2024 Virtual Garden Tour - welcome!

Well, put all off to age-related brain farts.... I guess I'd forgotten how many different new iris varieties I planted in the fall. Turns out there are 4 new varieties in my front yard -checked my records, I scan and file the labels of bulbs and bare root perennials- and for some reason I'd forgotten those silly details. The beds in the front yard underwent major overhauls in spring and fall. One bed had a Western Red Cedar removed which required a lot of replanting in the spring and additions were made in the fall as well, and the other bed had all the bearded iris dug up, the bed was slightly raised and we planted a LOT of new spring bulbs, mostly crocus and daffodils and when I check my records there were about 45 new Iris reticulata in 4 different varieties that found their way into both beds. Serves me right for not labeling the darned things... And yes, Ron, I did see my first 'Frozen Planet' this morning, just not where I'd expected it...

 

Yes it does look like an ancient quince in same garden

 

Crocus update —- a tiny botanical

I like its shadow in photo

 

Hello to my friends on this thread. I've been enjoying your winter photos and sorry not to have made any contributions so far this year myself. To tell the truth, I'm not feeling much joy in my garden anymore. There are bright spots here and there but too many former lovelies now declining or dead.

I'm not giving up yet though and will replace the disappointments with more of the same plants that have shown they can handle floods, sudden low temperatures, snow and, mainly, drought. I'll focus more on containers and alpine trough gardens too.

As for today, here are a few pictures of plants that are doing well despite everything nature has thrown at them so far.

Woodwardia fimbriata - Giant Chain Fern; an uncommon native fern said to be hardy to Zone 8/9!
Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Heather Bun’ - the cold temps have really brought out the red tones.
Vaccinium ovatum - year-round beauty; I started them from cuttings about 12 years ago.
Daphne odora ‘Zuiko Nishiki’ - I can't smell it yet but it won't be long.
Euphorbia wulfenii self-seeded - I think it's wulfenii but I didn't buy it.
Rhodo 'Cilpinense' - I'm amazed that a few sheets protected the buds of this tender rhodo from freezing.
Rhodo 'Teddy Bear' - you can see how its indumentum gave it its name.
Basil - 6 months old; he promises to be a good 'guarden' dog but I'm not so sure.

 

Welcome back Margot, I've missed your participation!

 

The one day at a time — though I don’t want to rush our precious time — garden tour

here we have some very interesting and long-standing snow drop bulbs

i don’t recall name — perhaps they came with the garden when I bought it

i like the green dot detail and the frilly petals that waited for months under the soil

these flowers endure snow and ice and shade and hot dry summer (they face north)

see photos pls

 

GS, the snowdrop is Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno'...supposedly slightly fragrant...you've got a nice stand there!

 

Feb 22, 2024 garden tour

Christmas Cheer Rhodo that did not get frosted - amazingly! A neighbour has same Rhodo tho the buds on it are brown (frosted)

Dependable forsythia - it blooms on old wood so don’t prune it back til immediately AFTER bloom — actually I cut various branches back and force them for post New Year spring inspiration

some good old crocii under a vine maple

I noticed seeds from West Coast (Ladner BC) in the store the other day

has anyone planted peas or sweet peas yet?

photos below

EDIT - the red twigs in Rhodo photos is exactly that - red twig dogwood « Arctic Fire »

 

The freeze we had mid-January has taken its toll on some of the usually winter hardy plants. We had our hellebores first subjected to the deep-freeze and then covered in a thick blanket of snow and when things started to melt again it became clear there was a fair bit of damage. Anything on them in terms of flowers was turning to mush. There are signs of new growth now: leaves are developing, so the basic plant hasn't affected too bad but it's unfortunate that we've mostly missed out on their winter splendour. Such as life... The particular variety shown is one of my later blooming ones, it's a seedling I got from a friend 10+ years ago and it has seeded itself around where I have it planted quite nicely. Matter of fact about a week ago or so I dug up a dozen or so seedlings and potted them up to grow on as potential gifts to others at some point. You can see the blackened stem and flowers where they succumbed to the weather insult but the new growth is quite encouraging.


Spring keeps inching closer however, plenty of signs around. The early snowdrops, Galanthus elwisii, are setting seed, daffodils are budding up and we should see the first ones open in a couple of days I'd think. I've got hostas shooting up, peonies are about to unfurl, Western Bleeding Hearts are showing up again, honeysuckles are showing signs of life, it's all good!

 

Well March certainly came in like a lion!....such a hodgepodge of weather yesterday. But with the dusting of snow now gone and the sun coming out I thought I'd see how some of the plants are doing (in between staining wood for various outdoor projects).

Photos include:
Lungwort - which has actually been flowering off and on since January
Apricot - both Harcot and Moongold are starting to open
Lily-of-the-Valley shrub
Marsh marigold is forming buds
Grecian windflowers are popping up everywhere.

FYI, one of my spring projects is creating a raised bed on the boulevard to try the "Three Sisters" style of gardening for heritage and heirloom plants. I will be starting with heirloom pink banana squash, heritage Cherokee 'Trail of Tears' beans and heirloom glass gem corn (I will also be growing heirloom Utrecht blue wheat in different area). My goal is to be able to share the resulting seeds with anyone interested in preserving these plants.
Has anyone tried this method?

 

I tried it some years ago in a different garden. The main lesson I learned was that the corn needs a substantial head start on the beans. Pretty sure I planted all three at once. Had to add strings for the beans, and the corn didn't get too impressive, though I got a few small ears.

 

Good to know, thanks!

 

I wonder if there is still the Mayan garden area at UBC Farm (near TRIUMF … and Save-On supermarket - the small campus transit bus drives nearby)

i know I learned from our Guatemalan friends about the planting method there at farm

i think there might be tours and also a farm market during harvest season

@Daniel Mosquin - do you know a website for the farm garden area?

 

Our March 2024 lioness weather

last year this similar fast ice snow was around Feb 24, 2023 I think

I know in 2023 it snowed heavy ice at UBC too late Feb

————

In 2024, this is the coast near Vancouver

rhodos seem to be ok so far other than breaking branches due to heavy ice snow

tree branches breaking everywhere and electric power out for 13 hrs (paralysis!)

we are loyal to our natural gas as back up heat for sure (fossil fools:)

anyway - nature wakes every day as spring emerges - a delight to witness

PHOTOS
Rhodo Christmas Cheer pink blossom looks good! That deep freeze in Jan 2024 seems to have treated these buds well

Rhodo PJM (small leaves with unique scent and small perky purple flower in a few weeks mid April here) wonders how it’s been sent back to typically cold snow winter homeland of Maine USA (where original was bred)

Forsythia with lovely display —- the small birds all shelter inside the narrow supple branches. The foreground is my French mousse mold that I will likely never use again so it’s my garden art homage to our native Salish Sea fish. In summer I plant hot annual colour like impatiens near that copper color as a bit of focal pt art in a pathway corner.

elderberry leaves in sheltered spot — the really small black/white/red woodpeckers very much enjoy the deceased branches (see the holes?) so I don’t cut them back on purpose

periwinkle (vinca minor) emerging — this is my go to before any ivy roots in my property

various rockery plants that seemed to have survived our random temp winter … I like these plants for water wise displays

the brick wall shows a small rockery plant that blooms with blue-purple bell shape flowers soon — I call it Canterbury Bells. It does well next to sweet woodruff

i found a broken tête à tête small daffodil so it’s still showing a brave blossom outside in a shallow bit of rainwater

and I think that’s our tour here today - thank you!

 

Hello again March 06/24

i meant to show the emerging hyacinth in a container

I always have the ambition to make one or two bloom (yes, I know it’d be likely less overall effort and $ to pick up a couple from the display at supermarket)

I am a fan of the mix called “Sea Breeze”

so hopefully we have some success 2024

the other photo is trusty sword fern … a person who helps heavy lifting around this micro-estate :) says that some of their clients want to get rid of them …. What?!

firesmart
Water wise
Frost wise
Help with erosion prevention
Year round interest
Floral arrangements
Easy care

clearly I am a fan of this native coastal plant, too

 

Pieter - how long did these pretty iris blossoms “stand”

my snowdrops are done

and unfort crocus (crocii) folded literally under various rain wind ice snow :(

 

hello Pieter - I braved my knees and the risk of not retrieving an upright position !
And I could not detect a scent from these blooms

tho that doesn’t mean there is not

interesting to know (then again I can’t detect a scent from violets and isn’t that a sentimental song or several ? :)

 

GS, on average the various Iris reticulata lasted around 12-14 days with some varieties lasting longer than others. For example I have a nice purple one called 'J.S. Dijt' and its flowers are fairly short-lived, maybe 6 or 7 days, that's all. A particularly short lasting lasting one for me is 'Katharine Hodgkin', invariably the first ones up but they'll last perhaps only 5 or 6 days and it is a picky one for me, the numbers are declining every year, only saw 2 of them this year. 'J.S. Dijt' on the other hand multiplies readily, so does 'Harmony', hopefully 'Clairette' will as well.

Sorry to hear your 'sniffer' wasn't up to the task. I don't have the 'Flore Pleno', so I cannot confirm one way or the other.
This stand of crocii started to open buds on February 26th, this was shot today and they're still going strong. Having said all that, with the rains expected over the next few days they'll undoubtedly look worse for wear by the time we're likely to see the sun again a week today. Oh well....
These are a new variety for us this year, love the yellow and white throat. Being newly planted last fall I hope that next year they'll come back a little larger, right now they're about half the size of the purple striped ones which we've had for probably 40 years.
The daffodils are starting to open up! Such a nice, cheery flower!
The Trilliums are starting the show and near by..
... there's some fresh blooms on a hellebore. Those came up well after the mid-January freeze and snow which darn near decimated the plant as you can see from the blackened remnants of the plant's early flowers. I have 4 early flowering hellebores and they all suffered the same fate. Thank goodness they are now all showing new growth leaves, so while the loss of the flowers was disappointing at least the root stock was not affected and hopefully we won't have a similar cold spell in winter while they are budding up.
Nice to see the peonies back!
Hosta 'Chinese Sunrise' is always an early riser, it's pretty much right on time.

 

Welcome !

Some standard time garden photos on our tour today

gosh the daylight and birds are going to be dark and early Sunday as we « spring ahead »

the equinox day to check our smoke alarms and our CO alarms for household safety :)

I still cannot fathom how this Earth tilts to change sunlight star hours. One of my wishes for a birthday past was to see all-night daylight in beautiful Alaska near Denali (the rooftop of North America) —- it really is amazing - no words describe (we went twice!)

and back in the coast garden today
A pretty “tête à tête” daffodil next to a tassel fern in a container

the other is a fritalleria (spell?) I bought from package next to another fern in container

we do have native “chocolate lily” at Okanagan Valley place though I would never disturb them - beautiful as they are

I am a fern fan - I will adopt a sword fern any day

and experiment to see what can survive our cold wet frozen dry hot smoke climate at the coast near Vancouver BC (no commas intended)

Enjoy!

 

The Trilliums are popping up! Kinda curious what's with the much brighter green one in the middle.
And the cherry blossoms are showing up again! This is on Garry Street, Richmond. Won't be long before the trees are awash in pink again.
I've never really understood the varietal name for this, Chionodoxa forbesii 'Pink Giant', it's not what comes to mind when you think of giant.... Oh well...

 

Those are plums, and I'm interested to see how good this sprig looks. All the plums (good time to distinguish them, with the plum buds looking like single lollipops) around me have very sparse single flowers here and there, but no colour to the trees at all.

 

Why do you think that is, Wendy?

 

Plums are early bloomers, the first trees to bloom, along with 'Whitcomb' cherries. Most of both of those trees had their bud scales opened in the warm spell before the January freeze, and the severe extended freeze right after that killed off all the buds except for the ones that had not yet opened.

 

What a shame!

 

Well, what do ya know... thanks Wendy!