Pumpkins and More Bulbs

There's only two days left in September! Oh my. My Botanus (from British Columbia) order came in the mail last Friday and my first opportunity to plant them was today. I rushed out into the great windstorm, wearing several layers of clothing, and planted 75 daffodils, including Barrett Browning, Dutch Master, and Ice Follies. My palms are starting to blister from twisting my bulb planter around, but at least I didn't get rained on. Tomorrow I'll plant the tiny bulbs and hope for weather that's no worse than this.

I have found, by trial and error, that the daffodils only do well in the sandy soil (probably because it has better drainage) rather than the highly-organic mix of peat moss and compost. I had many bulbs that rotted last fall because they were planted in mostly peat moss. My daffodils are all planted in full sun to part (afternoon) shade.
Planted and labeled!

Mountain ash tree loaded down with berries:

Aster dumosus "Alert", blooming nicely this year:

Aren't these beautiful? I'm very proud of my two pumpkins, the first ones I have ever grown! I'm still figuring out how I'm going to eat them. It had better be sweet and delicious! They are a small sugar variety. I started them indoors a couple of months before planting out (in June), so that they could have a longer season than our weather allows.

An Extinct Blue Species - But I Have One!

Okay, so here's one off-topic post. The Americans won't have any idea about this major shift in our confectionary colors, since they don't have Smarties as we know them (how unfortunate). In Canada however, March 2009 marked the end of the blue Smartie. I'm really not a junk food eater, but I occasionally enjoy these candy-covered milk chocolates. Resident-lawnmower-man picked up these ones from the bulk section of the CO-OP grocery store this week. Either their rate of Smartie turn-over is low, or RLM was just scraping the bottom of the barrel to get these older-style ones. Anyhow, I photographed this lone blue survivor for posterity. Tomorrow I may eat it. Goodbye "Brilliant Blue" artificial dye. Hello to a world with "no artificial colors" in our Smarties. From now on, the colors have to come from plants (there IS a plant connection here). The UK does have a natural blue substance (from cyanobacteria) to make their pale blue Smarties, but for some reason, it is not licensed for use in Canada (and Americans still have their M&Ms with all artificial dyes). I'm sure there are some researchers sitting in a lab somewhere, searching for solutions to our blue Smartie problem...

Bulb Planting and Miracle Fruit

I am aiming to get my bulbs all planted before October, but that may be difficult as I haven't received my Botanus order yet. Hopefully the box is in the mail and I get time to plant the bulbs, allowing them time to take root before winter.
Morning glory - spotted this afternoon:

I planted 260 bulbs in the alpine garden this past week. They are all smaller plants, such as large-flowered crocuses, Allium roseum, small narcissus, Siberian squill, and Anemone blanda. I wasn't planning on planting the entire Veseys order in there, but I decided to focus on that garden and make it really nice rather than diluting the effect around the entire yard.
Alpine garden:

A Lewisia in the alpine garden, still blooming to illustrate why it is one of my favourite flowers:

I received my Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) a few days ago, from Flora Exotica in Montreal. It was shipped via Canada Post "Expedited Parcels" service, which got it here in six days. The online tracking showed that it was sent quickly all the way to Manitoba, and from there it seemed to go to La Ronge by horse and carriage. The plant was well-packed with air bags to cushion its ride and sealed in a Lego-toys box (they must recycle at this plant place). The toddler-gardener was sorely disappointed to find out the package wasn't intended for her, since it looked so promising.
Miracle fruit plant:

From what I read online, this African shrub can start producing berries when it is a foot tall. It also prefers acid soil and a warm and humid environment. We'll see how it does in the basement under fluorescent lights! I have great hopes for this plant and its taste-altering properties. I think that the marijuana growers of this country should re-focus their energies on this cool plant. It is totally legal, safe and fun to have at parties, besides being quite a conversation piece. Keep tuned to see how this project turns out!