Bees, Blooms and Boos

Today was a day to be thankful for air conditioning. It's sweltering today.  Heat and humidity just doesn't agree with me.  I turn all red, I'm quick to get a headache and most importantly it plays havoc with my hair.  I had a lot of indoor work today and I didn't mind at all. In the afternoon though I decided to take a boo outside.  This expression was not something I had grown up with in fact it leads me to a funny little story.

Years ago when selling our first house we had a British family come through for a tour.  At the time of selling our girls were just babies (2 and nearly newborn).  Usually we would leave and take the girls for a walk when we had appointments but this one was in the evening and the girls were gearing down for the night.  I just tried to stay out of the way in our basement tv room.  As they were walking up the basement stairs I thought I heard the husband say "I'd just like to take a poo out in the backyard".  I know my eyes were as wide as they could be when I heard this and I really wasn't sure what to think next.  As you can imagine, I was quite relieved to find out he only intended to look around!

The bees are loving our lilacs right now.

e

We have several types of lilacs.  Our tree this year is particularly spectacular.  I will miss the smell of lilacs when the blooms are done.

So delicate and pretty are the blooms.

I had such good luck with Callbrachoa  last year that I bought them again.  Here they are in Mango.

Off to dance drop offs and the grocery store.
Have a great evening friends!

Oh my bleeding heart.

One of my favourite spring flowers.  It makes a rainy day look beautiful. This one greets us as we walk up to the front door.

Can it really be May tomorrow?

The Dog Days of Spring??!!

You've probably been wondering where I've been the last week or so. The truth is we didn't make a cake last week so I didn't have anything to post!! I'm sure we can rectify that situation fairly quickly!

Yesterday was a strange day for weather.  By mid morning it was almost 20°C and a few hours later it was 24°C with a humidex close to 30°C.  Wow! (Today at the same time it is only 10°C) Big fluctuations in temperatures lately. Definitely keeping us on our toes for choosing clothes in the morning.

 I didn't realize how warm it was until I noticed my shag area rug rolling around on the grass...oh wait, that's Mabel.  She loves lying out in the hot 'summer' sun.

...I can assure our groomer that a phonecall in the near future is necessary!

I was inspired by my niece Chloé and her recent garden pictures and I took a few myself.

I have a lovely rogue patch of purple pansies growing in my grass this year.  Such a pretty sight.

I'll have to get some tips from Chloé when I see her next.  Although I use my camera everyday for product shots I still haven't had much time to play with it for other things.  Learning everytime I use it which is half the fun!

Summer Fades to Autumn

It is feeling much more like fall today.  It's still a decent 18 degrees but it's cloudy and raining on and off.  Within a couple of days leaves have fallen and you can hear them crunch underfoot.  We've quickly gone from summer weather to more of what you would expect for fall.  We still haven't had the heat on yet although I'm sure that's just around the corner and I'm still wearing sandals and capris.  Quite quickly I'm going to look out of place, not to mention chilly.

Last weekend we were still enjoying our garden in sunshine and t-shirts.  I loved having a moment to watch the birds and I love the unexpected fall blooms.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Containing the Garden

Before

After

Bringing some life to our otherwise dreary front door.  It's a little thing compared to some people's front walks but I love how these turned out.  I've never been much of a petunia person but this year the nursery was carrying the newest colour - Black Velvet.  Really, more of a deep, dark purple.  Some are deeper than others and others have these lovely pinstripes. In my quest to shake things up in the garden I went for it and decided to try out these black beauties.  Complemented with some lilac on purple dianthus, white lobelia and I especially love the lime coloured licorice plant that will trail down the front.

Tips for Container Gardening:

1.  Choose a great container - terracotta, ceramic,  fabulous new fibreglass that gives the look of cement but are light and easy to move around, salvaged pieces such as old buckets, watering cans, etc. - use your imagination just make sure that they have adequate drainage.

2.  Plan before you plant - choose plants that suit the location of the pot - sunny or shady.  Place taller plants in the middle of the pot and work your way out.

3. Fertilize - I tend to buy Miracle Gro but any fertilizer formulated for flowers should work.

4. Water, water and water - containers easily get dried out, especially if they are small like mine.  Of course, to counter this don't overwater or you'll drown those poor roots.  Once you see water coming out of the drainage holes stop.

5.  Use the best potting mix instead of just soil from your garden.  Often our garden soil is too heavy or contains too much clay.  Available now are some great soils for containers that are formulated to retain moisture.

6. Luck and a prayer.  Just saying from experience our hot summers and vacations away can interfere with the success of your containers but I'm determined this year!

P.S. Do you like my garden statue?

In the Garden

I love this time of year. After a long winter it's such a relief to be outside in the fresh air. I don't even mind working in between the intermittent showers of rain we've been having. It's so much fun planning and thinking about the garden.   I find myself at the garden centres oodling over the tables of flowers and imagining the scent of fresh herbs at my doorstep.  Pinks and purples and dainty little white flowers. 

Self control is not easy surrounded by all those beautiful flowers. If I don't go with some plan in mind I have been known to buy more flowers than our garden can accomodate.  That's probably why we're in the situation we are in.  It's time to reevaluate the garden.  Now that some of these perennials and shrubs have matured they just don't look quite right.  Cut back, move, divide...this is my quest for the week.  I shall be ruthless, but loving.