With mixed weather these past few weeks the garden abounds with a mass of foliage and greenery. After the first flush of early spring bulbs and flowers the garden seems to be in a hold pattern until the early perennials bloom along with early flowering shrubs and roses. This year my lilacs did well mainly because I pruned correctly this time. They attract many bees particularly the hummingbird bee which is very beneficial to the garden habitat.
Along with the lilacs the mauve allium are putting on a good show as well as the aquilegias. In the rockery garden there is a mass of early flowering plants and ornamental grasses. One of my favourite grasses that I like to plant is the papyrus grass (Prince Tut). It does so well by the pond area and can grow really tall as a feature plant in containers. Each year I try to winter it over in the garage but it is so tender I never succeed. Needless to say you need to treat it like a tropical plant.
As far as flowering shrubs go, the forsythia has long since faded and apart from the lilacs there is a pretty little honeysuckle shrub with crimson flowers. I love to look in the back section of Dogwood Nursery in West Kelowna where I picked this up on sale last year.
As the trees fully leaf out and everything fills in it provides much needed shade and in our situation privacy. As our main garden is at the front of the house we really benefit from the screening provided by the trees, in particular the Japanese maple. It also provides a lovely habitat for nesting birds. Currently we have black capped chickadees nesting in one of the bird boxes and a nuthatch in our dense hedging bush.
Everything has come out of the greenhouse now except for some tubs of tomatoes, cucumbers and pots of red pepper. All the seedlings have been planted out, the vegetable bed has been sown and the containers and hanging baskets are placed in line with our drip system. When there are lulls in the garden, the annuals provide much needed colour.
I can start sitting back now and admire the garden by the pond area hearing the splash of water created by the fountain. The hummingbirds keep me entertained. During the evening there seems to be a frenzy of them.
As we progress through Phase 2 during covid-19 I am still a little reluctant to go out and about. So thankful though we can walk in Fintry Provincial Park again. The fresh air does me a world of good. I was sorry though recently to see flooding by the gate house which has since subsided.
Hope you are all keeping well and safe. Until next time……
Links: www.fintryprovincialpark.com www.dogwoodnursery.com