The apples trees are blooming!

Took a walk today and the flowering apple trees just took my breath away! I love all the mature trees in my neighbourhood and the different apple trees blooming just look gorgeous! Most of them are crab apple. Love crab apple jelly and crab apple juice. My friend makes the best! There seem to be a few different varieties, but I don't know what they are. There are the ones with white flowers, ones with pink flowers and then ones with dark pink flowers and dark leaves. I'll have to look it up one of these days.



And, of course, with our ever present jack rabbits...funny...usually I only see them munching on my tender plants in the front garden...

Thankful Thursday

I love rhubarb cake! My favorite! But have you ever seen a rhubarb flower? Quite interesting!

Bloomin' Wednesday

What is blooming in my garden today?

Most of the spring perennials are doing great. My favorite is the lungwort and bleeding heart. I really like old fashioned plants. I think because they remind me of my grandmother's garden where I used to spend my summers as a kid.



Also the tulips are doing great this year. I really like the yellow tulips with the little purple bellflowers.



Also the perennial vinca vines are flowering. I really like these ground covers. They seem to do really well in my shady front bed, even with our heavy clay soil. They spread nicely and cover all the bare patches. I will have to get some more.


Of course, the iris look really good at this time of year. I have two varieties, both given to me so I don't know what they are. These purple ones always bloom first.


Also there are a few self-seeded violas popping up. I seem to have a yellow and purple theme going on? I rather like it.

I Love Seeds!

There is something about watching a little sprout emerge from a newly planted seed that I just find fascinating. Especially with our long winters here in Calgary, it is so much fun to have a little bit of green.

I thought that I would share some of the plants I started form seed this year. I was very conscious of space since I start most of them on top of the refrigerator and them let them grow on my window ledge. This year I started a few perennials and my favorite annuals. The shade tolerant ones seem to do better, without getting leggy, probably because I don't have any grow lights. One year, I will treat myself and set up a whole seed starting area in the basement! i usually start seeds in those little jiffy pellets. they are easiest for me and the kids can even help if they want. They are fascinated to watch them expand when you first add the water.

bergenia - good germination - may take a while to get big enough so I won't think they are weeds in the garden
lupin - seeds rescued from Vancouver - good germination - hopefully they don't mind Calgary
sedum - mixed seed pack - interesting varieties - good germination - I don't think I'll do a mixed package again, I just don't like knowing exactly what varieties I have growing
wisteria - got this seed from a friends wedding - looks great - would it survive next winter? maybe I'll put it in a pot to bring inside in the fall???










impatiens - Xtreme white - excellent germination - one of my favorites to start from seed
lobelia - Riviera Marine - excellent germination - another favorite
verbena bonariensis - poor germination - hopefully the few that germinated look ok - I've been obsessed with this since seeing it in a neighbour's garden last year
gomphrena - QIS purple - again became obsessed with growing this next to sunflowers for an awesome yellow/purple combination in the garden
nicotiana - only the lonely - super tall white nicotiana - again became obsessed with this plant after seeing it at a neighbour's - medium germination - I hope that they look as good in my garden as the neighbour's
marigold - Tagetes Lemon Gem - grew these last year and loved them! - excellent germination, beautiful scent and lovely simple yellow flowers
coleus - sonatina gold - lime green foliage - hopefully I don't kill them this year
delphinium - belladonna mix - good germination - hoping for gorgeous flowers



carrots, beets, peas and nasturtium seeded in the raised garden beds

corn, squash, scarlet runner beans to be seeded soon (when the soil warms up)

Snow!

I will begin by showing you a picture of the snow that has just fallen...on May 29, 2010!



Needless to say, my garden is having a slow start this year. Most of my annuals are sitting in the garage with blankets over them. I brought a few pots inside and the rest had to fend for themselves.

My cosmos that I planted look a little sad...though the sedum 'Auntumn Joy' next to them look ok. These are in a new bed that the kids and I dug. We are just waiting to be able to fill it with plants!



But my fushia are happily flowering on a window ledge...



My hope is to pot up my annuals this week when it warms up. They do say that summer is coming. Cross your fingers. I started a few annuals from seed as well as some perennials. I had been hardening them off, but I brought them back inside (since we had snow!) and so they too are sitting on a window shelf. The impatiens and lobelia are doing really well! Maybe my next post will be a summary of the plants I started from seed? Check back tomorrow!

Here goes...

Hi there,

I'm new to blogging, but I am enjoying the idea of documenting my garden adventures. The summers here are so short that it'll be nice to have a place to keep my thoughts and pictures of my garden to enjoy in the cold winter months.

So here goes...