Spring?....what Spring?

This week has certainly taken a turn for the worse.

White stuff everywhere.

Don't think that even seedlings can take our mind off of this.

Hope it clears a bit before our scheduled jaunt to Halifax tomorrow. We are to give a talk to the Garden Club in the Prospect Bay Road area.

At least we have "technical" Spring

Not the "springiest" sight on earth. March 20th has come and gone. Spring has to be more of a state of mind than a state of weather here at the Willow Garden.

There has been enough sun and a few moderate days to partly rid the driveway and part of our pathway of treacherous ice.

There is still a heavy layer on the path at the front which never gets enough sun to help in its demise. Time and higher temperatures will have to do the deed.

The snow has receded here and there, so the typical spots where some snowdrops appear are getting uncovered.

I saw a few little crocus shoots in the bed by the corner of the house. 

Inside we have some seedlings emerging, and the various peppers got planted today. The prospect of Hot Peppers should warm us up a bit. 

We always grow a nice hot one called 'Ring of Fire'. They do quite well, but I have been growing them in big pots or planters for several years. I think they get a btter chance at heat than when in the ground. At the end of the season we can bring them into the sunporch where they continue to ripen to a beautiful red. Dried, they can be used as is or ground up to make a VERY potent chili powder.

I have saved a bunch of the seeds from these, and they do grow into a good pepper, although they are a bit different from the parent. If anyone wants to try some, let me know.

This week we gave a "sharing talk" to the local Garden Club on seed starting. While we there we tried to pawn off some seed for some annual red poppies that were sent to us by a seed recipient. He sent us MANY seeds he had collected last season.

I don't usually DO annual poppies, so these were and are still up for grabs.

This week we also attended an interesting talk on Greenhouses given by Henri Steeghs from Pleasant Valley Nurseries. It was the first of a short series of talks to be given. The next is outlined below.

Gardening Workshops - Using Nature in the LandscapeThursday, April 16, 7:30 p.m. at the Town Council Chambers, 274 Main Street.

The Antigonish Public Library will present the second in a three part series on gardening in partnership with Antigonish Sustainable Development and the Fresh Air Society.  Topics to be covered will include comparisons between human built and natural landscapes, plant communities, plant establishment and more.

Our plans to give a couple of classes in the Spring Line-up for County Recreation are getting underway. 

A Computer Basics (The sequel) course is to start March30, 7PM at St. Andrews Junior School. There are still a few spaces open for that one.

The two session Gardening Course is slated for May and will be here at our garden.

There is info about these courses on our website.

A Resurrection of Sorts

We have had a rather long recess from blogging. Winter seems to have a dampening effect upon the "creative spirit".

This Blogger site has also proven beyond my patience in its slowness to load.

Perhaps as the spring progresses, so will the possibility of eventually being able to get Highspeed Internet service.

The days are lengthening, Daylight Savings has happened, and there are some signs of snow and ice receding.

The first seeds of spring have been sown, and a couple of lots are sprouting.

Our winter has been rather devoted to "seediness", between sending off samples of our own "saved seeds" to quite a number of people from all over Canada and administering the Seed Exchange for the Atlantic Rhododendron & Horticultural Soc.

This is R. maximum, var. "Rubrum". A very nice variation on the theme. R. maximum is typically  a pale pink to white. Its greatest virtue, apart from hardiness, is its late blooming habit. 

We are even giving a talk to the Antigonish Garden Club this week on the "fun" of seed starting.

We found some useful resource material on Seed Starting Strategies from the Fine Gardening sites which we will use as reference .

The prospects of spring can be a bit energizing. Soon we will have to plan a little excursion to the Sugar Moon Maple operation.

The Days(& nights) are Cooling

As of this date we have escaped any real frosty nights. Temperatures have been very close to freezing for the last few nights.

The only evidence of chilling is some leaf damage on the cucumbers.

I have been making a start at retrieving those plants that need to come indoors .

Our pots of hot peppers are brought into the sunporch so they can continue to ripen.

The three Brugmansia are not cold tolerant, so I brought them in yesterday, probably none too soon. We will have to cut them right back, and store them in the basement somewhere. The big Bay tree will likely come in today, as will the various Rosemary pots.

The somewhat cleaned up sunporch will be its usual congested self.

I expect we have pretty well seen the end of the Basil harvest, but it kept going quite well all summer. My good intentions of seeing some fresh plants seemed to fall by the wayside.

This time in September brings a few interesting blooms to help ward off the "dread" of winter.

The Colchicum(Naked Ladies) are in bloom....they always add an element of surprise after being dormant since late spring. Out of sight , out of mind; so to speak. Speaking of surprises.....we were quite surprised to see a few late blooms on one of the Magnolia sieboldii.

The various Begonia plantings always look their best , it seems, just before they are going to nipped by frost! The huge amounts of rain we received during the month of August had left them looking a big bedraggled, but they have improved a bit during the last couple of "dry" weeks. This Picotee has been very pretty for a long time. This is Begonia grandis, grown for beautiful foliage, if for no other reason. The fall blooms of the Japanese Anemone in both pink and white help extend the season.

The pink is very prolific, and we are still waiting for the white one to open.

This is the first year I have had a Chelone(Turtlehead), and I am quite pleased. It has lovely foliage when some other plants are looking a bit tired.Every year we have a few late appearances from some Hibiscus plants. They are all grow from either cuttings or seed, and really need to be moved to a nicer, sunnier location. There is one completely in the shade of a youngish Catalpa.....not much hope of bloom there!

This vivid pink one gets a little more sun.

Sedums and asters are typical fall bloomers. The sedums are lovely, if a bit splayed. They always seem to get too big for their own good. The variegated version has been very pretty this year, and another nice surprise was a second blooming of a blue Corydalis right beside it.

We find the asters are a bit "off" this year. Perhaps they did not appreciate the excessive moisture in August. This is definitely NOT the true colour of this aster, it is much more of a bluish-purple. Even the occasional Goldenrod intruder can be appreciated. Goldenrod seemed to be very nice in all the "wild" spots.

Gone to the Dogs

During the last several weeks, we have had a very generous cucumber harvest.Most days I would find the occasional cuke that I considered too big, so these I heaved over the back fence.

Our dog Jodi thought this was a fine game for a dog with some retriever instincts, so he would invariably go tearing off after the cuke; and, as often as not, bring it back.

The last few days on our garden visit, I have not been picking cucumbers, so yesterday Jodi decided he would pick his own.It was quite entertaining, and I took a few pics....some were a bit too "in motion", but you get the idea.Making his choice.....

Vine pulling to get it released.Settling with the prize.

A bit of knawing....he never totally eats them. He seems to prefer beans.Cuke somewhat edited....