All set for spring.

Tags

arugula, bloodroot, cabbages, camassia, cauliflower, cucumbers, fritillaria, gladiolus, honeysuckle, iris, lettuce, onions, peas, roses, spicebush, tomatoes, tulip, wood poppy

April showers bring May flowers! Or something like that. The last couple years we had Aprils that were relatively dry, but this year we’re finally getting a more typically wet April. I know it sounds odd to “normal” people (i.e. non-gardeners/ non-farmers) to want rain, but spring rains really are a crucial source of groundwater for plants, even well into summer. And climate change isn’t going to improve matters, at least not in these parts where even in the past ten years, summers have become noticeably drier (and possibly hotter).

Anyway, today I planted the onion sets. The peas I planted last week are probably germinating as I type. The lettuce and arugula have already started to sprout. I really need to sow the carrots soon. The brassica (‘Melissa’ Savoy cabbage and ‘Di Sicilia Violetta’ purple cauliflower), tomato (‘San Marzano’, ‘Black Krim’, ‘Black Beauty’ and ‘Hahms Gelbe Topftomate’) and lemon cucumber seedlings are well on their way. In fact, I ran out of room under the grow lights, so I started hardening off the brassica seedlings today – they tolerate cool temperatures better.

The bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) started blooming last week, as did the spicebush (Lindera benzoin). I’ve had the spicebush for three years now, and this is the first time it flowered…possibly because during its first winter here, the accursed demonspawn rabbits chewed it down. So this spring I’ve learned something new about it, which is that it produces masses of tiny yellow flowers first thing in spring, before it produces leaves, and that those flowers have a very pleasant, refreshing fragrance.

Everything else is going apace – the wood poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum) are just starting to bloom, and the yellow tulips will open within a week or two. The honeysuckle (Lonicerum tataricum), which I pruned three weeks ago, is well-leafed out and now starting to produce flower buds. The roses are unwrapped, unmounded and pruned, the hardy gladiolus (Gladiolus palustris) is finally sprouting, the camassias (Camassia quamash) are up, all the irises are well on their way, and I’m nearly done with spring garden cleanup. Right now the only worry is that I don’t see any sign of my Fritillaria persica showing yet.

I know it’s a month until our spring last-chance-of frost date, but right now everything looks set to be glorious.

…I’m not generally an optimistic person, so I’ve probably just jinxed myself.

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Summer ticks over.

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Eastern black swallowtail, fig, monarch, onions, strawberries

As is usually the case, mid-late summer here is not a terribly busy one in the garden. The daily chore is really just watering the containers. A bit of harvest comes in here and there, and weeding is always weeding, but things are slow.

Aside from that, at last I noticed a few Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) browsing through the swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) patch a few days ago. Yesterday I searched and found four eggs, so now I’m all set to raise some Monarchs. I’ve raised a lot of Eastern Black Swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes) this year, but for some reason I feel bad if I don’t raise some Monarchs too…I dunno, it feels as if I’m doing my bit to save a species under threat.

I also harvested the onions (Allium cepa) yesterday…they didn’t do as well as I would like, but then again they never do. My soil is just too poor to consistently get good results with root crops, and I never have enough compost to go around. What are doing well are the ‘Albion’ strawberries I got in spring; being a day-neutral variety, it’s okay to crop them (if planted in spring) after July. A regular shot of comfrey liquid doesn’t hurt.

I am also incredibly surprised at the ‘Stella’ fig (Ficus carica) I got in April. It was barely six inches tall when I bought it; it’s now a good four feet tall and unless my eyes deceive me it’s set to bear fruit already. I doubt we have enough warm days left to the season for that fruit to develop and ripen, and I’ll have to let the tree go dormant for winter, so discarding the fruit is going to be heartbreaking. But who knows – I’ve never grown figs before, so I might be surprised again.

Swing into spring.

Tags

camassia, columbine, jewelweed, milkweed, monarda, onions, roses, starflower, tomatoes, wintergreen, wood poppy

Well. I finally managed to finish putting up the trellis in the backyard today. Now all I need is a good rain to settle the ground in place. And now that I’m done obsessing over it, I can get around to doing all the other things that should have been done a week ago…such as digging over the vegetable plot and working compost into it. In a week or two the tomatoes should be hardened off and able to be planted. I can sow the lettuce and plant the onion sets as soon as the the beds are prepared.

Anyway, the Eastern red columbines (Aquilegia canadensis) are blooming, which seems a bit early…the swamp milkweed and butterfly milkweed (Ascelpias incarnata and A. tuberosa) are sprouting…which also seems a bit early…and the camassias (Camassia quamash) planted last autumn are finally sprouting (six out of fifteen so far)…which definitely seems late. The wood poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum) are in full bloom now, and there’s no sign of the starflower (Trientalis borealis), so that might need replacing. And unfortunately three roses didn’t make it through winter…oh well, it’s an excuse to go rose shopping.

But! the wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is doing well! I’ve tried it a couple times before and it always fizzled out, so hopefully third time (and location) will be the charm. And jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)! I finally seem to have a self-sustaining population of jewelweed! The seedlings seem to be really susceptible to damping off, but there are so many of them, I’m sure enough will survive to maintain a colony in my little backyard.

Oh yes, and I planted two wintergreens (Gaultheria procumbens) today. That’s another thing that didn’t work for me before but I really would like to have. Hope I’ve learned my lesson.

Baby’s put to bed.

Tags

feverfew, garlic, onions, parsley

Right, so…roses have been burlapped and the rain barrels are in. Most of the container plants are under cover except a few very hardy herbs: feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium), parsley (Petroselinum crispum) and some potted garlic and walking/Egyptian onions (Allium sativum and A. x proliferum). The feverfew will eventually go under shelter, but I don’t know if I’ll bother keeping the parsley; I’m not a big parsley person and being biennial it’s not as productive in its second year (that I’ve noticed at least). It’ll probably go in the garage with the rest. Alliums in general are super cold hardy, so they can stay outside in a sheltered spot.

I know technically winter begins on December 21st (this year), but around here it really begins in mid to late November. If anyone from a milder climate is reading this, that’s why it seems I’m rushing to get the garden ready for winter. Or as one neighbour teases me, put baby to bed.

Sorry if the last few posts have been somewhat repetitive; I suppose I’ve been using the blog as a checklist of reminders

Bits and bobs.

Tags

aster, beetroots, bottle gentian, elder, onions

The bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) is open. And by open, I mean not open. Bottle gentian flowers never open; they remain looking like oversized purple buds. It takes bumblebees, which are heavy and strong enough to force their way into the flowers, to pollinate them.

Harvested the last of the onions today. Fresh onions are good. And a few beetroots. Also the elderberries (Sambucus canadensis) are coming in. Now all I need are some Grue Goo and human bones to grind into meal for elderbury pie. (Don’t mind me, it’s from an old computer game.)

The mystery eggs on the sky-blue aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense) have hatched, but I’m no closer to an ID for them. The caterpillars are still tiny and don’t look like anything I’ve been able to find pictures of, but often caterpillars will change appearance and behaviour dramatically as they get older. Of course, there are larvae that look like caterpillars but aren’t.

Typical.

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bloodroot, elecampane, honeysuckle, onions

Annoying, but typical. Every year (and I mean every year) just when spring seems to be in and winter is over, there’s one nasty cold snap. Apparently that’s suddenly going to be tomorrow night. And last for two or three days. So most of what’s been put out in the cold will need to be protected somehow. Sigh.

But I’ve started spring cleanup, dug over one of the vegetable beds, planted the onions, transplanted the elecampane and thinned out the honeysuckle. And the bloodroot is finally showing. Well, one of them is.

Today’s weather: 24C and cloudy.