Everything but the Dandelions

Here are some shots from this evening, cleverly trying to avoid the untidy lawn full of dandelions. It's very embarassing, but the lawn shall have a haircut tomorrow. RLM has promised.

The rose bush is just starting to grow some foliage. I'd call that a bit tardy!

Otherwise, the air is a bit smoky here, though not enough to smoke out the bugs. I flew over northeast Saskatchewan today, noticing at least three fires. Back at the airport, I also noticed that several water bombers were missing from their regular parking spots. There was a moderate sized fire with a large grey mushroom cloud rising from it northwest of La Ronge. It's the season of fire again.

Tulips in the large raised bed:

The summer of 2006 brought fires that forced evacuation of people with respiratory disease. Rather non-reassuringly, we were told that as critical health care workers, we wouldn't be allowed to leave until the hospital was burning down (or something to that effect). I envisioned us paddling away from the ashes of town in a canoe. While I don't think it would ever come to that, I have the feeling that I'd be taking the family dog and leaving town far before that point.

Seed heads of Pulsatilla vulgaris (pasque flower):

At least the fires can kill off the plague of spruce beetles. Yeah, those BC people used to think that their pine beetles would be killed off by cold winters. Our winters are brutal, yet the forest-destroying spruce beetle marches on.

Seedlings of something growing around my potted tomato.

I threw some compost in here, so it could be anything we ate in the past six months. I'll tempted to grow one and find out what mystery plant we have here. I'm guessing a cucumber.

"Tumbling Tom" cherry tomato looking fabulous and sporting some nice little tomatoes:

Fragrant Narcissi and Finally Some Tulips

The raised beds are now blooming with color, with all but the single late tulip varieties in full bloom. Here's the larger raised bed, showing some obvious bare spots. I'm hoping to get some new perennials to fill in the "holes". It would be really nice to have some short flowering perennial to sprawl over the rock wall edges. I'll be working on that for next year.

Here is double late tulip "Blue Diamond", which is open only in the morning and early afternoon, closing by supper. From a distance, you can't tell that it's a double-flowered tulip, so it blends in with the single blooms of a similar-colored tulip. I'm not totally impressed, but the close-up shot is pretty.

Double late tulip, "Blue Diamond" from above:

Trumpet Daffodils and Negrita Triumph tulips:

An oddly side-facing "Zurel" bi-colored tulip.

Poetaz Narcissus "Geranium" has got to be my favourite narcissus (not that I have an extensive collection). It is beautiful and smells absolutely wonderful, two qualities that any gardener might personally strive for! Here it is in the sloped rock garden.

Another photo of Bergenia cordifolia's flowers, just because I really like this perennial a lot:

Bright morning sun on the tulips:

Aha! The Papaver somniferum (breadseed poppies) seedlings are coming up! I let last year's plants self seed and a nice number of plants has come up in the back of the raised bed this spring.

Spring Plants in Bloom

Perennials big and small: From the large rubbery leaves of Bergenia cordifolia to the delicate blooms of Gentiana verna, there are many perennials to appreciate in our northern climate right now.

I grew these Bergenia from seed. They are now about three years old and this is their first really nice blooming season. This perennial flower is very hardy and evergreen, keeping its leaves under the snow. If you have a space for one, you should get one. Or get lots of them!

Pink creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) combines well with the blue grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) in the sloped rock garden.

A gardener friend gave me this little spring gentian (Gentiana verna) last year. It fits in well among my sloped rock bed full of short perennials. The flowers are starting to get a bit past their prime in this picture. It's a pity I didn't get a picture a few days ago.

The blooms close at night and open in morning sun. It is planted in full sun and is supposedly hardy to zone 4, but our good snowcover probably makes it tolerate our -45 degrees C winter temperatures. This is an absolutely beautiful rock garden plant. I'd like to multiply this plant, but I'm not sure on the best method -- seed, division, cuttings? I'll try to collect seeds when they ripen as a first option.

These may not look anything like the lush ones we saw in Victoria, but this rockcress (Aubrieta deltoidea) is currently in bloom.

Yellow Trumpet Daffodils: