Tangled Brush

The front garden isn't looking too bad, at least the corner nearest the entrance path. Look at all the pretty colours: The hostas are, of course, from the previous occupants of the house (and not my favourite plant in the garden, though I know many appreciate them). But I have added the happy yellow pansies, cheerful pink and orange roses, and orangey pink lantana. The lantana is a plant I know from India. My father's bungalow had bushes of lantana, and I would pick the bright orangey crowns. After they finish blooming there are green berries. The flowers have a spicy smell. They don't last the winter, but this year I may bring them in and see if I can keep them going.

A few weeks later, the sunflowers are approaching the fence! It is such fun to watch them grow, along with the other wildflowers I planted in the bed. The cosmos is fluffy and tall and doing great, as are the bachelor's buttons that came in the packet of seeds. Also growing from that packet are some tall green plants that I can't identify. When I rub them there is an amazing smell...it reaches back into my subconscious and makes me think of something green I smelled a long time ago...memories like that usually reach to India. Is this a plant I knew in India, so many decades ago? Time will tell. I will wait for it to bloom and reveal its name.  The wildflowers were growing so well that I decided to add more flowers! I dared to plant perennials - cheery coreopsis (in burgundy and gold), hot pink sweet william, and a tall plant with spidery pink blooms. I have seen it at the Experimental farm and never knew its name. I googled it this time ("tall pink...

I love orchids - those exotic, many varied epiphytes growing high above the trees in their native state. Of course, in Ottawa, we only see them in pots at the grocery store. Also wonderful! But did you know we have some native varieties? The pretty pink lady slipper (which I have never seen) and, a wild green elfin one. What does it look like? This!                                                This was the latest, exciting thing to grow in the drain pipe corner. Prior to this I had: lily of the valley and white violets, then columbines, then primroses, and now two wild orchids! Maybe I should call this the Magic Corner!!

Things are growing in the magic corner. The mystery flower faded - I now know it was a kind of columbine! New and wondrous things growing here lately: Black eyed Susan: And this mysterious plant. What is it? It wasn't here last year. At first I thought it might be Chinese lantern, those bright orange, papery pods that are so popular at Halloween. But after some vigorous research (taking all of 5 min on all knowing Google) I kind of wonder if it might be Cape Gooseberry. All I know is, it wasn't here last year!  What is the latest mystery plant from this ever surprising garden? Time will tell! 

Watch this space, for sunflowers are a -growing! These are GIANT sunflowers! I think they will look nice against the fence, if the voracious squirrels leave them alone (my neighbors have warned me). This is the highly neglected side patch of lawn. It had scary big dandelions and thistles last summer. Even this spring there were a lot of dandelions but they seem smaller. I went to work digging up a patch and adding bags of sheep manure, determined to make a garden out of it. In my mind I have dubbed it the 'Arizona' garden, and have put in plants that, to my mind, do well in dry, arid conditions. (I still don't have a hose for the front, so this is not just me being fanciful!) Sunflowers, cosmos and wildflowers - all from seed, no less! I also planted orange marigolds, sapphire blue lobelia, and colourful portulaca, that dessert succulent with rose-like blooms. Everything seems pretty happy! I had portulaca in my garden growing up. I recalled it as being low...

Now these are the tendrils that nobody minds - those of the glorious purple clematis! A close up? But of course! An odd thing (to me, who knows little about the ways of clematises - or is it clematii? Clematae?) is that some of the blooms had 4 petals, some had 5, and some had 6! We have been in this house a year now, so I did actually have the pleasure of seeing this last year. So when the first tendrils came twirling up, I knew what a glorious show we were in for. Last year the trellis was positioned insecurely, against the patio railing, and the whole mass fell down, which made me feel bad. This year it is against the wall, and seems more secure. My grandfather had a clematis at his house, so I have fond memories of these flowers. A photo of moi with the clematis? Mais oui! I am wearing a flowered dress, of course!

I think it is pretty big news that my cornflowers are blooming! I grew them 'from seed', which is what real, cool gardeners do! I planted them in mid-May, 'after all danger of frost had passed' (we had snow on May 8!) but I do think I could have planted them sooner, as lots of other things were growing then, even with the cold temperatures. Yesterday I saw that a house on the main road had cornflowers blooming; thick stems, many blooms - brilliant blue and pale pink flowers. I rushed home to see if mine had bloomed yet. They had! I had pale pink... Burgundy... And a modest bud that harkened to be the deep blue that I was so longing for. Yay! It opened up a little today, and I tried to take a photo, but it was waving around in the wind, and I couldn't get a clear shot. Many buds, so I am looking forward to more blooms!