Looking back and Moving Forward into 2019

A photo taken by my dear husband.

When my father called me on Tuesday morning to wish me a happy new year, he told me he had celebrated into the night at a party with live music, singing and dancing. Myself, I fell asleep on the coach shortly after dinner. Goodness, my 93-year-old father has put me to shame!

When I woke up around nine, I found my husband had already done the dinner dishes. How grateful am I that I have a husband who does the dishes all on his own even after a long, hard day at work! To close our wild New Year's Eve, we grabbed our umbrellas and took the dogs for their nightly walk. The drizzle was so heavy it might better be described as rain. Mild temperatures and rain on New Year's Eve in Ontario. How very odd that seemed! For our walk, the boys wore their sporty red raincoats because they'd be drenched otherwise. Even so, I still had to dry them with a towel when we got back.

We finally crawled into bed sometime after eleven. My husband drifted off to sleep almost immediately, but I lay awake long enough to hear the first of the fireworks at midnight. Welcome, 2019!

Buddy (on the left) lived to be almost twenty. The bunny with his buddy Piper (on the right).

I am not sad to put 2018 behind me. It was a difficult year. First, our oldest dog passed away and then our pet rabbit. The most difficult loss of all was my Mom in October. I am glad that I still have my Dad to fuss over (though perhaps the worry is unwarranted after hearing about all the singing he did on New Year's Eve. I always knew he loved music, but I had no idea he loved to sing until recently. Myself, I sing like a toad. Obviously, singing on key is not a gift he has passed on to me!)

Even my blog had its difficulties in 2018. Google made technical changes and page views dropped just when they would usually start to peak. Never have a come so close to quitting altogether. Somehow I have managed to rally my spirits mid-summer. Tough times seem to have stirred a renewed determination.

For me, taking a look back at the posts in 2018 is an important exercise. What blog posts resonated with readers and what fell flat? I have begun to put together my editorial calendar for 2019 and it's always helpful to look back at the previous year with a critical eye towards improvement.

For you the reader, I hope this is a way to catch up on any posts you might have missed.

In the past, I haven't written a lot about indoor gardening, but there is such a renewal of interest in houseplants, it's a missed opportunity.

This post, in which I featured one of the more quirky houseplants in my personal collection, was very popular. A few readers commented that this odd-looking plant looked "ghostly". For me the fuzzy, grey foliage makes me think of Q-tips.

I have been doing more plant profiles on Three Dogs in a Garden. In this very popular post, many gardeners were intrigued by more unusual forms of Rudbeckia, a common cottage garden plant: Lesser-Known Rudbeckia.

Finishing second was New Perennials from Proven Winners. No surprise there! What enthusiastic plant collector doesn't like to read about all the new plants coming to market in the spring.

Two further plant posts, Baptisia: How to Grow It + Newly Introduced Cultivars and How to Grow Bearded Iris, were also very well received.

An experiment that got mixed reviews were blog posts on creating themed gardens. Creating a Fragrant Garden Season by Season did not attract as much interest as I hoped, but Creating a White Garden did fairly well.

A Visit to Grange Hollow Nursery was the most popular of the public spaces I showcased. 

Grange Hollow is a family-run nursery located in Grey Bruce County just south of Owen Sound. Hardy perennials, annual flowers, herbs, heirloom tomatoes and a wide range of vegetable transplants are sold at the nursery, but what makes Grange Hollow stand out are the inspirational display gardens.

As always, I featured quite a number of private gardens. Two were reader favourites. Finishing second in terms of readership was A Pretty Cottage Garden that was photographed in late May.

The most popular private garden was a bit of a dark horse. I showed this garden with a bit of trepidation knowing that not everyone is a fan of garden gnomes (or in this case, the equivalent). 

I wrote passionately that Eva Martini's garden, "... speaks to the personality and imagination of the woman that created it. You know a little something about her by the time you wonder the pathways and stop at all the little vignettes. And I think that's great." 

Judging from the number of page views, readers agreed.

I also tried a slightly different approach to showing a private garden. With less focus on the garden's story, and more concentration on ideas readers could use was the post 10+ Ideas to Borrow for your Garden.  Mining a Garden for Inspiration: 10 Ideas to Borrow this Spring did even better.

The most popular post of 2018 was 10+ Numbered and Identified Shade Planting Schemes by a landslide. No surprises there! Shade gardens are a real challenge for most people. Combining perennials with trees and shrubs is also a difficult task in both sun and shade. 

Looking forward now into the year ahead, both my husband and I am super excited about installing a waterfall, stream and pond. Last summer we laid out the watercourse, planted the flowerbeds at the water's edge and built the two bridges that will cross the stream. 

Now we need to go back in, dig out the area out and lay the liner. A pump will create a waterfall at one end and a second pump in the pond will recirculate the water. 

I am not sure if the pond will be deep enough for koi, but I am looking forward to 

watching fish and frogs in our new pond.

A bee on my Monarda.

 Just two dogs in a garden now.

Phlox paniculata 'David's Lavander' out front.

I am also hoping to build a rose trellis, rebuild our compost bins, lay paths and finish the area at the side of the house. 2019 is going to be a busy year!

The Garden Tourist

Visiting gardens can be fun and so inspiring! There is nothing like seeing a plant in a garden setting to give you a true sense of how it grows, what shape it takes and how it mixes in with other plants. And you're bound to come home with a lots of ideas and projects in mind.

How can you find gardens to visit in your area?

Check online to see when your local horticultural society is having its annual garden tour (For those of you here in Canada, Garden Making Magazine has a list of garden tours and events organized by province). There are also public gardens and parks you can visit.

Here in Ontario we are lucky to have an organization of over twenty privately owned gardens that are open to the public in Grey and Bruce Counties. Here is a small sampling of the gardens you can visit:

Moorland Place 

Host: Barry More
102645 Grey Rd. 18, Owen Sound, Ontario
Open daily for self-guided tours.
Donation box at the entrance.

Our first stop is an architectural curiosity. With a rambling series of structural additions, Moorland Place seems like an ancient estate home, but in reality, the house is about fifty years in age. 

The extensive grounds that surround the sprawling manor house have the mysterious feel of a forgotten garden. On the hillside below the house there is a long rows of regal lions, brooding griffins and a great abundance of little cherubs balancing pots of yellow pansies on their heads. 

In the perennial garden, the unkempt mix of long grass, weeds and flowers feels forlorn and deeply romantic.

Within the confines of the high walls of cedar hedging, the air was fragrant with the perfume of peonies in bloom. Pink and purple lupins were everywhere.

Here a mounds of gold-colored Spirea framed by sun-scorched hosta lead 

visitors in yet another direction.

The garden "rooms" of Moorland Place unfold for the visitor as a series of surprise discoveries. You'll never be able to guess what's just around the corner. The garden feels wild, curious and very eerie. Would I recommend a visit? Absolutely!

Earthbound Perennials and Gardens in Red Bay, Ontario (not far from Sauble Beach)

14 Hea Rd, Red Bay, South Bruce Peninsula

Hosts: Brenda Sutherland, John Close and Judy Larkin

Open: daily 9-5, May through Thanksgiving

Website: Earthbound Gardens

Group/Bus tours welcome

Nursery, café & gift shop

Earthbound Gardens is a plant nursery and a display garden. Garden expert, Brenda Sutherland couldn't have been more friendly or welcoming. We wandered around the garden and then did a little plant shopping.

The fragrance of these old fashioned shrub roses was amazing!

One great reason to visit places like this are the unique and unusual plants you'll find. The nursery offers a wide array of lilies, daylilies and native plants. This purple geranium is a perfect example. It's an old variety called 'Aunty Marge' that is no longer sold commercially. I liked it for its strong upright flower stems and huge purple blooms. 

Check out Earthbound Gardens website to plan your visit and for more information on their free Sunday series of concerts and workshops.

Carpe Diem Gardens

496487 Grey Rd 2, Clarksburg

Host: Jane Dykstra

Open: Monday-Saturday by chance or appointment. Closed on Sunday.

Admission: $3

plants for sale

If you stand next to the sign at the entrance to this next garden, you'll have a panoramic view of the rolling countryside in one direction and an amazing garden in the other.

Owner/gardener Jane Dykstra came out to our car, umbrella in hand, to greet us. Despite the rain, she was more than happy to show us her garden. 

The rose garden toward the front of the house.

The perennial garden at the side of the house.

A pergola and shady seating area just off the back deck.

Bright red annual poppies with the garage in the distance.

 A row of bouquets on a rustic bench.

This is a lovely garden that deserves a closer look, so I will come back to revisit Jane's garden in another post.

Keppel Croft Gardens

504156 Grey Rd. 1, Big Bay, Wiarton, Georgian Bluffs, Ontario

Hosts: Bill and Dawn Loney

Open: 10 am-5pm Wednesday-Sunday, Closed Monday and Tuesday (except for holiday Mondays)

Website: Keppel Croft Gardens

Admission: $3 (Bus tours welcome)

Plants for sale

This was another incredible garden. We happen to arrive along when the peonies were all in flower.

Visitors sitting and enjoying the view.

Love these round stepping stones!

 One of a number of miniature gardens.

Again this garden merits a closer look, so I will return to it in another post. For more information about this garden visit their website: Keppel Croft Gardens.

To plan your trip to visit the gardens of Grey/Bruce Counties, visit their website or look for this map and brochure at your local tourist information.