Garden Rambles

Rosa Nearly Wild

Calibrachoa Million Bells

Rhododendron Roseum elegans

Mother Nature's  Oxalis montana or Common Wood-sorrel

Bleeding Heart - Dicentra formosa

Clematis Blooms

Clematis Proteus

This is the first clematis that was planted on the property. I ordered it from Vesey's over a decade ago and was deathly ill with the flu when it arrived from Prince Edward Island. I had spent the entire day on the sofa and could barely raise my head when Adopamop  brought it in - he had picked up the mail on his way home from a summer/university landscaping job. I remember reaching down on the floor to pull it out of the box - a skinny bundle of roots -  and thinking what confidence gardeners have to have in Mother Nature!  

It is not a modest bloomer. It performs lavishly every year with hugely extravagant flowers. In fact, it is unique in that it produces double blossoms in June and single blooms later in August and September. It was well worth the modest investment.

 

A bud just beginning to open

A Quirky Find

Foxglove in the Garden

In June, the foxgloves come into bloom. I always  let them seed themselves wherever they please so they appear in perennial borders, wooded areas, hollows, nooks, corners and crannies all around the property. Some years, there are many and other years see a lesser number. They are always a welcome sight.

Casbah Socks

These socks have just a touch of luxury with 10% cashmere content.

Pattern: Basic Cabled Socks

Designer: Brainylady

Yarn: Handmaiden Casbah

Needles: Circular 2.25 mm

Pragmatism and Poetry

Sometimes I wax poetic and think that we must truly have the most beautiful garden on earth. A woodland retreat would not be everyone's cup of tea but, to my mind, we have it all (except a lake or ocean!)  - evergreens, a canopy of leafy trees, a property that is knee deep in ferns, native wildflowers like lady slipper and trillium, roses, hostas, green grass, foxgloves, lupins, lilacs, coneflowers, astilbe, brunnera, mondara, rhododendrons, holly, clematis, winding pathways, bird baths and feeders, and stone walls.

I am also a pragmatic gardener. We don't grow anything aside from herbs that is edible. No fruit, no vegetables, no berries. We have to share this habitat with wildlife. No sense in sending them mixed messages.

Luckily, the creatures of the forest don't seem to like herbs. So on the deck, each year when I plant up the containers, I combine flowers in various colors with a number of herbs. It is lovely to cook in the summer and pop outside the kitchen door to cut spearmint for Indian cooking, chives for salad, or rosemary and savory for roast chicken and turkey.

Washed, Blocked and Drying

Mums

Bear Night Flowers from Movita and 2.0

Bearing Up Under It All

On Friday evening, Movita, Derek 2.0, and I were admiring the tree peony in the garden area at the end of the house when we heard a rustling in the undergrowth. Thinking it was a rabbit, we strode to the back of the house to get a closer look- and came face to face with a black bear! I've been gardening here for thirteen years and I have never before stumbled upon a bear in the garden! We were so surprised and shocked that we did exactly what you are not supposed to do when coming face to face with a black bear - we turned on our heels and ran as fast as we could around the house to the front door, stumbled inside, and slammed the door behind us!

From the kitchen window, with hearts still pounding, we watched him tear the bottom off a thistle seed feeder with one swipe of his paw, taste the goods, and decide he didn't like them. He moved on to an empty feeder, checking it out. We had long ago stopped putting out sunflower seeds, peanuts, suet, etc. as that sort of thing does attract wildlife other than birds.

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He then left the property and headed into the wooded trail area beside the house. He seemed to like following the line of bricks I had set out earlier in the day. I was planning to lay them in place next week though my urge to spend hours working alone in the garden has declined somewhat!

On Saturday, we picked up an air horn. I plan to have it very close by outside until my anxiety level declines. Our neighbour, Steve, who is a hunter and a woodsman, says that bears don't usually hang around. They come through, explore, look for green compost bins, and head on to other areas. Still, I will pay close attention to any further rustlings in the undergrowth for a long, long time to come!

In The Land of Oz

When I noticed a group on Ravelry called 10 Shawls in 2010, I marveled that anyone would aim to knit so many in a year. Now, having finished my third, I can see that it isn't such an impossible goal. Granted, mine are on the small side and meant to be worn as scarves...

Pattern: In the Land of Oz
Designer: Adrienne Fong
Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Silk
Color: Pale Teal
Needles: 4.0 mm. circular

Lace knitting is somewhat akin to doing a jigsaw puzzle or completing a crossword. There's a lot of concentration or focus on individual pieces or sections - then, all at once, the satisfaction of being able to view the work in its entirety.

Chinese Tree Peony

The Chinese tree peony is in bloom this week. The blossoms are so large, and the branches of the shrub so soft compared to more woody bushes, that it is amazing that the plant can hold the blooms in place. I had been keeping a garden journal to record names of all the varieties of plantings in the garden but somehow lost track of this goregeous peony. I wrote to Veseys in Prince Edward Island, as I had ordered it from them in 2002, and Julie kindly looked it up for me in their records. It is Wu Long Peng Shen.

Let me introduce you to my Personal Assistant, Peter - Lawn Mowing Division. He's been hanging around so much, I figured I may as well give him a title and let him get on with his work.

Ironwood Farm

I haven't met Mr. Ironwood Farm yet but I have known the Lady Farmer since she was a young teen. Even at that tender age, it was evident that she was the salt of the earth, of the race that knows Joseph, a sterling person, and as a custodian of Eden - a natural.
She plans to raise her own sheep, prepare the fleece, spin and knit her own wool. Could anything sound more heavenly?!
I have also been introduced to Hazel. I am sure that she and Lucy would get along well.

Here's a peek at a corner of paradise right here in Nova Scotia. It is what Eden looked like before Adam and Eve started using pesticides and herbicides:

Ironwood Farm