to warm up a little bit this weekend, but overall it will still be below normal temps for a while. I do hope summer starts to feel like summer soon.

The only good thing about the slightly cooler temps is that I haven’t had to water the garden daily or even every second day and we haven’t really had the air-conditioning on. So we’re saving money on water and electricity. But enough already … It is after all supposed to be summer!

How is your garden doing this summer? Are you finished most of the hard work and like me find it’s time to sit back and enjoy the garden? And is your weather a little cooler than normal too?

A broken trellis brings indoor rose delights

Tricia — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:00:17 PDT

Last week we had a lot of rain (this week’s a heat wave and a few thunderstorms), and since the roses are heavy with blooms we had a little mishap.

My Baron Prevost and Jack Cartier roses are standing tall near a wooden trellis that’s attached to the fence. I’ve also lightly attached some of the rose branches to the trellis (the trellis is mainly for the clematis that grows in front of it) and well, I guess the floppy rose branches got too heavy after the rain and they actually caused part of the trellis to break.

Upon discovering the broken trellis we fixed it with some 2×2’s – it’s very sturdy now and tied back some of the rose branches again.

Unfortunately one of the Baron Prevost rose branches snapped in half so rather than leaving the flowers out there to die I cut the branch off and then carefully cut some roses to bring indoors. Baron Prevost has a combination of large thorns and tiny thin prickly thorns covering it’s branches so it took some time to cut the roses off the branch and get them ready to go into a vase!

I almost never cut any of my flowers to bring inside. I prefer to enjoy them outside. Or I used to prefer them that way … after bringing in the very perfumey Baron Prevost flowers (and three peonies) I think I might change my mind.

I put the roses, two peony Peacher Peonies and one Karl Rosenfield peony in a vase in my kitchen and within minutes the whole main floor of our house was filled with a mix of rose perfume and delicate peony scent. In fact our house smelled of rose and peonies for two days before the roses started to wilt. Even then, the wilting roses still had some scent, although it was much milder than it had been when I first brought them indoors.

Do you ever bring some of your garden flowers indoors? Which ones are your favorites to bring inside?

A busy few weeks – but my garden is full of roses!

Tricia — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:09:06 PDT

Sorry I haven’t been writing much lately! It’s been a busy few weeks. My husband and I have had a few family things to do … like helping the in-laws put in a new fence, visiting with my brother and sister, attending some interesting events here in Toronto (Woofstock, The Mississauga Waterfront festival, Beach Ribfest etc) and of course – gardening, gardening, gardening!

Over the last week my husband and I have put down about 23 bags of cedar mulch on the garden beds. I think we still need to put a little bit more down to get a nice thick layer as it’s supposed to be warmer than usual this summer so the more mulch on the garden the less it will dry out and the less we’ll have to water.

I have tons of photos that I’ve taken over the last month or so, but due to updating Wordpress to the new 2.8 I can’t use the visual editor so I can’t add photos properly or adjust their size … so no pics in this post – not until I get my Wordpress fixed up!

All of my roses are blooming or just about all of them. If you don’t have roses or don’t have many you probably can’t imagine what almost 60 rose plants blooming at once must be like. I’ll tell you – it’s heaven! Especially since many of my roses are fragrant. Oh lovely!

Right now my garden is all about roses, but earlier in the month the German Irises, columbine and Clematis were the stars. Some of the Clematis are still blooming, and so are my two honeysuckle vines.

How is your garden doing? If you are like me, most of the major work such as weeding and adding mulch is probably done so now it’s just maintaining the plants by watering and occasionally doing a bit of pruning and deadheading – right?

My rose buds are covered in aphids! Ugh

Tricia — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:50:32 PDT

I was outside in my garden today, wandering around looking at the four Clematis that are currently blooming and checking to see if any of my roses or if the peonies had begun to bloom yet and I noticed that almost all of my rose plants had tons of aphids all clustered around the rose buds.

It’s been cooler than normal here in Toronto. They say our average temperature at this time of year is about 23 C (74 F), but it’s only been about 18 C (64 F) or cooler most of the month so far. I guess the aphids and slugs love these kind of temperatures, but so far it doesn’t seem like the Lady bugs do! I only saw on lonely Lady Bug feasting on aphids as I did my garden rounds.

Since the Lady Bugs aren’t going to eat all the aphids before they destroy my lovely roses I decided I’d have to go out there and fight them. So earlier this evening I went outside armed with a spray bottle full of water and a squirt of dish detergent and I sprayed all my rose plants and rose bugs with the mixture.

Die Aphids! Die!

I fully expect to go outside tomorrow and see dessicated aphid bodies stuck to my rose buds. Victory!

I’m glad it’s so easy to kill them!

As for my roses, so of the first flowers came out earlier this week. As usually Morden Sunrise was the first rose to bloom. It was quickly followed by Stanwell Perpetual and Charles Albanel. All of these rose are at the front of my house – surprisingly, since the majority of my roses are in the south facing back yard. You’d think the roses in the back would bloom first, but I guess not.

In the backyard, William Baffin has one rose open and so does Parade … all the rest of my many roses have buds that are in various stages – from just forming to just about to bloom. I’m sure that by the weekend most of my roses will have a few to many many blooms. It will be lovely.

Now we just need it to start getting warmer! Oh well … at least we don’t have to have the air-conditioning on so we’re saving money!

How’s your garden doing? Have you noticed a lot of aphids or other garden pests on your plants? How do you get rid or them.

I just remembered, we have one other major garden pest – the Lily Beetle. My lilies look awful this year. Their foliage is all raggy and they aren’t growing as well as they normally do. Anyone know of a non-toxic (no pesticide) way to get rid of lily beetles?

Deer getting take-out food

Tricia — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:15:35 PDT

I know that some of my fellow gardeners probably feel like their garden is an open buffet for wildlife pests such as deer and rabbits … apparently deer aren’t only hitting local gardens. Nope, they’ve started trying to get take-out from local businesses too!

I wonder if they ordered a salad and a cocktail?

BTW – sorry that I haven’t posted a Green thumb post or any updates lately. I’ve been getting my gardening done (planting young plants and seeds etc), but I’ve also been very sick with Crohn’s so I haven’t felt up to writing. Sorry! I’ll be making some updates soon.

10 ways to minimize slugs and snails in the garden

Tricia — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:15:48 PDT

I just received a comment on my main blog, Tricia’s Musings, from a regular reader and he said that he lost most of his Hyacinth flowers to slugs this year. What a shame! He must have a very heavy infestation of slugs. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a slug on my hyacinth nor most of my early Spring bloomers.

How do you know if you have slugs or snails in your garden?

Well if you notice that your plants leaves have irregular holes in them or perhaps slime trails on the soil and leaves you probably have slugs or snails. You might also see them crawling on your plant leaves in the evening after dark.

Slugs can do a lot of damage to young plants and seedlings. They can literally strip a young plant bare or even eat it down to the ground. You might try cutting a 2 Liter pop bottle and creating a collar to place around young tender plants if you have slugs in your garden as this will help protect them.

Slugs are particularly fond of Hostas and Delphiniums. However having said that I’ve seen them on about half the plants I grow in my garden so keep any eye out for signs of slug damage.

Some tips on keeping slugs at bay

1. Stir up the earth in your garden beds in the spring. This helps to expose the slug eggs/ larvae and causes them to die from the exposure.
2. Don’t put mulch down until early June (at least here in this Zone 5b area, might be earlier in your area)
3. Add used coffee grounds to the soil or apply around the base of plants troubled by slugs.
- Each year we make several trips to coffee shops and ask for their used coffee grounds. Most will give them away to the public as they are just throwing them out in the garbage anyway. Some will even take a bucket from you and fill it up throughout the day. We add the coffee grounds to our garden beds, especially around slug troubled plants like Hostas and we also add the coffee grounds to our compost container as they help make a rich compost when they break down.
4. Crushed egg shells around troubled plants is said to deter slugs as they don’t like crawling over abrasive material. Sand, wood shavings, diatomaceous earth, hair or ash can be placed around susceptible plants as an abrasive barrier as well.
5. Copper tape, used wet or dry, is one of the most effective barriers. When slugs and snails make contact with the copper, there is a toxic reaction, similar to an electric shock, which repels them. The minimum width for the copper barriers needs to be at least two inches; slug barriers sold in nurseries are often smaller and should be doubled or tripled when installed.
6. Slugs and snails tend to feed at night so you can go into your garden at night and literally pick the slimy slugs off your plants and dispose of them.
7. You also might try setting some bait for slugs in shallow containers. A popular slug trap is baited with beer, but people have also tried using yeast, damp dog food (dry pellets), and a potato cut in half.
8. You might also try purchasing Nematode worms from a garden supplier. Nematodes also help to keep other garden pests from the garden too.
- Nematodes aggressively search out and attack slugs. They enter the slugs body through a hole behind their heads (the pulmonary aperture that they breathe through to be precise). Once inside they release a bacteria which stops the slug eating. The nematodes then start to reproduce inside and within 7-10 days the slug is dead. The nematodes continue to reproduce as the body breaks down. This new population enters the soil and searches out new slugs to attack. This is a natural, non-toxic product that is safe for both users and wildlife. The nematodes stay active for 6 weeks so a single dose protects plants when they are emerging in the spring and are most vulnerable.
- Nematodes can only be used in late spring and summer when the soil has warmed up (to above 5°C). On heavy, waterlogged clay soil, the nematodes can find it difficult to move, so Nemtodes can be less effective in these conditions.
9. Use plants that slugs dislike to repel slugs – Ginger, garlic, mint, chives, red lettuce, red cabbage, sage, sunflower, fennel, foxglove, mint, chicory & endive seem to be less prone to slug attack. Plant them around the perimeter of your garden to keep them from infiltrating, and or plant them near troubled plants such as Hosta.
10. Make your garden bird friendly by putting out a feeder. The birds might pick off a few slugs while they’re visiting your yard. Also if you have frogs or snakes in your garden they will often eat slugs and other garden pests.

And a bonus tip … Slugs love moisture, so if you want to minimize slugs in your garden keep your garden as dry as possible (without killing your plants), especially in the spring when there are slug eggs in the ground. Dry soil could kill them or at the very least cause them to move to an area that suits them better – ie your neighbors yard. That’s one reason why I suggested turning your garden soil several times in the spring, preferably before your soil temp reaches 5 Celsius, as you will likely expose slug eggs and they will die because they’ll dry out.

As you can probably tell I’m not into using pesticides to get rid of slugs and other bad bugs. in fact here in Toronto they’ve banned most pesticides and herbicides so it’s a good thing I’ve been gardening without chemicals anyway! LOL I have a lot of success with these methods – particularly the coffee grounds, turning the soil and hand picking slugs and snails off my plants and as a result I don’t have too many slugs in my garden beds.

May your garden be slug and snail free this year!

Blooms and greenery everywhere

Tricia — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:01:06 PDT

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Every time I look out my kitchen window or go into my backyard I’m amazed at how much it’s filled in. It seems like the plants are growing within hours … not just days! That’s one of the things I love most about Spring – how fast things change and green up.

This is a photo of one of my raised garden beds in the backyard. The “oval” as I call it separates the patio area from the lawn and garden portion of the backyard.

There are even more tulips throughout the garden beds than there were when I took that photo.

The Pasque flowers that I have in a very small area near the side of the house are blooming now too. Here’s a shot of a Pasque flower bud. The flower opened and started blooming on Thursday.

Unfortunately these flowers don’t seem to last very long so I expect they will be finished by sometime early next week. Maybe longer if the cool weather sticks around.

For a peek at my Grape Hyacinth (Muscari) and my Daffodils take a peek at my other blogs.

Photographee examines the camera

Tricia — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:02:50 PDT

I don’t know who the photographer was, but they managed to capture a once in a life time shot!

The Blue Jays around here aren’t very friendly. Sure, they’ll eat from the bird feeders and visit some of my plants, but the minute that either my husband or I go outside or one of our neighbors enters their yard the Blue Jays are gone. I’d never get a shot of a Blue Jay landing on a hand held camera in a million years!

It’s been quite rainly here in Toronto today, but the rain has just stopped and the suns out … who knows for how long … but I’m going to try to go out and get a little gardening done. I have some annuals to plant in planters and a few bulbs to plant in the garden beds. It would be nice if I could get this stuff done before it begins to rain again!

I just love gardening in the Spring

Tricia — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:25:18 PDT

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I think I love just about everything about Spring … well ok, maybe not the garbage that seems to blow on my lawn and gets tangled in my roses or the sometimes endless days of rain … but otherwise, Spring just might be my favorite season.

I love watching the grass turn from dry straw like patches to tender green; seeing the first stem and leaves come up out of the soil from a seed I planted only weeks before; and seeing the first few flowers of spring bloom in my garden.

Speaking of Spring flowers … my Danfordia irises – tiny little things, came up in the second week of April, but unfortunately they only lasted about a week. I wish these lovely delicate flowers would last a month instead of just days!

They’re so pretty!

It’s cool outside today, but yesterday … oh it was one of the best and worst days of Spring! Temps were almost 90 F with the humidity, but then at about 5:30 pm it got really dark and winds suddenly came up out of nowhere. I was outside pruning some roses and our neighbor behind us started to lose part of his evestrough, and the one next to us lost part of his lattice fence …

All the while I was gathering up my gardening tools and trying to get inside the house while things were flying around ie fence, evestrough and small branches from our other neighbors huge maple! My husband was just coming back from a store when he got caught in the wind storm. A tree fell right in front of the car as he was driving! Power lines came down with it too! Surprisingly this didn’t really make the news … but as far as I’m concerned we were both out in a bad wind storm or mini-tornado! That’s what it seemed like anyway! After that the rain started and we had a small thunderstorm – what an end to a beautiful day!

At least my flowers didn’t seem to get damaged in the storm. The hyacinth had just opened up the other day and I took photos of them before the storm … oh that sweet smelling hyacinth perfume … wafting through the garden. I love it!

I also have some tulips that are just starting to bloom today, daffodils that will bloom in a couple of days and several other plants leafing out or developing buds. The garden is going to be lovely this year!

How is your garden this spring? Are your plants coming up earlier than normal – as they are here in Toronto?

BTW sorry for the lack of Green Thumb Sunday posts in the last two weeks. I’ve been sick lately (bad reaction to a new med), and also discouraged by the lack of participation from members. If you are making GTS posts please remember to check in on this site so we will all know that you’ve made a new Green Thumb post.

As the Garden Grows

I can make it rain

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Time to enjoy the garden

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A broken trellis brings indoor rose delights

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A busy few weeks – but my garden is full of roses!

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My rose buds are covered in aphids! Ugh

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Deer getting take-out food

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10 ways to minimize slugs and snails in the garden

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Blooms and greenery everywhere

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Photographee examines the camera

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I just love gardening in the Spring

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