Autumn Clean-Up

Yesterday, I raked leaves and put them into bags.  After finishing clearing the "lawn" (don't worry, "clearing" should have been in quotes, too, as of this morning), I turned around and saw the leaf-littered side yard and decided to tackle it right away.  Usually I just let it sit and be leafy all winter long, on the theory that the leaves are mulch and prevent weeds from taking an early hold in the spring and keep the ground moist if there's a dry spell.  But there's this tar spot thing and I thought I couldn't leave them be.  

So, I put on some thick gloves and clawed around the base of all my plants.  It was quite nice sometimes and quite nasty at others.  The thyme greeted me with a lovely scent which lingered in the air.  I thought the lavender would be even nicer, but it had been beset by some kind of mushroom which then rotted at its base, so the lavender smell was overpowered by that dusty fusty musty mushroom smell.  That became quite familiar to me.  There were a lot of those little nasty spheres which actually turn into a sinister black powder when they decay.  Nothing eats them, so I am quite certain that they are very bad.

After the leaves that had fallen from the trees were taken care of, the side still looked a bit ragged.  The glads, irises and daylilies were all past their peaks, but still somewhat clinging to life through a few yellowing spears.  I got rid of the worst of the yellows and then cut the rest short.  I don't think there is time for real new growth before the winter and hopefully they'll concentrate on their bulbs for the rest of the year.  

I pulled up the last of the dead marigolds and zinnias, the dead nasturtiums and the gone (never really arrived, actually) scarlet runner.  I left the gazanias, of course.  I can spare another few hours to clean them out when the time comes.  I can't believe they're still going.  When I got them, I said "Hopefully, they'll last for a while".  Five months is, indeed, a while.  I'm more than slightly satisfied.

I'll take pictures later, after I've put in the last of the bulbs.  Yes, that's right.  I haven't finished planting those bulbs.  Sigh.

Still at it

Well, believe it or not, the garden is still going.  The Americans have had time to actually make history since last I posted and there are still blooms.  

Not many, mind you.

The Zinnias, which were still going beautifully last Thursday (Sept 30) are now well and truly done.  

I don't know when they were done in because unfortunately I didn't look at that bit of the garden for a few days.  It was very cold over the weekend, though.  I don't think it really got below zero, but it did get close to it.  

The marigolds, having soldiered on through so much, gave up the ghost over the weekend, too. 
As with the zinnias, I don't know when they perished, only that they were going on Thursday and then not on Tuesday.  

But ... the gazanias are still blooming.  I really thought that they were a flower that needed a hot, sunny climate to survive.  Obviously, these guys are not absolutely thriving in the sub 10C weather, but they're blooming!
Even better, they're still producing buds.  It's like they think they'll be blooming for another week or something.  

The weather has been milder this week than it was over the weekend, but I can't believe it's going to last forever.  Somehow, it feels like it already has!  

In less gardening-goddess news, those are the un-raked leaves in the backgrounds of these shots.  The leaf-raking is a serious problem.  Normally, I like to let the leaves sit on the beds during the winter (I can't possibly get enough out of my xmas tree to cover the whole garden) but this year our maple has tar spot disease and the leaves can carry it so they have to go.  This means that I need need NEED to get out there with bags and a rake and resolve.  I did have an honest go at the back deck over the weekend, but I just filled up our compost bin and then had nowhere to dump the unwanted leaves.  So they linger. 

It's worse because my lovely neighbour does rake and all of my un-raked leaves just make his life more difficult.  They actually make his life very difficult by blocking the sewer grate at the corner which apparently is all that's required to make a puddle so large that it flows into his basement.  I've never seen said puddle in my own basement and I'm a little confused that such a thing could be possible (given how much closer to the grate I am than he is) but I hate to think that my negligence might cause him trouble.  Anyway, it's a task for this weekend, which is threatening rain.  

I wish it were still light in the evenings so that I might contemplate gardening after work.  I'm not enough into winter routines to contemplate gardening before work.  It's a form of (tea-fuelled) miracle that the pictures above got taken this morning.  

Another quickie

I did dig up the front corner and put lots of yummy manure and compost in it for the new things, plus bone meal.  I planted all the snowdrops and crocuses and a good number of daffodils and tulips.  I even planted all of the new bulb irises.  I dug up a few viable-looking old crocus bulbs and returned them to the ground, moving my dig site over a few inches as necessary.  I dug up a few truly horrible-looking non-viable gladiolus bulbs.  Do they ever turn into something nasty when they decay!  But then all of the early things were planted and it came to be time to put late things in the sunny sections of the yard.  

The thing is, the sunny sections of the yard STILL have zinnias, marigolds and one lovely nasturtium clinging to life in single-digit temperatures.  I can't dig them up.  I just can't do it.   I will have to dig into frosty ground when I next have a chance (3 weeks, maybe?) but I can't kill that sweet little nasturtium that I started myself from seed.  I can't do in the marigolds which have so obligingly filled my little patch with a pretty glow.  I cannot possibly harm the gorgeous zinnias which are still producing new buds, for crying out loud!  Even the gazanias, which aren't exactly flowering, but do have a few optimistic-looking flowerheads.  I find I can't touch 'em.  

I'm just an old softie, that's all.

Popping in

I'm home for a few days and delighted to see that the zinnia and marigolds are still blooming!  It's not warm anymore; most days stay below 15 celsius, but on they bravely go.  

My sister had autumn crocuses in her Toronto garden (she moved in last winter so everything is a pleasant surprise) which made me think I should have some in my own.  But all I really need is zinnias, apparently!  

I have been reading the anti-chrysanthemum writings of this blogger, which have made me shy away from putting in mums and cabbages.  Well, I say that, but honestly, I haven't put the bulbs in yet so it's not like I'd be doing any gardening if I did pick up some nice autumnal annuals.  

Hopefully I will get a few minutes this weekend to deal with some of the gardening issues.  The tree has tar spot so we need to get all of its leaves into the municipal compost and away from the roots.  All trees in town have tar spot at the moment.  But with luck I'll find time to take some pictures of the miracle marigolds and zealous zinnias.  

I'm feeling quite chuffed about the garden at the moment.  My first flowers started on March 6th and it's now October 17th and I've still got blooms!  It's like I can actually do it or something.  No matter how much of it has to do with luck and climate change, I am well pleased with myself and the garden for providing well over half a year's worth of blooming in a northern climate.  

Wrong again!

As long as I am being upfront about how I misjudged my marigolds and gazanias, why don't we address the other flower I put in at the same time?  I believe I've gone on the record saying that they're no good.

Guess what!  They're good.  Most of them (but not all) have made it through the torrential rains AND whatever it was that munched so merrily on them.  Some of them have even started to spread out a bit.  Like they really meant it when the packet said to leave a foot around each plant. 

Also, they've got pleasant blooms.  The little white spots are cheerful, yes.  However, it's the middle that wins me over. I love the little tiny flowers-within-a-flower that reside within.  

So, I eat my words once more.  I'd like zinnias next year.  Yes, indeedy.  Best of all, they're looking good now when most other things that I plant are over and/or tired.  Good stuff.

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.  

Who's been eating my zinnias?

The past couple of weeks have not shown much change in the zinnias.  They are not noticeably different from when I put them in the ground.  

Actually, it's just that there hasn't obviously been above ground growth.  There has been some above ground destruction.

I don't know what it is that goes after zinnias and not any of the others, but I have a suspicion.  When I went to pull away a few of the fresh weeds, I found an earwig struggling in the spider's web behind the mint.  I think earwigs might well be zinnia-feasters.

However, so far the attacks have been only on the one by the mint and the next one over.  I'll learn to live with a little bit of attrition and figure out what to put in next year instead.

Zinnias are in-nia

June 1st had a lot of activity and I was very busy immediately thereafter.  What can I say?  Still lots to say about the planting that day:

The zinnias went in to the ground in a much more scattered way.   There is no zinnia patch like there are gazania and marigold patches.   That's because they needed to be planted 1-2 full feet apart.  

The end result is that there is (1) one zinnia under the northern most side yard pickwick patch.

(2,3,4) There are three zinnias between the pickwicks and mystery plants, and they are the only group in one coherent region.

(5,6) There is a zinnia in front of the scarlet runner bean by the chimney, and another a foot south by the hyacinth.  

(7) There is a zinnia between the day lily and the mint (in front of the gladiolus bulbs).

(8) There is a zinnia in front of the mint.

(9) There is a zinnia crammed between the daffs and the grape hyacinths.

(10) There is a zinnia crammed between the two patches of grape hyacinths in front of the lavender.

(11) There is a zinnia in the nasturtium patch.

(12) There is a zinnia in front of the southernmost delphinium.  

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.