GARDEN JOURNAL

Tree Down

A wicked wind storm hit town on Sunday. The clean up continues. In our ‘hood, a couple of big, old conifers couldn’t hold on and ended up in the street, or like this one, against someone’s home. Although I didn’t see it go over, it looks like the fall might have been a slow, but still very startling tumble.

Look at these roots. Shallow and squeezed to fit the tight little space it had between sidewalk and street. It almost looks as if you could just push the tree back off the the second floor railing, it would right itself and settle back in. But, unfortunately, that’s not reality.

The gardener’s helper took these shots. He also noticed the local neighbourhood cat came back, taking advantage of the new express route to the second floor deck. It’s always sad when a tree goes down. It’s a constant battle to secure and maintain green space in the city core. Hopefully the city won’t take too long to plant the new one in the spring.

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100 Proof

It’s true.

Watering with a alcohol mix does stunt the growth of paper whites. It also makes the foliage shift to a darker green. Flower size, number (3 each) and fragrance are not affected. Gin-based bulbs achieved a height of 30.5 cm (12 inches) before they set bloom. City water supported bulbs grew to 58.5 cm ( 23 inches) and then flowered away. I do like the fragrance.

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Glass Garden

And now for something completely different.

Alpine gardening in troughs on a balcony is all about drainage with brief moments of colour and endless texture – gardening in a sometimes harsh environment of gusty wind and freezing winter. So while that goes on outside, here’s a peek at what has been going on inside.

Glass gardening in the apartment is all about moisture, and so far also brief moments of colour and endless texture – gardening in an environment that includes sunlight, cozy warmth and attention from a gardener who now has a bit more time on her hands.

The inspiration for the glass gardens was the little pots of moss and ferns that I tended this summer. I just didn’t want to part with them and knew full well that they wouldn’t make it through the winter. So I started to poke around and set up these little growing environments under glass. The outdoor plants could then happily transition inside. Now I’m still playing around with the details, but so far so good. Weekly attention to moisture levels, regular insect checks, new plant additions as I find them and some background reading has resulted in an interesting few weeks of growing.

With another month of shorter days still to come, it will be interesting to see how the plant ‘happy-meter’ shifts. The gardens aren’t getting morning sun any more and I really do need to get some distilled water for misting the environments. But it’s a diversion that will keep me busy for the next few months. Thanks to the gardener’s helper for the pics.

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Tuck’n in the Troughs #2

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Tuck’n in the Troughs

It was a good growing season for the hypertufa troughs. Many of the plants are now 3-4 years old and are well established. I dare not fuss with them and am always amazed at what pops up every spring. I’ve been watering them weekly, while I wait for the winter freeze up.

We have had an amazing fall. No serious snow yet. It’s also noticeably drier. Alpines in the mountains would already be snuggled under a layer of snow and frozen up for the year. I’ve moved the troughs to a corner of the balcony where they are out of the direct sun but open to the elements, both wind and snow. It’s important to try to keep the troughs frozen up once winter settles in.

A couple of the troughs are becoming a little fragile. Corners and edges softening up a bit – I think that is because they were not quite cured properly when they were built. Putting the troughs on castors helps move them easily, but also makes it easy to play bumper cars when moving them. I could be more careful.

I’ve planted a few tiny plants into the rock this year, but am pretty sure they won’t live to greet the spring. Always worth a try though. I’m hitting the books to start making my list for next spring – as the troughs fill up, I get a bit more selective about new additions.

These photos help remind me about the textures, shapes and colours I’m working with and where the empty spots are. Still room for a few more – plants that is, not troughs.

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One to Seven

That’s gin to water – the brew I put together in order to stunt the growth of one of the containers of paperwhites I have on the go. I’ve never tried the stunting potion before. I typically plant paperwhite bulbs in the bottom of a tall glass vase so I don’t have to stake them once they start to bloom. The vase provides the support. But this year I’m doing a side by side comparison, gin and no gin. I’ll post the results in a few weeks when the flowers are in full bloom. Cheers to that.

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Forest and Fantasy

David Hoffos is an installation artist who has a show on right now at ACAD. This is the last stop for his show called Scenes from the House Dreams – a collection of 21 different scenes that David created over the last five years. It took him about three weeks to set up the show in the Illingworth Kerr Gallery.

It’s well worth a visit. I went to the opening last week. And I’ve been thinking about the show. So when I was on a ride this weekend, I noticed that the trees along the river reminded me of a couple of David’s installations.

His miniature scenes “Airsteam‘, ‘C.P. Fail’, ‘Treehouse‘, ‘Winter Kitchen‘, ‘Circle Street‘ and ‘Overpass‘  all have a forest or tree’d street as a component of the installation. Below is a shot of the ‘Airsteam‘ scene in the show, with the video component visible.

Big heavy old poplars, like those in the river park I rode through on Sunday, could be what he was thinking about when he crafted the scene. Coincidence or nice connection, I’m not sure which, but I like how David’s dream images triggered my memory.

David’s show is up until mid-December. You should go.

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