One a Day

For Friday's flower I'm flaunting the daylilies.
Daylily is the common name for the plants in the Hemerocallis family.


Right now I have 3 different varieties of daylilies in bloom.
The above one is a Catherine Woodbury, as is the last photo.


This orange daylily can be seen just about everywhere at this time of the year. I call it the ditch lily, as it can be seen along the sides of roads. But many gardeners have this one in their garden.


This is one of the yellow daylilies. I have a clump that blooms early in the spring and a clump that blooms about mid summer. As these were passed on to me from a friend many years ago I'm not sure of the variety, but I think Stella D'oro.


I really need to add some more colours and varieties to my garden as this is a perennial plant that requires very little work. You can spend all your time admiring the blooms.

Take a peek and see who else is flaunting those flowers on Fridays.

Labels: Friday's Flowers, Through my Lens,

2sDay Smoothies

It's 2sDay - the day when I post photos of things I have discovered that come in twos.

There's nothing better on a hot, humid 2sDay than two smoothies to take down to Port-a-my-yard-a!

Cool and refreshing.

Start with half a cup of vanilla yogurt.

Add half a cup of milk.

Add half a cup of fruit of your choice. I've used honeydew melon ...

... cherries and most recently strawberries.
Blueberries make a delicious smoothie too.

Add half of a banana, which makes the drink a bit thicker.
Somehow I missed getting a photo of the banana.

Blend for a couple of minutes and pour into a glass and enjoy.
Using a half cup of each ingredient makes one smoothie, so you need to adjust the recipe if you want more.

You can combine fruits to make delicious flavours too.
Frozen fruit can be used when fresh fruit is not available.

Labels: 2sDay, recipes

Thank you Skipper

Usually the trip across the road to the mailbox isn't that thrilling as it only produces those brownish envelopes that contain bills. On Thursday there is always an armful of flyers with all the latest sale prices. But today the mailbox had a gray bubble mailer envelope with my name on it.

What could it be?

On opening it up it revealed some wonderful items from British Columbia.
I had forgotten all about the 'Pay it Forward' I had joined last year.
Marilyn, aka Skipper, sent me some wonderful items.

There is a knitted scarf, so soft and delicate in one of my most favourite colours of brown, two knitted washcloths in another of my favourite colours (similar to a frosty green, and it doesn't show up the right colour at all in the photo) and a bar of soap with a felted covering. I think this will be perfect for cleaning my hands after working in the garden. Earlier this summer Marilyn organized the Victoria fiberfest and I'm thrilled to have two of the magnets made for that event. I had read all about it on her blog and some other Victoria blogs. I love the sayings on the magnets. How about you?

Back away from the yarn and no one gets hurt!

So much fibre ... so little time!

Thank you Marilyn, aka Skipper.

In return I'll be posting a Pay it Forward from this blog. It will include a bit of The Crafty Side of me and a bit of The Gardener Side of me.

The Unfurling

For Friday's flower I'm flaunting my zinnias.

Have you watched the unfurling of the blooms on the zinnias?
The more you look ... the more you see.
From a tight green bud to a gorgeous flower in a few days.
The colour and pattern combinations are endless.
Nature never fails to amaze me.

I've been taking photos of the zinnia buds over the past several days and put together a silde show, sort of like my own time lapse photography, so you can see the process.

After the drenching rain of Thursday (50 mm in a couple of hours) I don't have to water my plants this weekend so for this Friday I'm getting a reprieve from getting out the liquid fertilizer and feeding and watering my plants. I'll be sure to do it when they dry out. Right now the pots are still draining.

Take a peek and see who else is flaunting those flowers on Fridays.

Labels: Friday's Flowers, zinnias, Through my Lens,

Peruvian Daffodils for 2sDay

It's 2sDay - the day when I post photos of things I have discovered that come in twos.

For this week's 2sDay I'm sharing a photo of two Peruvian Daffodils that bloomed this past weekend.

The Peruvian daffodil, or Hymenocallis, is also called the spider lily. It grows well in full sun.
This is a native plant to South America, and depending where you live it can be either a perennial or a tender perennial. A tender perennial has to be dug each year at first frost, stored in a dry, cool place and replanted in the spring.



Labels: Peruvian daffodial, 2sDay

Fairytale Sweater

The Crafty Side of me has been busy and finished off this sweater.

I recently started a crochet baby sweater for a new granddaughter. It is from the Fairytale Set on the back cover of the pattern booklet titled Soft & Sweet, #0136, by Coats & Clark. I purchased the booklet at Michaels a couple of years ago, but if you search it on Google you will find a site to buy it from if you are interested.

This project worked up very quickly and all it needs are 3 small pearl buttons to finish it off. You start by making the two sleeves and putting them to one side. The sweater is worked all in one piece, and when the bottom part is the correct length you join in the sleeves and then continue to finish the yolk. The only finishing you need to do is sew up the seam on the underarm of the sleeves, and of course add the buttons.

It will be packed away with the baby blanket I also just completed. I'm also working on a little bonnet to go with this sweater. Next I'll focus on finishing the other sweater that I started at the same time.


Labels: crochet, sweaters,

Monday Mysteries

It's Monday Mystery day.

This is a plant that I know the name of but it has moved way to the back of my mind and it just won't come forward and tell me what it is.
Do you know the name?

I know as soon as you tell me the answer I'll say, of course that is what it is!

Edit: the plant has been identified as rumex sanguineus - bloody dock, or red veined dock, or bloody sorrel. Thanks Joy and Grace.

And now let's revisit another Monday mystery posted earlier that turned out to be anemone bulbs.


I planted the bulbs towards the end of May and have been watching them grow.


I never expected to get blooms this year but I am thrilled to say that so far I have four.


I will really be checking these bulbs out in the spring to see how well they survived the winter.


Labels: Monday Mystery, anemone

Port-a-my-yard-a!

Come and take a Sunday Stroll with me and see an updated virtual tour of "Port-a-my-yard-a!" through my lens.
The last virtual tour was taken in July 2007, so it is time for an update to compare how things have changed, grown, vanished or been moved to various locations in the yard.

The tour starts as you pull up to the front of the house and get ready to pull onto the driveway. One of the major changes has been the removal of the huge globe cedars. The side of the cedars visible from the house was beginning to die off, so it was time to remove them.

Walking up the driveway and turning left you approach the shady area of the gardens. There are lots of hostas, astillbes and impatience that thrive here.

When you get to the front door you can turn and look back to see the front garden in the center of the lawn.

Instead of heading for the front door you turn right and can enter the back gardens by the side path. Before you enter the path be sure to check out all the shade loving plants.

Follow the shady path down into the garden.

The first thing you see as you turn the corner is the potting bench. The umbrella in front of it is usually up giving me some shade as I work at different projects. The wooden highchair is one of my latest acquisitions and has a couple of potted plants on it.

And looking to the right gives you a glimpse of part of the main garden.

Follow the path past the potting bench and walk along the stone path through the garden. At the end of the path turn around and look back to see the pot garden and the decks.

Turn around again and see the composting garden to the right. The fence hides 3 of the composters.

Look to the left from the end of the stone path and see the honeysuckle bush. This garden has some retired items that have been turned into planters ... the bbq, the wheelbarrow, and a seed spreader. Here you can see the two comfy chairs that we love to sit in and observe nature.

A bridge leads over a marshy area and up to the grapevines.

This area of the garden has really grown in the two years since I took the previous photos.

At the back of the garden is the hammock for relaxing.

Just beyond the hammock is another bridge made from recycled wood from an old deck. This year the step ladder planter is located here. There are large clumps of lilies either side of the bridge.

The bridge leads over a small run off stream and into the back of the property where we have a large brush pile to shelter birds and other animals.

Turn back and head towards the house and you can see the trellis garden. I've got lots of old garden tools here, but in the two years the vines have grown so much that they are covering them up.

Look back from the trellis garden and have another view of the main garden.

Walk behind the trellis garden and up the other side of the house where you can see the long front garden and a view of the first garden you saw. This side garden has really grown in the past couple of years. I let it reseed itself and then the plants are all mixed in with each other .. my version of my English cottage garden.

From the corner of the house you can look left and see the new gardens that we have been working on this year. This is where the globe cedars used to be. The tipsy pots have been relocated, a piece of 'garden architecture' has been added plus lots of shade loving plants.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of our gardens.
I would love to see a tour of "Port-a-your-yard-a!".

The Quiet Country House invites you to take a Sunday stroll around your garden too.

Labels: Sunday Stroll, garden tour, Through my Lens,

A Young Grosbeak

My digital camera is my constant companion while I'm working in the garden, walking by the water, or just out and about on my travels. You never know when that "Kodak Moment" will happen.

One day in the week we packed up some lemonade, a couple of good books to read and of course my cameras and went down south to Porta-my-yard-a! I say south because our house faces north and the garden is south of the house. Our destination was the two comfy garden chairs in the shade of the big trees.

Porta-my-yard-a is our most favourite destination. It isn't one of those noisy resorts, it doesn't take long to get there and back, and best of all it doesn't cost anything.

If you haven't taken a virtual walk around our gardens, you can begin here. I really must get some updated photos as those ones were taken two years ago.

What a delight to sit and listen to nature.


One of the birds we heard was a young grosbeak calling out to the parent.

Thank goodness for the zoom on my camera. I was able to get up close and see the young grosbeak eating some of the berries on the honeysuckle bush.

Perhaps the young was calling out to dad and saying look at the tasty morsel I've found all by myself!

The male grosbeak wasn't far away is the black oil feeder (along with a couple of purple finches).

Check out other bloggers that carry cameras all the time and snap photos of Camera Critters.

Labels: Through my Lens, Camera Critters,

Friday's Flower is Coleus

Coleus has wonderful varigated leaves and grows well as a shade loving plant. It's an annual plant but can be grown as an indoor plant.

I just recently got 6 coleus plants from a neighbour (and some other plants) and quickly bought them home and potted them up ... one for beside the front door and one for the bench display.
You can read how to make the mini gazing ball here in a previous blog post.
Do you see the ladybug peeking out from behind the pot? Look here to see how to make some ladybugs for your garden.


I'm hoping these plants grow well even though I was a bit late getting them potted up.


When flower spikes appear I usually pinch them off to encourage the plant produce more leaves and get fuller. I'll let it bloom and seed in the Fall so I can collect some seeds. I've been reading that the plant is easy to grow from seed.


You can take cuttings (at least 2 leaves on the stem) and put them directly into a new pot or into water to root. I might do some cuttings towards the end of summer and see if I can save them over the winter.

The bench pots sit at the end of the driveway in the shade of a big lilac bush. At the sunny end is a pot of nasturtiums, and other plants include begonias, fuschia, impatience, straw flowers, and pansies.

So as it is Friday I'm off to get some liquid fertilizer and feed my coleus and other potted plants.

Take a peek and see who else is flaunting those flowers on Fridays.

Labels: Friday's Flowers,

Scarlet Runner Beans

The scarlet runner beans are beginning to flower. I planted these seeds in a few pots along with some morning glory seeds to grow up an arbour on the deck.

After flowering the small bean will develop. I'll be sure to get some more photos of the beans as they develop. I'm looking forward to tasting these beans as they will remind me of England.
The beans are edible, once you remove the long stringy bit along the edges and the big seeds from the center. The green pod can be cut like french beans. They taste best when they are younger and the bean inside hasn't developed really big. The bean seed is also edible and can be used in bean salads and soups.

How are your beans doing Karen?

Labels: scarlet runner beans, sow then grow

July GBBD

The middle of July sees many blooms in the garden ... many of which are yellow, one of my favourite colours. And mid July brings Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Why not stop over at May Dreams Gardens, see what other bloggers have in bloom. Better still, why don't you join in the fun of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day or GBBD. I'd love to come for a stroll around your garden and see what is blooming.

Labels: GBBD

Dianthus - Pinks

Dianthus or pinks


... are a low growing perennial plants that gets covered in masses of scented pink flowers in the spring.

The pinks prefer several hours of sunlight for optimum growing.

Seedpods can be left to develop on the plant.

Right about now the dianthus seeds are ready to pop out of the seed pods and disperse themselves in the garden.

Seeds can be left to drop from the seedpod naturally.


Or you can snip off the seedpods and shake out the small black seeds. The seeds can be planted in the spring (slightly under the ground).
You can always start the seeds inside in small pots about 6 weeks before it is time to plant outside.

You can take softwood stem cuttings when the plant starts growing in the spring. Cut a stem with an angle cut, remove any buds, and dip in rooting compound before putting into a pot. Be sure the stem has a few nodes on it, and get a couple of these below the surface of the dirt as this is where the root develops from.
I find the best and easiest way to get more plants is to divide the original plant. Dig the clump and pull apart into a few smaller plants and then replant in the new location.


Labels: Sow then Grow, dianthus, seeds,

On and Off the Hook

The Crafty Side of me has been busy over the past couple of days.
I have finished the round ripple baby afghan for our new granddaughter arriving in October. It is carefully folded and put away until she arrives.

Now I've started two baby sweaters, both from the same pattern booklet titled Soft & Sweet, #0136, by Coats & Clark.

Each project is in its own ziplock bag for easy reach whenever I want to work on them.

The first sweater is the one on the front cover and it is called Elfin stripes. I'm using a yarn from Michael's called Snuggly Wuggly in baby sport weight. It is a lovely soft yarn. For this sweater I chose soft green and a beige colours.

The next one is the sweater from the Fairytale Set on the back cover. Again I chose the Snuggly Wuggly yarn in varigated colours of whites, pinks, blues, greens and yellows. I think that this one will make up quickly as I finished the sleeves and started the body (row 4) while watching a half hour tv show.

I love a bargain and got each ball of yarn at 50% off with a coupon. If you don't get the Michaels flyer you can sign up at their website to get coupons emailed to you. The other site I use is flyerland.ca, sign up and coupons arrive in your inbox weekly.

Labels: sweaters, baby blankets

Little Red

My digital camera is my constant companion while I'm working in the garden, walking by the water, or just out and about on my travels. You never know when that "Kodak Moment" will happen.

Little red was up to his antics on the tree with the bird feeders.

Off he scurries, for now.

Check out other bloggers that carry cameras all the time and snap photos of Camera Critters.

Labels: Through my Lens, Camera Critters, squirrels, little red

It's in the bag ...

... the ziplock bag.

I'm sure you are like me and have multiple projects on the go at the same time. I discovered these extra large size zip lock bags and they are perfect for each project. They measure almost 34 x 42 cm. (13x17 inches) compared to the regular sized bags of 28 x 31 cm. (10.5x12 inches)
The yarn, even a large size one, the pattern, and the hooks or needles all fit into the bag. Where as in the normal sized bags I couldn't always zip it closed.
No more yarn getting tangled with another project. No more looking inside needlework bags to see what project it holds.
Now I can easily view all the projects, select the one I want, and work on it.

It's in the bag ... the hook holder bag.

This one really isn't a bag, but in a way it is. It's a holder for crochet hooks that I made a few years ago. While sorting through my craft photo folder I came across these pictures, which I had forgotten I had taken. So I figured this was a good time to share this idea in a blog post.

It was a quick and easy project to make, and I think I'll make another one soon.
It's made out of worsted weight yarn and a 4.5 mm hook. It has slots for eight hooks and a button closure.

You can find the pattern here, at Cute Crochet Blog Patterns.

The other hook holder that I made can be seen here.

Labels: crochet, needle & hook holders,

Thursday Thoughts on Shade

Someone is sitting in the shade today

because
someone planted a tree a long time ago
©Warren Buffet

Labels: Thursday thoughts, trees

Milkweed

Milkweed is an important plant in the life cycle of caterpillars, especially the Monarch butterfly.

The common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) can be invasive, but there are other varieties that aren't - butterfly milkweed, swamp milkweed and poke milkweed. I let them grow in one area of the garden so encourage the caterpillars.

The Monday mystery this week was of some milkweed buds ready to open.

Here just a few of the flowers are open.


You get a good dose of aromatherapy when you stand by these plants.


I love the delicate individual blooms. The flowers grow in clusters and will attract bees and butterflies. Later towards Fall the clusters will turn into pods filled with silky fluff attached to the black seeds. Nature's way of spreading the growth of the milkweed plant.

Did you know the flowers and pods are edible? I don't know if I would be trying this but I've read on a few different websites how to do it. The flowers can be dropped briefly into boiling water and added to salads. Harvest pods about 2.5 cm. long (if any longer you can get digestive upset) and drop into boiling water for a couple of minutes, drain and repeat the process at least two more times. Has anyone eaten milkweed flowers or pods?

I'll just continue to grow them for their beauty and the Monarch butterflies.

Labels: milkweed

A Black and White 2sDay

Did you ever notice how lots of things come in 2's?
Pairs of shoes, pairs of socks, a pair of knitting needles, peanut butter & jam, bread & butter to mention just a few.

It's 2sDay and today I'm showing you two clouds in the sky, at the same time, one black and one white. The black one caused me to scurry inside very quickly as it dropped huge droplets of water everywhere for about 10 minutes.

Labels: sky, 2sDay

Name this Monday Mystery

Put your thinking caps on and tell me the name of the Monday Mystery plant.
Will it be the obvious or will it be something totally unexpected?

Other Monday mystery photos have been flowers, houseplants, birds, plants, food and trees. You never know what it will be.
Leave a comment or two with your guesses.

Labels: Monday Mystery

Strolling down by the bay

On Friday we took our grandson on one of our favourite walks down by the bay ... The Bay of Quinte that is. Come along and enjoy the stoll with us.

It was a bit of an overcast day as a big rain system was just moving out of the area.
The path wanders along beside the bay for a long way.

One end of the walkway starts at a large marina. In the background you can see the bridge that connects the city of Belleville to Prince Edward County.

Along the way there are lovely garden areas and places to sit and relax.

Lots of walkers, dog walkers, joggers, roller bladers, and bike riders can be met as you stroll along.


Anyone know the name of this hosta?
Fire Island? Sun Power?


Some gardens are created but many are just left to grow wild with native plants and grasses.

This old tree reaches right over into the water.

Out on the water was a group of sailboats from the sailing club.
Lots of fishermen try their luck at catching that elusive 'big one'. In the winter when the bay is frozen over the ice is dotted with ice fishing huts.

Someone was very creative with an old tree stump and turned it into a big chair.

We saw lots of ducks while out for our walk. I showed some more photos on yesterday's post. We usually spot the heron as well but not that day.

The skies started to clear towards the end of our walk. It is a wonderful way to get some exercise and enjoy nature.

The Quiet Country House invites you to take a Sunday stroll around your garden too.

Labels: Sunday Stroll, down by the bay

Ducks, Ducks, Ducks

My digital camera is my constant companion while I'm working in the garden, walking by the water, or just out and about on my travels. You never know when that "Kodak Moment" will happen.

On one of our favourite walks down by the bay it is always guaranteed to see a lot of ducks.

Feeding

Preening

Floating

And of course it never fails that I go home with dozens and dozens of photographs.

Check out other bloggers that carry cameras all the time and snap photos of Camera Critters.

Labels: Through my Lens, Camera Critters, ducks

Jacob's Ladder

The Friday flower I'm showing this week is Polemonium, which goes by the common name of Jacob's Ladder.

The name was given to this plant because of the arrangement of the leaves. This plant loves part shade and that is the reason it is doing really well in this location in the north facing garden.

Last year at one of our local craft shows I bought this ladder, not thinking at the time what I would do with it. I had bought a cutting of the plant at a garage sale for a few pennies and at the time it was quite small and I didn't really know anything about the plant. Now, a couple of years later the plant is thriving and what better place for it to grow than up the ladder. I'm wondering if it will reach the top of the ladder this year.

Here is a close up shot of the base of the ladder showing many pink blooms. Jacob's Ladder also has blue and lavender coloured blooms. Notice the arrangement of the leaves.

It produces delicate flowers which bloom in early summer.

Take a peek and see who else is flaunting those flowers on Fridays.

Labels: Friday's Flowers,

The hum of the bees

Liatris

Liatris or Gayfeather is a gorgeous perennial plant with tall, spikey plumes. The plant prefers full sun and easily grows in most types of soil, especailly well drained soil.

This plant attracts bees, butterflies and is deer resistant.

Have a look at the clear wing hummingbird moth that visited the liatris.
The photo above was taken a couple of years ago.

The flower spikes, composed of many little blooms, opens from the top down. Usually plants with spikes open from bottom up.

Last year I found some liatris bulbs at a garden center and planted them. For the first year they are quite small but this year they are quite tall and have at least six flower spikes on them.

The large clump of liatris in my back garden and every year it gives many beautiful blooms. You can see all the flower spikes forming and I can't wait to see the purple blooms on them in a week or so.

Clumps may be divided every 3 or 4 years in the spring. Liatris belongs to the aster family. The spikes are made up a lots of small flowers that open from the top down.

When blooming is finished, let the spike dry on the plant. Seeds are in each little spot where the bloom was. You can snip off the spike and put it upside down in a paper bag, give it a shake every now and then and the seeds will come out. I usually open each little pod and release the seeds with my finger nail.

Seeds need a cool period before germination, which can take 20 to 45 days. Very often I sprinkle some of the seeds around the base of the main plant and let Mother Nature do the rest.
New plants grown from seed will not flower until the second year.

Trade liatris seeds in this printable seed packet.

Labels: sow then grow

A Canada Day flag

Show that you are proud to be Canadian by making your own Canada flag.
You need 3 flat stones all about the same dimensions.
Paint two of them red and one white.
In the middle of the red one paint a red maple leaf.
When dry, find a spot in your garden to display your flag.
Your flag size is only limited by the size of the stones you use.
How about using three patio stones? or a lot of little ones.
The kids and grandkids will have a great time creating their own flags.

Labels: Crafty in the garden