Hello Hibiscus

I was so excited coming home on Sunday night to find I had not missed the blooming of the Hibiscus!  We had been gone a week ..... on the day we left a few blooms were out but numerous buds were literally on the edge of bursting into glorious blooms.  For sure they would bloom and be done by the time we arrived home.  In the dark we turned into our drive....in the dark the lovely lavender blooms shone in the headlights......and in the dark I exclaimed - the hibiscus is still blooming!  Bryan backed up the car and shone the lights directly on the shrub for me.  Oh joy! 

I love the hibiscus flowers - don't you?  Is the hibiscus also a Rose of Sharon?  Are there other colors of hibiscus flowers?  The pruning last fall seems to have encouraged more flowers this year.  After the rush of spring madness, these flowers arriving in late summer prolong the inevitable march into autumn.  The flowers appear to be created from crepe paper  with a sweet fragrance. The bees buzz around seeming undisturbed as the camera focuses closely on their landings. 

Early this morning with coffee cup in hand, I again stood admiring.  Succumbing to my obsessive compulsive need for cleaning and deadheading, I began to gather handfuls of finished flowers.  Typically deadheading leaves ones hands sticky and gooey.  However, the finished hibiscus flowers are soft and dry.  Lovely.  Should one deadhead a hibiscus? Do you deadhead your hibiscus? Are you OC about deadheading like me?

Loving this COLOR

 Another Saturday and another exciting day of painting - yes, we are loving this paint sprayer.  Who knew one could experience a huge change in such a short easy time.  I must admit I find it easy because of my DH who does all the prep work, the setting up of the paint, cleaning the paint gun, fussing with the paint gun......  I contribute too.....sanding, spraying, serving lunch and iced tea.... it is a true partnership of love :) Okay, sounds corny....

We had picked up a set of Adirondack chairs at Costco some time ago, Bryan had put them together and we were trying to decide what color to paint them.  We found the perfect color BM "forget me not".

Here is the before picture.

And here is what they look like after:

 They sit in front of the bed and breakfast - Bayview Bed and Breakfast .

 And here is the folding chair we placed in the spare bedroom for the bed and breakfast.

Don't you just love this??  Watch for more of this color on unsuspecting pieces of furniture.

White Garden

The White Garden is coming along..... I see the vision, do you?  So often I view my garden, my plans through glasses tinted with the future in mind.  I see the possibilities beyond the actual. 

 This last picture has some added photo editing....really...hahaha, Can you tell I just discovered Piknik?  Oh the fun!

Rain, Rain, Rain...is this really summer?

A few weeks ago, we cleaned out an area behind our house to reveal a woodland garden bed complete with rocks.  Did not take long to get a few plants into that area and here we are today - I am thinking this may be a favourite of mine.

Cherries, Cherries......birds !

This year our cherry tree is loaded with cherries - apparently our mason bees truly did their work.  Yeah for cherries - but boo to the birds.

Each morning,

....a flock of robins fly over and begin pecking away at their morning snack

...flocks of little gray birds arrive to hide behind the leaves and nibble

...even a hummingbird flits by to take a look

.....but the crows are the most annoying! 

Last year only 3 crows were regular thieves at our tree - this year the murder has expanded to 5 - the 'teens' have joined them.  Caw, Caw, Caw...actually a sound more like a squawk....obnoxious and arrogant crows decimate our cherry harvest.

Garden Tour July 10th, 2011

And to end the week - my first hydrangea of the season displayed in the new treasure from the Chemainus garage sale - love that white ware! This is my first piece to collect and I am so happy it is just perfect for the hydrangea.

Ok, a newbie here -Today I am for the very first time!

  linking this to My Shabby Streamside Studio

Summer was this week.......?

We had 3 days of summer - don't get me wrong - it is still lovely out there however, the clear blue sky with the penetrating heat is gone.....for now. Good time for pics tho so here goes.
First, we had brutally chopped down the climbing rose bush at the side of the house and i had planted one piece in a pot. It is thriving and i find it odd to find different colors of roses on the same plant.

And my HOSTA!!! I am counting over 30 blooms!! I am so excited. Hmmm... strange there are only blooms on one half of the plant? Stay tuned for the blooming pics.

And finally the astilbe. I have never had such beautiful color blooms on an astilbe.

Sweet peas

Sweetpeas - how delightful! The fragrance is so 'sweet' filling the room. The flowers are not significant on their own except they are 'cute'. What is most wonderful is that one HAS to pick them for bouquets in order to encourage more flowers! I LOVE SWEETPEAS. Did you plant sweetpeas?
Are you picking yours?
Stop and smell them today.

I tried planting sweetpeas in a container this year. The leaves are turning yellow and crisp from the bottom up - do you think that is a result of being in a container?

Garden Tour June 29, 2011

Mill Bay Garden Club AGM Potluck June 28, 2012

Enjoy! If you click on a picture it will enlarge so you may enjoy it more!

Personalize a digital scrapbooking design

First Day of Summer!

While I am on the topic of loping (is that spelled correctly? lopers...lopper? loppering?) Ok, well, while I am on the topic of 'getting rid' of small trees here is another bush...shrub emerging into a full scale tree. Honest, last year I ruthlessly hacked away at this shrub, nearly wiping it out of existence, halting just short of the ground. This year rising determinedly, growing wildly, reaching a height now of over 10 feet, it has yet to reveal any redeeming features. It is green - so is everything else around it. It grows quickly - as does the vine creeping up the hill behind it. It appears to have been planted on purpose. Because of this, I waited patiently this year for its 'beauty' to burst forth. I am still waiting.....not so patiently anymore. What is this thing? Surely someone will know!
Again, is it worthy keeping?
I am imagining forsythia here with several photinia on either side creating a hedge at the border of this 'cliff'. Hedge...another thing to trim.....sigh...that is another story....to save for another day.

June 20th, 2011

This evening I plucked all the dead flowers from the radiant red rhodo......should I have done that? Don't like the look of the withered petals on the bush, but now that they are gone, the poor thing appears somewhat naked. Just as the blooms are at their best...the peak....glorious....the inevitable decline begins. Not even sure how plucking them off will affect next year's growth.
Do you pluck the flowers off your rhodos?

Pruned the small tree at the beginning of the driveway as well. Still not sure what it is nor whether it will remain. Really, a few pathetic white .... can't even call them blooms on the branches...and it is done. Not much to redeem itself. Afraid it may succumb to the lopers this fall. I am imagining a pink dogwood there instead - or a snowball bush. In the neighborhood, numerous snowball bushes have been blooming for weeks.

Perhaps a master gardener or one with more experience than I can tell me what this small tree is? And convince me it should stay?

Garden on!

Why?

Why am I beginning a blog on gardening? To keep a record of the garden as time goes by....the changes, the growth, the pleasure....from here to where?

I live on Vancouver Island surrounded by talented 'oh so knowledgeable' Master Gardeners. Privileged to belong to the Mill Bay Garden Club, we glean nuggets of advice and experience whenever possible. We snoop and scope out other gardens, drooling at the rewards of their efforts. Admiring the displays, we are encouraged by the 'bios' which confess the garden has been 14, 18, or even 20 years in the making. Thank goodness! There is still time for our humble Huckleberry garden.

In the Garden June 1st 2011

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