April in the Garden

      April is one of my favourite months of the year. I love all the flowering trees and bulbs, and even the erratic weather. I think I've mentioned before that I turned a relentless sucker from our neighbour's plum tree into a espalier- styled tree along our fence. Last year our neighbours cut down their plum tree, and I wondered what affect that would have on my sucker. So far, it's meant that I had a lot of blooms! Maybe, just maybe, I will even get a plum! I went outside with a paintbrush to help the bees out but I think I may have been a little late.

Most of the edges of the flowers on my camellia were touched with a bit of brown this year, due to the cold spring, but I added one of the better looking photos here. There's also a few pics of my other bulbs and our one and only tree that we had cut down. It was a hazelnut tree that had the dreaded Eastern blight that has affected so many hazelnut trees in our area. I'm hoping that by some miracle the new growth will come back healthy. If not, I'd love to hear your suggestions on how to hide or incorporate the trunk so that it looks better. Happy Gardening!

Plum flowers

Plum tree

Muscari

chinodoxa

Anemone blanda

Camellia

Hazelnut when it was healthy

Our hazelnut now

Chester our garden inspector  

Oliver the assistant

Chester intently watching the neighbour's cats 

Crocus

Welcome Spring! I went a little crazy buying crocus at Vesseys half price sale last fall, and they are blooming now. There's also a picture of my Camellia, a little early tulip, and my very first plum blossom. I espaliered a sucker from my neighbor's plum tree that was coming up on my side of the fence, and this is the first time it has flowered. I was so excited when I noticed this yesterday! I wasn't sure if it would ever blossom, being a sucker and all. There's also a photo of Chester, my new garden inspector in training. My first garden inspector has officially retired, and is soaking up the sunshine wherever she can find it and taking life easy.    

Blue Pearl

King of Striped

Pickwick

Camellia

Prince Clause

Plum blossom 

Chester

Tulip Violacea

February Happenings

Spring! Okay, it's not spring yet but it's been quite mild all winter long, and things are starting to grow so it feels like spring in my neck of the woods. Some of my perennials didn't even die down completely, like the hollyhocks, and the Nigella started to grow in the fall and stayed green all winter. The early crocus are blooming again, and the later ones I bought last fall should be blooming in a week or two. I can hardly wait. 

      I planted my first seeds of 2016 today, which is always fun. I planted some dahlia seed for the first time, and I also planted two varieties of cherry tomatoes. One from my own seed and one called Tumbler. I grew Tumbler last year and wasn't very impressed but I'll give it another try this year. I also bought a new shrub, Sarcococca ruscifolia and yes, I bought it for the amazing fragrance. It's supposed to be easy to grow too. I'd love to hear about what new plants or seeds you are growing this year. 

Crocus and Ivy

Crocus

Camellia buds

Hollyhock leaves that stayed green all winter

Nigella seedlings and a tulip coming up

Pink dawn Virburnum

Sarcococca ruscifolia or Sweet Box

Happy Easter!

Spring has sprung and here are a few of the flowers that have been blooming in my yard. The first Camellia blooms were tinged with brown from the cool temperatures and rain but I was happy to see the later blooms lived up to their name, Pink Perfection.  I just love the anemone blandas and take way too many photos of them every year. We are planning on fixing our ugly, broken retaining wall that runs beside a part of our driveway, and I can hardly wait to see the end result. There will be a lot of digging, and a lot of mess, so I'm a wee bit concerned for my poor plants. My beloved hydrangea, young hibiscus and heathers are in that bed. Happy Easter!

Camelia

Anemone Blanda

Primrose

Crocus

Tulip Tarda