May Day

What an awakening this morning out our windows! Poor daffodils and sulking to show it, but hopefully they will revive.

Came home from work with more plugs to plant. Papyrus 'Baby Tut', Carex 'Toffee Twist', Fusion impatiens 'Heat Coral' and many new varieties of petunias. Now to get busy but in the basement today not outdoors, sadly.

Spring Again!

So much to blog about with spring in all its full glory! A glorious wedding day for William and Catherine in England and time for us to celebrate with friends for an almost all nighter.

Here in Winnipeg an unusual bird sighting for us....a brilliant red male cardinal. It was enjoying our feeding stations as much as our resident mallard duck couple.

Time spent today outside planting up all varieties of annual plugs from Schriemer's greenhouse. This is the bonus of working there......having ready access to the selection as they are placed on the tables. Now where oh where to keep them all?!

My three tier light fixture is still in use for my overwintering succulents. Although I have taken my large variegated agave and one echeveria container out from under them. The weather has been in the upper teens and to the mid 20's. A perfect reintroduction time for them to come outside and acclimatize. I am still always closely watching the overnight thermometer and if there is any risk of close to zero, they come back inside.

The crocuses were blooming gloriously in the front flower bed and untouched for 2 weeks by the bunnies. Alas, I guess they couldn't resist anymore and voila!.....they were gone. I must be more vigilant in sprinkling on blood meal.

Garden Visitors

As we were hanging up some fresh suet for our garden visitors, I captured one of them.....this red breasted nuthatch. The yard is a flurry of red and white breasted nuthatch, chickadees, pine siskin, downy and hairy woodpecker and ever watching for the northern cardinal which the last couple of years have been appearing. Usually this is a very rare sighting for us this far north so we are always thrilled to see any of them, but particularly the brilliant red of the male in the stark winter white.

Our winter continues to be glorious and 'warm' for us and still not much more than 6 inches of snow on the ground....highly unusual. Good for all creatures including us humans!

Leaves and Snow

Walking in the park adjacent to us this afternoon, wonder of wonders, the sound of leaves underfoot was a first. Still very little snow, hence not enough to offer any cover for the fallen leaves. We had some very cold temps, in the minus 20's celsius, and I am quite concerned for some of my perennials. Or rather those that I am pushing the envelope on, such as Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola', which I have covered with flax straw and Epimedium rubrum, which I have not covered. Tomorrow I will be gathering up some of those oak leaves and blanketing the Epimedium. I would dearly miss those bobbing little Bishops Hats in the spring.

We have 'warmed up' by our standards to a very pleasant -8c today with still no sign of snow. Every year my husband and I build a snowman in our backyard but not this year. The only one to look at will be in this message of Happy Wishes to All!

Gardening under the Full Moon

This was a December 1st to remember! I have never gardened at night and enjoyed doing it so much. If anyone knows what our 'typical' winter weather is like I would have been bundled up and working in mid-day under sunshine. But I couldn't resist having just arrived home with my fresh seasonal greens for my outdoor containers. The moon was brilliant and along with our Christmas lights, plenty of light shone on my gardening areas. What pleasure at zero degrees celsius as I was relishing working in my light garden gloves, not shivering and having to come inside to warm up the frozen fingers from winter gloves. Plus wearing no winter boots as no snow has arrived. I remained outside for 2 hours relishing how beautiful and warm....by our standards....it was. November broke all time high records with it being the warmest November in history.

And I was blessed to take advantage of this special first day of December, doing what I love to do.....garden.....no matter where or when.

Pruning in Arizona

From my previous blog about my stay in France to now being in Arizona. Yes, I am very blessed. Son, daughter in law and two young grandsons to visit in a new home and a wonderful newly planted yard.

It is a requirement in their area to plant native plants in the front yard. There I was this morning pruning desert plants and being somewhat ruthless as I was shown by a local landscape worker. One stipulation.....no pruning when the temperature reaches 28f. No problem here with that very often. At this time of year the temps. are glorious....not so in the summer months. They live in summer as we do in winter in Winnipeg.....inside. Air conditioning versus heating.

Gardening in France

Lost a long time from blogging here and I have missed doing so. Since my previous message I have put a lot of miles on viewing many different gardens in Europe. This trip was planned 6 months previous to my Mom's passing away. In the big picture I felt this was all meant to be, visiting far away family not seen very often. Our daughter lives in Villefranche sur Mer which is just east of Nice right on the Mediterranean. How great is that?!

Hence, very special to spend 7 weeks living with her in the non-vehicular village. Anyone who wants to lose weight or become very fit, this is the place.....many steep steps. I loved it! Plus the spectacular views, wonderful food, little shops, friendly people, markets and just enjoying walking the grand dog meandering along the narrow sidewalks and streets with a destination of a quaint coffee bar or patisserie.

No vehicles allowed? That does not stop these residents from gardening. As I watched them trudge in soil, huge containers and plants, I realized how easy our gardening is in comparison. Then the watering. Good if they live on the ground floor but if not more steps or the water fountain in the 'place'. The wonders of their hard work is shown in the pictures. The balcony one is the village winner with the most beautiful balcony.

Over our time away we travelled to the many cities along the Cote d'Azur---Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Juan les Pins, St. Tropez, Menton, Ventimiglia and also some in Provence. Further afield we went on a driving trip to northern Italy and Austria. What absolutely spectacular scenery and history! Throughout all these travels many gardens fit into our tour schedule of which I will continue to share.