GARDEN JOURNAL

Delayed, Not Cancelled

Yes, Environment Canada has confirmed they have never cancelled winter, it’s just a little delayed this year.

The troughs should be sleeping under a cover of snow but some of the plants are still green; the troughs haven’t frozen in yet. I’ve actually been giving them a little bit of water – pretending it might be rain. In the downtown area and along the river the poplar trees are starting to set a few buds. And comments on un-winter weather have been noted by others down east and across the border.

The local bunny in the park, who has mostly turned white is out and about regularly. It can probably find a few sprouts of green or a compost pile or two that isn’t frozen.

But really, we all know it’s just a matter of time before the cold rolls in. Although it was 9˚C yesterday.

Posted in Videos, What's Up | 2 Comments »

That’s a Wrap

One of the projects that completes the 2011 growing season for me is to post up my balcony garden journal for the year. My records of the garden used to contain a lot more information and details, but now seem to be photos, captions and the occasional video. And 2011 is no exception.

Posted in Plant This, Videos, What's Up | No Comments »

Tuck’n in the Troughs #2

Posted in Plant This, Videos | No Comments »

Mov’n In

I don’t get a lot of insect visitors on the balcony, so when it happens it gets my attention. This little critter came by for most of September – a nice change from the typical aggressive yellow jackets that sometime visit in the fall. Take a look.

Posted in Out and About, Videos | No Comments »

Wheat in the Wind

The wheat is growing well. From 5 cm (2 inches) high six weeks ago to 76 cm (30 inches) high this week. The heads are set, hinting of blue. This wheat is spring wheat, which is typically grown here on the prairies – planted as soon as the ground is workable.

Now if you are a farmer on the prairies, deciding when to plant can be a complex and sometimes difficult decision. But on the balcony it’s easy. This wheat has been simple to germinate (with a little heat and moisture), pretty quick to grow and as you can see in the video it can take the wind, which is often the big test for tall balcony plants. The stalks are tough yet slender so they bend with the wind instead of breaking. And as it matures, the wheat heads should turn blue and start to bend down as it becomes heavy with ripening grain. The stocks will turn a golden yellow.

So consider wheat as an alternative to decorative nursery grasses for your containers. It can be grown in most regions of North America. It’s a plant that adds height to a balcony planting, looks beautiful, provides movement and a soft rustling sound on breezy days and produces an edible grain. Granted not enough for a loaf of bread. I’d need a rooftop for that.

Posted in Plant This, Videos, What's Up | No Comments »

Balcony Garden – Blooming This Week

OK, not really a lot in bloom this week as it continues to be cool and wet.

This is how the garden is looking as we approach the longest day of the year.

Posted in Plant This, Videos, What's Up | No Comments »

Just Add Fish

This year there are three ponds in carved stone bowls in the balcony garden.

I’ve grown a number of different aquatic plants through the years, but this year I’m keeping things simple. I’m floating Azolla carliniana (fairy moss) and Salvinia natans (a pretty water fern) in the ponds but really, 2011 is going to be the year of the pond comet. Pond comets are a type of gold fish. They are inexpensive to buy – the more the merrier – and are easy to look after.

So if you have been thinking about adding a water feature to your balcony garden, don’t hesitate to jump in, select a nice container and just add fish.

Posted in Pick a Pot, Plant This, Videos | 3 Comments »

Wrightman Alpines

A group at CRAGS got together this spring to order from Wrightman Alpines. And I joined in. Now I’ve wanted to order from Wrightman before, but have always found the shipping costs too high. So the group approach was indeed an opportunity.

I had my eye on Salix – Wrightman has three in their catalogue: Salix vestita, Salix hylomaticum and Salix herbacea, although only two were in stock when we ordered. I’ve been trying to replace my Salix arctica for a couple of years – which has turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought.

So while these aren’t exactly what I’m looking for – it’s a start. Pictured left is Salix hylomaticum. I like the dark red stems and the plant is supposed to have pinkish-red catkins.

Salix herbacea, below right, is from the Arctic and is commonly called the Least Willow. All willows are called Okpeet in Inuinaktun.

These tiny little shrubs are perfect additions to the new trough and I’m pretty sure I can winter them over.

Esther Wrightmen has started her own blog and recently posted on the first blooms of the Saxifraga – and I believe my unknown bloomer in the trough might be Saxifraga x ‘Valerie Keevil’.

Esther’s father Harvey talks about growing seedlings and cuttings in the nursery in this video.

Posted in Plant This, Videos, What's Up | 5 Comments »

Balcony Garden – Blooming This Week

Saxifraga Gregor Mendel is blooming on the balcony this week. I purchased this plant from a local grower at the recent CRAGS plant sale. I’ve purchased from him before as his plants are proven Calgary-hardy.

Gregor Mendel is a hybrid dwarf cushion Saxifrage, originally developed around 1894. The flowers are a pale lemony yellow and rise about 7.5 cm (3 inches) above the tiny mound of shiny, bright green foliage. It’s going to be in bloom for about a month. Here’s the trough that it it going to live in this summer.

Posted in Plant This, Videos, What's Up | 3 Comments »

Botanic + Biennale

The 17th Sydney Biennale was on when I visited the Royal Botanic Gardens. As part of the show the Garden played host to a couple of artworks on the theme of threatened and threatening nature.

Choi Jeong Hwa from Seoul presented ‘The unbearable lightness of being’. This floating lotus blossom made me smile and reminded me of Tim Watkin’s kinetic sculptures.

Too bad the fountain was on – it’s competing for attention. But colour choice for the flower is brilliant.

The following shots are of Sydney-born artist Fiona Hall’s installation ‘The Barbarians at the Gate’. She painted beehives with military camouflage patterns associated with different countries and then sited the hives at the Gardens as foreign objects “analogous to the shipping in of people during early colonial times”. The camouflage worked really well. The installation was subtle and sited really well close to one of the Garden gates.

Each hive also had a special roof to reference the country it represents. The result is meant to illustrate ‘a colonial-era nation building process of introducing people, plants and animals into foreign habitats forever changing the ecology of a place’. The site is also marked by a low sandbag edging, totally in keeping with the idea of defending against an invader. I’m glad I had a chance to see the pieces – they helped make the massive scale of the Gardens more human and friendly.

Posted in Out and About, Videos | No Comments »