Gardening in Miniature

 I knew I wanted to make a miniature garden from the first time I saw all the cute little accessories available.  After months of looking I finally found the perfect pot. Then at the very same store I spotted a fairy garden accessory kit, and it was even on sale! How could I resist?  Now all I had to do was decide whether my garden would kept indoors or out, and maybe most difficult of all, choose the plants. After a bit of research and some suggestions from a staff member at my local nursery, I chose the plants. Then came the fun part, deciding where everything would go. I decided to leave out the fence and the watering can for lack of space, but used everything else. Thanks to Buckerfields and the friendly folks at Cannor Nursery nursery, my mini garden is now complete :)

The Pot

The Kit

The trial run and  my chief garden inspector 

The Plants

All Done

April Blooms

Here are a few of the flowers that have been brightening up my yard recently. It was the best season ever for camellias. Usually most of my blooms have ugly brown edges because of all the rain, or temperatures a little too cold, but this spring was just perfect for these early blooming beauties.
      The city workers have yet to set foot in my backyard to work on the manhole cover I mentioned in my last post. I'm hoping my passionate plea to save my shrub scared them off for good, ha ha.  Not likely but one can hope.
      Oh, and that innocent looking little sweet woodruff in the photo is quite the spreader. Consider yourself warned. I'm also sharing a photo of some variegated leaves on my hydrangea. They are supposed to be green. Does anyone know the cause of this?

Camellia 

Tulip Upstar

Tulip Purple Flag

Tulip Tarda

Sweet Woodruff

Anemone Blanda bud

Hydrangea leaves

Spring!

Spring! Spring! Spring! After months of gloomy winter weather, I think we are all ready for spring. I was going to wait for a sunny day before taking a photo of the purple crocus, but then decided to take it in the rain and was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. The yellow violas in the next photo have been blooming all winter long in a container on my patio :)  The little blue/purple Iris surprised me with their blooms because I had totally forgotten I had planted them. Sometimes it's nice to be forgetful, ha ha. The next two photos are of a couple of plants that I bought as houseplants, but later moved outdoors. They survived the winter leading me to believe they may be the common plant called  Hens and Chicks.  Last of all are a couple of photos of one of my favourite shrubs, the Pink Dawn Viburnum. It starts blooming in November but puts on it's prettiest display in the early Spring. I fear for the life of this shrub because I have recently been notified that there is a manhole at the base of this shrub, a manhole that needs  to be raised. The manhole is covered in several inches of soil, completely hidden from view. So now I am dreading the arrival of the work crew that will invade my backyard. I can just see them stomping on my spring bulbs and ripping out my shrub, but there isn't much one can do but hope for the best. Anyways, happy Spring and may all your seeds sprout!

Crocus on a rainy day

Crocus and Violas on a rare sunny day

Iris 

Mystery Plant

Another one of the houseplants

Catkins on our Hazelnut Tree

Pink Dawn Viburnum and pretty blue sky

A closer look at the sweet smelling blooms

Winter Birds

There's not much happening in my January garden outdoors, so I've been taking a few photos of the birds that have been visiting my patio feeders. Most of these have been taken through my dining room window and doors and let me tell you, it is a real challenge to keep the glass clean and lint free, not to mention all the reflections. The first photo is one of my favorite birds, the black capped chickadee, always difficult to photograph because they're always on the go. They live here year round and sometimes I'm blessed to have them raise their families right in my backyard.

Black capped Chickadee

Next up is the most common BC bird-feeder visitor, the Junco. These birds like to eat seeds from the ground, helping to clean up the mess other birds leave behind.

Junco

Sometimes I get large flocks of these little finches called Pine Siskins, and boy can they empty a feeder fast! One day I counted 30 on my patio.

Pine Siskin

Another one of my favorites are the Anna's hummingbirds that live here year round. I don't see much of them in the summer, but two little females come by regularly in the winter, about every 15 minutes or so. They don't like to share, and chase each other off whenever they both show up at the same time. One day last week I was blessed to have a male come by. I grabbed my camera real quick and took a photo even though I was several feet away from the window. It's also interesting to see how different their feathers look in the sun compared to in the shade.

Anna's Hummingbird - female

Anna's Hummingbird in the Sun

Anna's Hummingbird - male

Here is a male house finch at the sunflower feeder. They sing a lovely song in the spring.

House Finch - male

Here is a small flock of bushtits hanging from my suet feeder. Feeding upside down is no problem for these little acrobats.  The females have yellow eyes. 

Bushtits

The pretty blue Steller's Jays still come around to collect their peanuts.

Steller's Jay

Westminster Abbey in Autumn

     Autumn is one of my favourite seasons, especially when the sun is shining and the leaves are showing off their fall colours. My husband and I visited Westminster Abbey in Mission back in October, and I took some photos to share with you. This fall has also been a difficult time for my family, since my precious dad became ill back in early October.  Sadly he passed away after six long weeks of fighting in the hospital. It has been and still is especially hard on my mom, who had shared 57 happy years of her life with him. We believe that we will be with him one day again in heaven, but until then he will be greatly missed.

Westminster Abbey in Mission, BC

Beautiful Fall Colours

A Closer Look

Wooded Trail

Yellow-leaved  Maple

Path to the View Point

The misty view of the Fraser River below

The path back to the Abbey

The Pond

Another View of the Abbey

Manning Park

We took a trip to Manning Park back in September, when the weather was still nice and sunny. We were hoping to see the cute ground squirrels that live near the visitor centre, but they had already gone into their burrows to hibernate for the winter. We found the birds were willing to take the peanuts off our hands, quite literally. They even caught some in mid air. We took a short hike to the beaver pond, and then drove up to Lightning Lake and stayed until sunset. Just before we left I found a Gray Jay, a new bird to add to my small life list. I feel blessed to live only two hours away from such a beautiful place.

Clark's Nutcracker

Mmmm

My favourite!

I just need one more

Gray Jay

The Beaver Pond

Lightning Lake

Lightning Lake

Lightning Lake

September Blooms

Autumn is nearly here though it still feels like summer. We could actually use a good rain, but I know that will come soon enough. I've been remiss in watering, but some of my flowers are still happily blooming.  My morning glories have always bloomed late in the season, and are still in their prime.  I was delighted to see some new shades this year from my saved seeds. After months of waiting I am happy to report my tomatoes finally ready!   Also, we had a brand new bird visit our patio, the Eurasian Collared Dove. They are new to my neighbourhood, and have been busy spreading across North America. I'm joining up with Glenda at Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday/Flaunt Your Flowers this week. What is blooming in September in your neck of the woods?

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Cosmos

Petunia

Brachycome

Rose Bud on my Hansa

Sunflower from Black Oil Seed

Rudbeckia 

Dove

Steller's Jay and Squirrel busy collecting hazelnuts in my backyard