My back corner flower garden

We had a wet spring, with lots of these:

Thunderstorms and lots of rain came with those clouds. And rain makes the flowers grow J. My garden looks better than it ever has. The Calgary growing season is so short, making it tough to get a really good garden - this year has been great since the snow left early (for us).

Here’s a picture of my back corner – it’s shady, so hostas, astilbes and lilies thrive there. Oh, and my ligularia is growing like crazy too. I can’t wait to see how tall he gets this year – he’s nearly 3 feet tall now.

My Asiatic lilies are in full bloom – aren’t they gorgeous? My neighbour Karen gave me a few extras from her garden a couple of years ago, and they love this spot.

My hostas have loved the wet weather and are doing really well too: 

And my rhubarb is still growing (front of this photo). So I’m still cutting rhubarb to eat – and it’s mid-July J

I love looking at all the texture and colour and contrast right now – it’s almost like I knew what I was doing when I planted this! J

Enjoy!

Kim

Spring is Here!

Pretty much, anyway.

On Monday I showed you the flowers that bloomed for me on Mother’s Day: 

I thought I’d take a few more pictures and show you what spring looks like for us right now:

My lupins are growing like crazy

And my rhubarb is too (it’s already about 4 inches taller than that – it’s growing a few inches a day J).

And spring in our house wouldn’t be complete without nerf guns everywhere. The kids have ‘battles’ with each other and the kids next door. Mr. E has to be REALLY careful when he cuts the grass, so he doesn’t chew up any bullets. Thankfully they’re orange J

It’s tough living in a cold climate – my tulips are almost ready and they’ve been blooming in other parts of Canada for weeks now. My Mom has already had rhubarb desserts, but mine won’t be ready for another three weeks, at least. It looks like a few of my plants didn’t survive the winter, and it was a mild one. L

And . . .

The weather channel is calling for snow tonight – yup, snow. Planting anything outside before the May long weekend is definitely tempting fate here.

It takes so long for spring to arrive here, and fall shows up way too fast.

I may have to visit the garden centre on Monday though, just to pick up a few new plants to try out. I have some plans for our front entrance – I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Have a great long weekend!

Cheers! Kim

Mother's Day

We had an absolutely beautiful Mother’s Day. The weather was glorious – not a cloud in the sky, but it got a bit breezy later in the day. We set up the patio furniture and enjoyed a glass of wine on the deck, in style. J

Mother Nature gave me these for Mother’s Day:

Both my daffodils and prairie crocuses bloomed for the first time on Sunday – the perfect bouquet.

And the boys gave me lots of nail polish. They picked the colour that they wanted me to wear to work on Monday:

I know it’s a day late, but Happy Mother’s Day to everyone.

Cheers! Kim

Fall Splendour

We've been having some wild weather lately - but today was a beautiful fall day. Most of my plants are looking sad and getting ready for winter, but I still have one gorgeous flower - my ligularia.

Isn't it beautiful?

It's nearly 3 feet tall, and lives behind my hostas, astilbes and ferns. The back corner of our yard is like a swamp - really wet and shady. My friend Connie recommended this plant and it's loving it! It's been there for three years and this is the first time it's flowered. What a show - the flowers are gorgeous and add a wonderful splash of fall-colour.

Here's a close-up of the blooms - they're spectacular.

Please ignore the decimated leaves. We've had an aphid infestation this year and every plant has holes in their leaves. Except the rhubarb. Apparently, aphids don't like rhubarb - maybe the leaves are toxic for them too.

I have to look into some aphid-killing options for next summer - non-toxic would be best, but they really annoyed me so I'm also into something a little more potent. (insert evil laugh here). This back corner garden takes the longest to start in the spring since it's covered with snow until May most of the time. So, not being able to enjoy it for very long is frustrating. I'll show some pictures another day - it has really started looking good.

So, enjoy some fall colour!

Cheers,
Kim