Tarting up the Ugly Garden Shed

Sometimes we are given things that we are grateful for, but deep down we are a bit disappointed.  Some gifts are useful and some are beautiful and some are both. This gift was and is useful but really ugly.  So gratitude in hand, something had to be done.

We decided to agree to be on the garden tour - but alas, a beautiful garden with an ugly shed? egad, that would never do.... what  would people think? Sure, vanity plays a big part here, but it really was ugly.


I had really hoped when the digger was in the yard, the wee shed would fall apart but alas, he was so very careful to keep it intact.   Ugh.

........ And don't you think the ladder adds that certain something?

Well, we had to think of something,  pretty quick.  The tour was only a couple of weeks away.

We painted the little metal shed with rust-preventing paint (TremClad from Canadian Tire)  and found a  nice dark grey with white trim.

(Oh, the yellow ladder just had to go....)

It looked better - but needed that special something.... and we had just the thing... a few years ago, we bought some styrofoam gingerbread at a yard sale.  Along with some caulking and a little luck, we attached it and voila !

Yes, it is still a little tin shed... but ooh la la.... amazing what a bit of tarting will do....

The cost? the paint was under $20 and the gingerbread was $10 ( and we still have a few pieces left)

Your turn.... share your bit to make your world more beautiful.... one thing at a time.....

Himalayan Blue Poppy-Meconopsis

“It’s flowers were flawless, of that intense almost luminous turquoise blue one associates with the clear atmosphere of the roof of the world”

Frank Kingdon-Ward; English Botanist (1885-1956)

Imagine being surprised by brilliant patches of intense blue flowers blowing in the winds at the top of the world, thousands of feet above sea level, in harsh climates and humid air and imagine still, these delicate flowers with petals as thin as tissue paper surviving wild winters and cool summers, completely untended - except by Nature herself.

Of course this never deterred gardeners from all over the world from making superhuman attempts to grow them in gardens from Scotland and Britain to Iceland; from Western to Eastern Canada, and the United States. Of course the botanical gardens had more success than urban gardeners but that has never stopped the obsessions and the superhuman efforts to grow them.

I have become one of those gardeners.

A few weeks ago, I purchased the  magical blue poppy plant at our Garden Show in Ontario.

For the first few days, I just sat and       

watched it - almost by the hour; its 

hairy bud opening a crack, showing a 

deep purple tiny petal edge.

Then it opened those papery petals that changed from that intense blue we associate with this poppy, to a soft, almost transparent pale mauve ....

…….and then to the deep navy and  brown of the dying petals. 

It was, and is still a source of magic for me.

But when all is said and done, I need to find a way to make it grow in my own south-central, sea- level Ontario, zone 5a garden. No mean feat, so every well-meaning gardener tells me. They tell me to treat it as a beautiful object and not expect it to produce more flowers, or to even live long enough to produce.

But I am determined.

My research led me to the Meconopsis Group at www.meconopsis.org

Here is a wealth of information on every aspect of this phenomenon. And  yet, no guarantees, no  promises or hundreds of success stories.

And still, I am mesmerized.  I want it to grow in my garden. But there is much to learn. This 

Tibetan blue poppy of mine is actually  called Meconopsis baileyi.

HISTORY:

It was discovered by Col. Frederic Marshman Bailey in 1913 in the SE corner of Tibet. Another similar plant was found in the NW  Yunnan by a French Missionary in 1886  but the name baileyi was applied to both of them  until the 1930’s when the name M. betonicifolia was re-introduced as it was discovered first. Baileyi became synonymous until 2009 when the two species were considered quite separate; so now, despite disagreements among some experts, the Meconopsis Group recognizes the M.baileyi is endemic to SE  Tibet and M.betonicifolia, to the NW Yunnan.

TIBETAN BLUE POPPY’S UNIQUE FEATURES:

It has an elongated seed pod that opens lengthwise; other poppies have little lids that cover the seed pod. 

Blue is a very rare colour for flowers. Some say that a soil that has a pH lower than 7 (acidic soil) will intensify the colour blue.  But some Meconopsis colours vary from mauve to blue to purple.

I still have a lot to learn and am searching for the best place in my garden. I have been in touch with Patricia Gallant at the Reford Gardens (www.refordgardens.com) on the south shore of the St. Lawrence river near Metis. The garden's founder was Elsie Reford and was successful in growing drifts of this poppy.  

I was also in touch with the Buchardt Gardens in Vancouver as they have also been successful in growing them.

They  need a combination of peat, compost and sand - for good drainage as they don't like their feet wet, but also needing  protection from winds and hot sun.  They love cold and deep snow as in the Himalayans.

My  Black Walnut will not be a good companion for this treasure.  I am debating whether to harvest the seeds when they mature or to plant it (if it ever warms up here) and let the seeds fall where they may.

Decisions, decisions.

What is PlantWatch?

Now that the weather is softening, and we are convinced that Spring really is around the corner, there are reasons to herald its arrival other than Easter eggs, birdsongs and flowers to pick.

There is a little-known group of folks around the world who are quietly making a difference.  They are monitoring birds, insects, frogs and plants.  It has been discovered that recording the blossom times of some plants are good indicators of climate change. We all know that our climate is making some subtle as well as some not-so-subtle changes - some better and some not so much. But what does watching plants have to do with climate change?

Plant-watching has a long tradition and a rich history throughout the world.  In 1750, the Swedish scientist and artist Linnaeus, turned plant-watching into a systematic science.  He made calendars of flowering times for 18 places in Sweden, noting the exact climatic conditions at the time of blooming.  This became the foundation of modern plant phenology. (the science dealing with the influence of climate on the recurrence of such annual phenomena of animal and plant life  as budding and bird migrations-Dictionary.com). Phenology then spread to many European countries and revealed, over the centuries, that some spring wildflowers are super-sensitive weather instruments.

Over a hundred years ago in Canada, Nova Scotia’s superintendent of education, Dr. Alexander H. MacKay had students collect plant, animal, agricultural and weather phenology from 1897 to 1923.  And then, in 1987, The Alberta Wildflower Survey started up and blossomed (pun intended) into a program that initiated  the Alberta PlantWatch.  This program then spread back to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and now today, PlantWatch is part of our national Nature Watch series of volunteer monitoring programs designed to help identify ecological changes that may be affecting our environment. There are PlantWatch programs in each Province and Territory.

PlantWatch enables “citizen scientists” (volunteers gathering research for scientists) to get involved by recording the flowering times for certain selected plant species and reporting these dates to researchers on the PlantWatch website.  When the data is submitted electronically, it is instantly added to web maps showing bloom dates all across Canada…. So those observations  make a difference right away! The collection of that  much data across the vast expanse of our country would be impossible for the small existing group of scientists presently working in this field.

As Canadians, we are fortunate to live in a country with such a wide variety of plant species.  By participating in PlantWatch, we can learn about our country’s great botanical diversity and at the same time, help scientists track the effects of global warming and climate change in Canada.

The plants chosen for this program bloom every spring, largely in response to rising temperatures.  However, some species are flowering almost a month earlier than they were a century ago!. Some of these plants you are familiar with and grow in your own yards and gardens. Poplar, Common Purple Lilac, Dandelion (bet you have lots of those..), Red Maple and Trillium are just a few.

Scientists believe that climate change is affecting bloom times- a trend that is continuing. They predict that the greatest increases in temperature will be in Western and Northern Canada, while some parts of Eastern Canada may actually be cooling.   By reporting on the PlantWatch species found in our local communities, we can help researchers discover how common plants are responding to climate change, and track where those changes are taking place in Canada and at what rate.

This year, for the first time in Canada, the PlantWatch program has partnered with the Master Gardeners of Ontario.  Our other partners include University of Ottawa, Wilfred Laurier Univ., the Toronto Zoo, and the David Suzuki Foundation. 

We are excited about our potential contributions to science  because we believe that observing local plants can be fun, but the data we will collect can serve a greater purpose by assisting scientists, land managers and those responsible for our natural resources to help in the environmental decisions they will need to make both now and in the future.

We urge you to join us in making a difference.   You don’t have to be a professional, or even a gardener.  Take a look at the website; the plants are described in detail with glorious photos.  

Gather up your your children, grandchildren,  friends and neighbours - sign up, get outside and watch Spring happen - make your observations and….make a difference.

www.plantwatch.ca

For those of you in the USA, check this out....https://www.usanpn.org/natures_notebook

Cauleen Viscoff

PlantWatch Coordinator

Master Gardeners of Ontario Inc.

plantwatchontario@gmail.com

Gardens, as places of escape...

Thomas Balsley, a New York landscape architect feels that gardens are places to escape; they are places where we can transform not only the garden, but ourselves in the  process.  

Garden spaces have to have meaning for us.

Many of  us never began gardening because we felt that we could never make our gardens like those in the magazines.... but I have learned that  we must use what we have...start from where we are now and head in the direction we want to go... much like life, I suppose.

When our gardens are bare at the end of winter, before there is any green to distract us, we can stand back and look beyond the obvious space; to the space beyond... perhaps our neighbour has a magnificent tree that we can use as a backdrop to our own garden. We can use that vista to make a plan of our own. Maybe we can find a way to draw our eyes to the sight of that tree by  using its beauty or size or colour as a jumping off point for our own design.

How about an arbour through which to view that tree with a path bordered by coloured flowers and plants along the way?  

Take a good look at what you have first and  use it your advantage.

Perhaps we could use trees and shrubs as we would art and learn to prune and trim them for shape and  health instead of classic round balls.  Take small spaces and find an amusing way to link them together.

Take your time. If you want trees in your garden but are not sure where they should go, buy them in pots and move them around until their position pleases you.

Don't be afraid to try something new.  There really are no mistakes that cannot be fixed with a shovel; I call it "shovel-pruning". And keep trying, ask questions, find a garden club or garden site that will teach you, and ask more questions, try  more things.  

But be sure to keep track of what you do, so when it succeeds, you can do it again or share what you  have learned... or not make the same mistake twice.  At any rate, learn through your garden, no matter how small, no matter how large.

At the end of the day, if you are a gardener, you should have twigs in your hair, dirt on  your face and under your nails.  Talk about reality !

"Perilously close to the wind..."

Today feels a bit like Spring... sort of... but today I feel perilously close to the wind... ( I just love that phrase) in other words, skating on thin ice.  If I were the crazy adventurous sort, I would be trying the ice on the lake.  Those days are behind me... lessons learned the  hard way are still lessons learned.

Today my otherwise 'lush-gardens" are still covered in snow... and when I attempt to step on the path, I go through the top layer to a slushy layer... ugh...

It is good to remember  not to tread on our gardens this time of year.  We only succeed in compacting the soil and in order for the roots (which, by the way, are very active right now) to get the nutrients they need, the soil needs to be loose and fluffy... hard to stay fluffy when someone's big boots are stomping on it... need I say more?

I know  how tempting it is to peer beneath the snow to see if there is ANY minute sign of life.  This time last year, no snow... no jackets... alas, this is now.

My friends on the west coast are lamenting their daffodils are nearly gone - I am lamenting mine are sleeping deeply - beneath 3 feet of snow.

On the other hand, these past two garden seasons have been more like they should be.  We had a real fall, with gradually lowering temperatures, then winter and then a gradual spring.  None of this going from winter to summer... the plants just hate that.  If we cannot adjust to that, how can they when their little clocks are the same each year.

Having said that, though, with spring this late, there is not much food for the migrating birds.  There are some good souls who take feed to them so they won't starve, and there are some who would  malign that kindness.

I say we do our best to all who need us to.

I am the Lush-Gardener

No, not in the sense of being "a lush" but of being a gardener who creates lush gardens.  Once upon a time I thought gardening was arranging and re-arranging pots of annuals on my deck.  Mind you, it always looked nice... no, not nice, downright gorgeously lush.

But then one day, life took a nasty turn and I, in turn, took to my shovel.  They say that it never hurts to get dirty and I say, it hurts even when you do.  But, at the end of the day, sore  muscles are better than a sore soul and sore muscles can be cured by a hot bath and some very good scotch - for medicinal purposes, of course.

Digging in the earth reveals many things about oneself.  For me?  A passion for flowers, and especially roses. I have moved my roses from 4 gardens now and at last, they are home to stay - being they behave themselves and forget to look ratty or die on me. (you can read all about my moving my roses in the blog called 'Roses on the Road' in blogger.com)

This is the middle of March and here is what I see from my deck.

A  year ago it was warm enough to sit on the deck.  Now the deck chairs are under the snow. Where has Mother Nature gone? In cahoots with Father Winter?  They need to get their lives  back to normal and start with Spring already.... I am a wee bit cranky that I cannot garden.  My garden journal is full of notes, my garden magazines are tatty and I have run out of patience.

When I find something to share about my garden besides snow, I will be back.  In the meantime, check out what I have done at www.lush-gardens.com