Happy Solstice!

Welcoming back the light at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden, a venue for the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival last night. I was too busy being a donation fairy to get pictures of all the luminously lovely lanterns floating in the night air--particularly the water lily lanterns trailing across the pond! But I did get one of Joey Mallet's heron...

Farewell to the fading year, and welcome to the new! Time to take a gardener's holiday. Peacen' love everyone. What a beautiful city we live in.

Holiday Door Decoration...

Here's this year's Yule Ball at Roswitha's--I explain how to make these in the Dec. 8th/2009 post.

This year, we have some lovely Magnolia grandiflora foliage in the mix (the leaves with the brown fuzzy undersides). You can buy these in pricey bunches--occasionally--at the same places you purchase holiday greenery, but I salvaged from the choppity-job that surveyor did in the lower garden.

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(I have a post about that a couple posts ago. The survey company turned out to be very apologetic for the shoddy work of one of their employees, and paid for a replacement tree.)

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There are also redtwig dogwood branches (at the top), red skimmia berries, blowdown fir, dry hydrangea blossoms, and whirly holly branches coming out the bottom. Whatever I could find!

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As a side note: I also used a bunch of Laurel Daphne/Spurge Daphne/Daphne laureola as filler on the backside, and it has held up really well (I made the Yule Ball two weeks ago and this pic is from today.) Daphne laureola actually has "noxious weed" status in Washington, but people here think it's pretty... So I encourage everyone to go out in the woods and pick it for your holiday arrangements! Weed while you decorate :)

How to hide a stump...

Here's a strategic Willow Wigwam--built over a fresh stump which you can see is scored to increase water penetration, helping it rot out faster. I piled extra soil around the stump and planted a ring of salvaged tall red Crocosmia 'Lucifer' corms (although you could use any tall shallow-rooted perennial) so the vision is: massive clump of crocosmia emerges in spring, growing up through supporting willow wigwam, completely obscuring unsightly stump.


I generally build these wigwams/hobbit houses over perennials that have a tendency to grow tall and flop over, like some shasta daisies, asters, tall perennial geraniums, and the like. You should do it in early spring (or winter, when you cut down frostbitten perennials) so that the new growth will grow up through the wigwam naturally. This looks so nice--compared to staking after the fact--and a wigwam also tends to last a long time, because sucker-type branches easily root so you'll have a little living wigwam-shaped bush if you don't discourage it a bit.

The biggest challenge is finding long straight bendy sticks when you need them. I've also used the branches of forsythia, redtwig dogwood, wild hazelnut...most trees that sucker freely make good hobbit houses, and willow is, of course, the best. Traditionally (in basket-weaving cultures), willow trees were regularly "pollarded" or drastically pruned back to a tallish stump every year or two, to encourage the massive production of whip-like suckers. In fact, local municipal gardeners regularly do this to several golden yellow willows in Grand Boulevard park, yielding massive quantities of willow switches. When the gardeners prune them in the spring, they tend to leave the piles of branches lying around for a couple days because those "in the know" covet them for a myriad of purposes.

An aside: yes, this photo was taken today, in the fifteen-minute interval during which the sky was not bucketing rain. It's not cold though, so I'm not quite as whiny as in the previous post. Just feeling like a confused bear, blundering in and out of hibernation!!

Gardening weather report

Still

Ginkgo biloba--Fall Colour

[Interlude while waiting for snow to melt]

What do we know about the Ginkgo...the species is as ancient as the dinosaurs; it's one of the few conifers that drops its foliage in the winter (larch is another); its "leaves" are actually fused "needles" (you can see the fine ridges on the surfaces below); it's very durable and tolerant of different conditions; it's yellow as a yellow rose at leaf fall...

First Snow

No worries, gardeners-who-haven't-finished-your-bulbs-yet...It should melt by Monday...

This very fat little squirrel was out for a morning mooch. If squirrels are this fat, we may be in for a long winter. I myself have had an early start on the Egg Nog.

Everything is beautiful after the first snow. Then it's just wet and soggy.

Surveyor Trashes Magnolia...

Why, you might ask, is this surveyor's stake nailed (ah-hem: "staked") to the fence?

Here's the evidence:

Exhibit A: Kicked-in bottom gate.

Exhibit B: Trashed Magnolia grandiflora (valuable tree) with new surveyor's stake (with orange flagging tape) in background.

Exhibit C: Surveyor's stake, with sight-line shearing off magnolia:

What would you do?

I am so tired of people "just doing their job" and trashing gardens, as if plants we've trained for years--and our efforts--are completely irrelevant. The owner wasn't home, no permission was granted...we'll see if this was a sneaky developer/vandal/just a totally inexcusable execution of a job.

(I'm branching out into Mr. Bean-style home security)

Alvaro's Velo-Mobile!

How cool is this?!

That's me, in Alvaro Britos' home-made covered electric tricycle...

This is the sort of thing you randomly run across whilst cycling through Commercial Drive on a fine Sunday. Alvaro and his buddy were out road-testing his invention and could I just ride by? No.

This tricycle-pod skims along silently at 50 km/hr (my average scooter-speed) and features a super lightweight removable cover. I've seen similar pedal-pods, but always with fixed covers that look like fibre-glass. So keep an eye out on Dragon's Den (that sponsor-a-new-business show). Maybe Alvaro will be on it, after he adds some racing stripes. His email is alvaro3641@gmail.com. Imagine what our streets will look like in another ten years...

"Replace a Shady Lawn" Garden--in Autumn

If this was still a lawn, I'd have to rake away all these glorious red leaves...
But since we converted it into a shade garden, I sweep the pathways, and use the leaves to mulch the garden beds. Voila:


The plantings are mainly low-growing perennials and groundcovers, to keep the wide-open feel of a lawn, and the main focus on the maple tree.

Here's a pseudo-comprehensive list of the plants:

Carex 'Ice Dance'--the dominant swath of variegated grass, also pictured below:
(My apologies--my current fascination with Vortex Photography is somewhat sabotaging the otherwise scientific ID photos on this blog.)



Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'--the white-leafed/blue-flower-in-spring perennial also pictured below:


My favourite non-native fern, Polystichum polyblepharum/Japanese Tassel Fern, because it's evergreen, smaller than the native Sword Fern, with a glossier, darker green leaf...

(Okay, this one is unrecognizable. Anyways, art and science do meet somewhere in the garden.)

I also used Dryopteris erythosora/Autumn Fern, the one with the unexpected and lovely coppery-orange new growth (no Vortex close-up available at this time).

Here's a somewhat fuzzy shot of the Fuchsia magellanica 'Ricartonii' with a white Hydrangea and Sarcacocca ruscifolia/the tall-growing Himalayan Sweetbox in the background.



I also used various blue and variegated Hostas, Pachysandra, Galium/Sweet woodruff, Hellebores, Astrantia/Masterwort, Campanula poscharskyana, Euphorbia robbiae. Just in case someone's looking for shady-garden ideas.


Oh--I've just found a photo from earlier this fall...you can see the plants better sans the blanket of red leaves. Remember, this is a very shady garden--the only direct sun falls on the hydrangea and fuchsias in the upper left corner.

Little Blue Pill Bug

Has anyone ever see a blue pill bug before?? First time for me. Bev kept finding them around her big ash street-tree today. I took one picture on her garden table before my battery died.

Autumn lights

A week of fabulous fall colour, and I've been remiss recording it with my camera! These last few evenings, the dying light (around 6:00) has filled the sky with a luminous glow that pops the autumn colours like a technicolour scene from The Wizard of Oz. And I've been too busy scrabbling the last few bulbs into the soil like a frenzied squirrel to run for the camera. So here's a couple trippy spinning shots on the way home--in the dark.

Proof.

Do you believe? Love it.

Even on Halloween, I'm working...

This bush kept running away and jumping at people. A very odd species: difficult to control. I generally choose plants that are more...rooted. If you are new or prospective client, seeking assurance of my reliability and professionalism, I really have no idea who that white-haired lady is.

Crown Imperial...

I've never planted Crown Imperials/Fritillaria imperialis before: tall and decadent (apparently) and a common sight if you were hanging around the imperial court of Austria around the 18th Century (I think I made that up, but it might be true). So there will be a toast of Crown Royale on the pool deck at Roswitha's when the Crown Imperials bloom next...late spring (it says on the package).
Note: I did plant these sideways (bulbs always find their way up, even if they are upside down) because they are strangely bowl-like, and I wonder if a soggy Vancouver winter of rain would rot them out. So, I figure tipping them sideways is a safeguard.

Pink Pagoda...

Nice tree--took these pics about a month ago at Van Dusen Gardens. Have been trying to track a Pink Pagoda down for Daphne's woodland garden, to no avail. Possibly available in the spring. Except for the large construction crane (small detail) the bottom photo is almost idyllic. Love Mountain Ash in general--so do birds--but the pinks are not in common use. Wonder why. Nice tree.

Rays of Light

Which one of the following pics doesn't belong...?

Ray of sunshine on late autumn dahlias and Penstemon barbatus in Sue and Hugh's garden...

Ray of sunshine on Aster frikartii 'Monch' and Chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi) and Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy' in Anne and Peter's garden...

Ray of sunshine on Salish Sea from Jim and Wren's garden...



Ray of sunshine on a lavish border of Autumn Crocus (Colchicum) at Sue and Hugh's...

(I had to work in the freighter shot somehow. Very cool. A reminder to look up (way up) ever once in a while, whilst gardening!)

Only the Lonely (Nicotiana sylvestris)

No, this isn't a singles ad for tall, lanky, late-blooming, possibly socially-awkward annuals.

Just recording the bloom of Nicotiana 'Only the Lonely' for future reference.

Above: a broom, for scale. Below, me, for scale. Very pleased with these--we finally found something white n' showy for this section of the pool deck that is too shady for the white roses growing everywhere else.

Spidey Senses

September is Spider Month.

If anyone sees me out in the garden, apparently playing with an invisible marionette, I'm just trying to relocate a swinging spidey whose handiwork I just walked through. Feel bad about that.

I wonder if they start building a new one right away, or if they just take the day off, head down to the pub, make a claim at the Web-Compensation Board. Something like that.

Speaking of spidey senses, I think I'm losing mine--I mean, the ones required to ride a bicycle in traffic. All this scootering has eroded my cycling Spidey Senses. I assume I'm honing my scootering Spidey Senses, which is a good thing, but when I went on a long bicycle-ride last weekend, I got honked at twice. Both times, I was following the trajectory of a bicycle-lane that suddenly ended and I failed to vaporize at the same time. Before the Scooter (BS) I guess I never felt entitled to space on the road and obligingly vaporized, because I rarely got honked at.

I am therefore mystified by the behaviour of traffic on Marine Drive in West Van. How many times have I seen spandex-clad road-racing cyclists obliviously holding up a long line of cars as they spin around the winding one-lane coastline. I actually don't think those cyclists are oblivious--they just feel entitled to the road, even though common courtesy would beg they pull over for the parade behind them. Even more surprising, no one honks. I suspect the drivers are afraid the cyclist might be their boss, or someone they don't want to offend.

I guess I don't look like a high-powered cyclist, since the closest thing to spandex I wear is socks (they're tight, and sometimes have a small logo). I am therefore honk-at-able. But now I know what it feels like to Take the Lane. Oh, the power. I have tasted it. Who needs Spidey Senses when you can lead the parade...

Opposites Attract??

This is actually an old pic I just found in my archives.

Is this a case of His and Hers? A case of 1 Hummer + 1 Smart Car is equivalent to 2 Normal Family Vehicles?

I thought that if a Smart Car and a Hummer parked in the same driveway, they would trigger some law of physics that automatically converts them both into anti-matter.

They are so totally pretending not to know one another.

Parking for Self-Propelled People

Need a stick? Take a stick. Have a stick? Leave a stick.

Dog contemplates higher forms of transportation

Good boy, Luke.

Sockeye Salmon Run

Saw a bit of spawning action in the creeks around Adams River (in the Shuswap, an hour past Kamloops) this past weekend--the Big Run hasn't started yet, but will be rolling in the first week of October. (I include Salmon Reports in this blog because of their clear correlation with Life Cycles.)

We walked up Bear Creek and I caught a live-action fish-fight between two males: one defending his territory with a female already digging her nest.

As if ten thousand (?) gill-netters, and five hundred miles of rapids wasn't enough, how about a little sabotage by members of your own species to round things off? Reproduction is a tough gig.

Scotch Creek (below) was awash with dead fish, likely because water level rose with the previous night's rain and dislodged the masses stuck along the banks. This run was almost over, with more carcasses floating downstream than live fish heading up.

The Adams River Run will be something to see for sure...neat how each creek population spawns sequentially. Stinky. Take your fish nose-plugs.