Tag: garden

Sunday Spring Garden Tour

by Diane, posted in garden

Walking around the garden this morning, I snapped a few pictures of life emerging after a long winter. Although it was only one degree Celsius, the sun was shining, and the light breeze from the northwest wasn’t cool. It felt like spring.

This morning’s sunshine and warmth is the calm before the storm. By this time tomorrow, all signs of spring will be under 20 to 25 centimetres of blowing snow. Hopefully, it will be the last snow storm of the season.

Garlic: It’s up about two inches.

Oregano: All three plants appear to have weathered the winter well.

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Our First Dusting of Snow

by Diane, posted in garden

Winter is on our doorstep and creeping into the garden. Earlier this week, I tucked in the garden for the season. The only thing left to do is cover up a few plants with evergreen boughs when the temperature remains mostly around zero degrees.

On the morning of November 18th, we had the first dusting of snow. It didn’t stick around long, but I captured a few images in the garden. I’ll share them here.

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Thoughts on Plants and People

by Diane, posted in garden

As I strolled through the garden, I admired the deep green leaves of the thyme, parsley and creeping phlox, indeed some strawberry leaves were still vibrant and green. They contrasted sharply with the bare branches of plants that had long lost their leaves when temperatures dipped below zero.

I wondered what allowed some leaves to survive while others succumbed.

Then I wondered if people were like plants: some endured and thrived in hardships while others perished in a light frost.

The pansies still blooming beneath a thin layer of snow on December 10th.

Thyme, strawberry and dandelion still green on December 10th.

Winter is only 11 days away, yet these plants are still green. Given the lack of daylight, they’re probably not growing at any rate. They’ve endured temperatures as low as -5 degrees Celsius, freezing rain and snow.

My lettuce — the first time I planted a fall crop — is doing well. I cover it with a small frame with plastic. It’s doing fine, but there’s not much growth. I doubt it will survive the below -10 temperatures we’ll get soon.

Lettuce undercover. Photo taken December 8th.

The lettuce under the cover.

The garden never fails to entertain. I love being in it in every season.

Fall in My Garden

by Diane, posted in garden, Non-fiction, Photographs

If spring can spring, does that mean fall can fall? If so, it has fallen in the Maritimes.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in my Nova Scotia garden. While temperatures reached 13 degrees Celsius, grey clouds consumed the sky, a thin veil of fog perched in the distance and a slow mist fell throughout the day, there was no wind. I worked outside all day in shorts and a light sweater.

Here are a few photos of my garden that captured the season.

Red Berries

High Bush Cranberry

I planted this bush several years ago because I love cranberries, and I wanted the ability to pick some from my yard. However, these berries taste nothing like the low-growing cranberries that grow in Nova Scotia. The berries taste horrible. I’ve tasted them before the frost, after the frost and after may frosts, but they still taste horrible. However, the birds enjoy them in winter.

Ninebark

This shrub has been growing in my garden for more than two decades. Last winter, I cut it back hard because it had grown lanky and wild. This summer, if filled out better than the first few years of it living in my garden.

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Inviting Flyers to the Garden

by Diane, posted in Non-fiction

Bird FeederBirds in the garden offer many benefits. Their songs brighten the dullest morning, and it’s great fun to watch them grow, play and search for food. They also eat their share of pesky insects and bugs.

Bird feeders are one way to encourage birds to visit the backyard. Homemade and store-bought feeders attract birds equally as long as they can reach the seeds they’ll eagerly gobble-up. If a feeder is maintained through winter, it should be continued through summer. Birds become dependent on it while feeding hungry hatchlings.

Hummingbirds love red flowers, including red tulips and red daylilies, but not everyone can keep enough red flowers in bloom to feed these active birds. This is where feeders come in handy. Various types, including ones that stick to windows, are available.

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