Gladioli

I did carry out my threat to cut the gladioli as they became available.  As of this morning, I am up to 3 stems in the vase.  

They're pretty.  I'm sorry that there won't be many more (I count 2 on the way).

Glad tidings

Earlier in the summer, I planted 20 gladiolus bulbs.  I was so excited when they started to poke up through the soil just weeks after I'd put in the bulbs.  But then came the painters and things went bad.

Well, the glad tidings are that as of today, I have 3 stalks of blooming gladioli on the way.

That's not the full bouquet of gladioli that I had in my dreams when I got the bulbs, but given the havoc wrecked by the (much needed) paint job I feel lucky to see any flowers on the way at all.  

My usual response to pretty flowers in the garden is to leave them in the garden, looking pretty.  These, I feel I should pick.  The garden is not looking pretty and it is not going to look pretty again before next spring.  I could have a nice vase of dramatic cut flowers inside instead of a few sad samples sprinkled through an otherwise dismal dirtpatch.  Cutting flowers is hard, though.  They're healthy plants! Still, I think I should consider these vase flowers from the word go.  

What happened?

So, what did happen in the garden in those weeks that I was away?  

The daylilies came out.  

The delphiniums bloomed.  Then they were bent and destroyed by the painters.

The mystery plants in the front that I have diligently removed thinking they were weeds year after year before finally realising this year that they don't spread like weeds and they always come up in the same place so maybe, just maybe, I should give them a chance ... they bloomed.  And were then bent and killed by the painters.

The zinnias finally came out.  Well, a flower on some of the plants came out.  This was not a success.  Note for next year: No zinnias in the side yard.  Nonetheless, there they are.

The gazanias finished.

The herbs (except the lavender, perversely) have flowered.  

And been painted.  

The glads seem to be still coming out but I worry very much about their chances of surviving the attack.

The bush on the front side bloomed its one week of magnificent white blooms; I only know this because I have evidence of their demise.  

The other bush on the front side is blooming with a few yellow flowers.

The hosta in the front looks like it may be about to flower.  I don't think it ever has before, so that would be exciting were it not for the fact that it will undoubtedly be destroyed shortly.  

I think my favourite news is that the nasturtiums bloomed.  Well, some did.  These are the nasturtiums that we started from seed indoors and watched sprout and grow and put out just before heading away for our vacation and then they got snowed on and all sorts of terrible things and most of them died, but not all.  That's a true success story from the indoor planting.  

A little bit glad

The gladioli are already poking through!  Since I'm used to the bulbs that go in to the ground in the fall and come up in spring, it's hurting my brain to believe that these ones can start sprouting in a few weeks.  

Admittedly, they're not huge yet. 

Still, this summer bulb thing is great!

Glad handling

I am not exactly giving up-to-date information here.  Eventually, I will get to a real update, but since it's been a coupla weeks I am going to gradually fill in the stuff I did before I left.

As I wrote earlier, I wanted to try growing gladioli, given how lovely they are.  

I planted all of the bulbs on June 1.  

There are 3 glads between the pickwick patches to the north of the chimney.

There are 4 glads behind the 5 marigold patch to the north of the chimney (between the 2008 double daylily and the mystery patch).  

There are 3 of the smaller glads in behind where the big hyacinths were (basically between the chimney delphinum and the daylily).

There are 2 glads next to the mint by the original spot where the daylily was.  There is also a zinnia in that area, closer to the walk.

There are (probably, I didn't write it down immediately and I am now incapable of knowing for sure, but if the math and my other notes are right it's) 5 glads against the wall between the mint and the daylily.

There are 3 glads against the wall behind the daffs between the lavender and the mint.

I did take pictures of the places I put the bulbs, but they're not exciting pictures and they were intended more as an accompaniment to my (inadequate, see above) notetaking than as things to look at later.

Big Plans

We went to the seed store today!

On the theory that the side yard will have fewer weed invasions if there are healthy non-weeds filling up the dirt, we picked up annuals.  

We got some marigolds.  I think I'll put seeds in around these guys so that as the ones from the shop finish, new ones will be starting.  That's the hope. 

There's Janie Tangerine Marigold, with solid-coloured "crested, double flowers on compact plants".  It's to be planted in full sun 12 inches apart (in full sun), and it should grow 8-10 inches tall.

There's Marigold Bonanza Bolero.  They should produce variate flowers 10-12 inches tall (also to be planted 12 inches apart in full sun).  

We got some zinnias.  They're Profusion White and to be planted 12-24 inches apart in full sun.  They should grow to 10-12 inches tall.  They should be friendly, plain flowers with white petals and yellow centres.  I don't think I could pull a zinnia out of a lineup, so I am quite excited about seeing how these do.  They look like they might be good basic flowers.  

Too cool to ignore was the Gazanias in Tiger Mix form.  Most of the flats were already in full bloom, so this may have been a silly idea.  Hopefully, they'll last for a while.  They need to be planted in full sun 10 inches apart and they're supposed to get up to a foot tall.  They claim to be good for cutting.  We'll see.  

We used to get cut flowers a lot at the farmer's market in Hamilton.  After a certain time of day, you could get two bunches for $5.  This supplied one with just about the right amount of blooms and stems for a vase.  I miss that access to reasonably-priced flowers.  Here, $5 will get you a wilting handful of roadside weeds, if you're lucky.  Mostly, it'll get you laughed at.

One of the things I used to get at the Hamilton market was gladioli.  I love gladioli, so when I saw them at the shop today, I grabbed some bulbs.  It's too cold here for them to last through the winter, but according to the east coast gardener, you can take the bulbs out after the plants die back in the fall.  Perhaps I am up to it.  

I got a package of 10 gladiolus flevo 'Laguna'.  They're GUARANTEED to bloom!  They also say that they're easy to grow.  They instruct me to dig a hole slightly larger than the bulb(s), place the bulbs in the hole, cover with soil and water thoroughly.    They want full sun, go in at a planting depth of 4 inches.  They are supposed to grow to 22-28 inches.  They should be 6 inches apart and planted in SPRING.  That might be now!  

I also got 10 bulbs from the bulk bin at the shop.  I think they were supposed to come up red.  And VERY big.  Bulbs from the bin are about 3 times as big as those from the package.  

I'm not entirely ignoring the front.  I picked up a Heartleaf Brunnera (brunnera macrophylla), which I've been seeing around the city and liking the looks of.  It's a perennial that blooms in spring, likes partial sun or shade, copes with dry or moist, and grows to 18-24 inches tall.  I like its little blue flowers.  If this little guy works out, it might be the right thing to try around the far side of the house.  Oh! Or in the back.  Hooray for shade-loving flowers!

In the same line, I thought I'd try a calla lily up front.  This one is Albo Maculata.  The bulb (corm?) is packed in wood chips, so you know it's delicate.  This means that it won't survive the harsh conditions and crappy soil in the front.  But I need to give it a go.  The front needs nice things.    Besides, it too, is GUARANTEED to bloom.  It's supposed to be up in midsummer, so presumably I won't be seeing it until next year.  It wants full sun to partial shade (so it needs to go closer to the side than the door), it's to go in 4 inches deep and should grow to 16 inches tall.  If I ever get another, it will have to be 12 inches away from this one.  

But all of this is trivial. Forget FLOWERS!  We got a raspberry plant!!!! This is the most exciting thing in the history of exciting things.  I hope it comes out well.  

Last on the list?  The thing that we went to the shop for in the first place: Seed Potatoes.  Last year we grew Yukon Golds (and that worked well).  This year, I think we're a little bit late off the mark, so we're going to plant a fast variety.  It's called "Superior".  Sounds good, huh?  If we can get more than one potato crop out, we'll be living like kings.