You Love Joe's Garden!

The problem with garden profiles, that you often see in magazines or on garden blogs like this one, is that they capture a garden at single point in time. But gardens are not static things. They change constantly. So in a series of posts that I'll show you over the course of the summer, I have gone back and revisited some of the gardens I photographed previously in the late spring. The hope is to give you a better sense of a garden's evolution over the course of a growing season.

Of all the gardens I have ever featured on this blog, Joe's garden is by far one of the most popular. Based on page views and pins, you love Joe's garden! 

'John Davis' Explorer Rose in June

Early July

In June, Joe's garden is filled with roses. (To get a more complete picture, you can see Joe's June garden here. You can see the garden in early July here.)

In July, the roses begin to rest through the hot, dry days of mid-summer and a wide assortment of perennials take over where the roses have left off. Here is a island flowerbed from the front of the house in late July:

1. Phlox paniculata 'Pink Flame and 'Peppermint Twist' 2. Heuchera  3. Brunnera 'Jack Frost'  4. Pulmonaria  5. Sedum  6. Variegated Phlox  7. Annual Candytuft  8. Hosta

Early July

Echinacea in Late July.

Late July

As well as the flowers, foliage is key factor in the success of any of Joe's plantings. In the background of this picture, the spiky foliage of a bearded iris looks spectacular long after the flowers have finished. 

The combination of blue-green and cream has an echo in the foliage of the hosta in the foreground.

As sunny as a yellow flower might be, the golden foliage of this hosta looks perfect paired with the silver leaves of a (1.) Brunnera 'Jack Frost' and (2.) the tiny purple flowers of perennial Campanula and (3.) annual Canndytuft.

Annual Candytuft, Iberis Umbellata: Height 30-40 cm. Full sun. Flowers range from white to pink and mauve. Annual Candytuft flowers within a couple of months from seed.  It is taller and less compact than its perennial cousin.

Nestled in next to the Candytuft is another great foliage plant Jacob's Ladder 'Stairway to Heaven'. Here is what it might have looked like blooming in spring:

Jacob's Ladder, Polemonium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven' has variegated foliage that is blushed with pink in the cooler days of early spring. The flowers are pale mauve-blue. Afternoon shade and moist conditions suit this plant best. Height: 25-40 cm ( 10-16 inches), Spread: 40-45 cm (16-18 inches). USDA zones: 3-9.

Early July

Phlox paniculata 'Bright Eyes' in late July.

In the backyard, Phlox continue to be a important perennial in Joe's July and August garden. 

Phlox paniculata 'Peppermint Twist': Height: 35-45 cm, Spread: 30-40 cm. Full sun. Does equally well in moist or dry soil. Normal, sandy or clay soils are fine. Attractive to butterflies. USDA Zones 4-9.

Phlox paniculata 'Pink Flame' has fragrant medium pink flowers with a dark rose eye. Height : 30-50 cm ( inches), Spread: 30-40 cm. USDA Zones 4-9.

Echinacea 'Southern Belle': has magenta pompom flowers. Does equally well in moist or dry soil. Normal, sandy or clay soils are fine. Attractive to butterflies. Full sun. Height: 50- 90 cm, Spread: 50- 75 cm. USDA Zones 4-9.

Balloon flower, Platycodon grandiflorus is a great perennial to have in any mid-summer garden. This is a tall, upright perennial that has a carrot-like root. The inflated looking flowers pop open like balloons, hence the common name. Colors range from blue to pale pink to white. Depending on the cultivar you choose, Balloon flowers will grow as tall as 60-75 cm (23-29 inches) and spread as much as 30-40 cm ( 12-16 inches). USDA Zones: 3-9.

Early July

Early July

Late July

I hope you have found a few new planting ideas in Joe's mid-summer garden.

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Character

"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare."

                                                                                                                                   Mark Twain

This carriage house leans in as if fighting against a strong prevailing wind. The roof heaves and rolls like the waves on an ocean. 

It even has a bit of an interesting story. 

When a new subdivision was added to this part of Fergus, the town planning department decided to square-off existing property lines even though it meant that the revised line would run right through the middle of this carriage house.

One neighbour owns the front half of the carriage house and the other neighbour owns the back half.

One of the two property owners is a gardener.

Here's another vignette that is effortlessly charming.

This gardener very much wanted me to take her picture.

What a great smile!

This is her garden in Guelph, Ontario.

Private Garden in Fergus, Ontario

I love the honesty of this shot down to the rake resting up against the tree trunk and the 

shirt drying on the line.

Private Garden in Fergus, Ontario

Tibetan prayer flags send prayers out on the wind.

Private garden, Fergus Ontario

I wonder what the plans are for the cobalt blue pot?

Private garden, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Is he hiding or did the Big Bad Wolf eat the third little piggy?

A lesson in how to add character.

Private Garden, Toronto Ontario.

And if you have any doubt as to which way to turn to find the garden, here's your answer.

Brain Folmer's Botanical Garden near Walkerton, ON

A pretty checkerboard garden.

"Why are you trying so hard to fit in, when you were born to stand out."

                                                                                                       Oliver James

"Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting..."

                                              from Proverbs

 Private Garden, Dartmouth, N.S.

Private garden, Georgetown, Ontario

"And he sailed back over a year 

and in and out of weeks

and through a day

and into the night of his very own room 

where he found his supper waiting for him

and it was still hot"

Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

Have a wonderful weekend!

Home from Nova Scotia

A container planting with a lime colored Coleus and Butterfly Gaura, Gaura lindheimeri

My Dad dressed in his maroon swimming trunks; a grey sweatshirt wrapped over his shoulders leans on a black cane with one hand and on my arm with the other. He is a small man, but his weight on my arm is considerable as we navigate the rough gravel path that leads down to the lakefront beach.

I had asked my Mom, as we made dinner together the night I arrived, what my eighty-seven year old Dad would most like to do while my sister Nancy and I were at home.

"He wants to go swimming," she told me.

Humble Lobelia in a metal bucket.

Our week-long visit has flown by and it is the final couple of days before my sister and I must fly back to our regular adult lives on different continents. The weather has turned overcast and a bit blustery, but we are both determined to honour Dad's wish to go for a summer swim.

Odd boulders and serpentine tree roots mean that every step my Dad and I take down the forested pathway to the lake is a new adventure for Dad and his cane. We pause frequently, so he can catch his breath.

When we finally reach the beach the lake is looking black and mighty cold. The two life guards in attendance are wearing jackets over their  swimsuits. Unfazed, my Dad takes my sister's arm, and with his cane in the other hand, he heads into the water. As my Mom and I watch anxiously from the shore, there are a few tense moments when he falters on the sand, but Dad recovers his balance and strides out into the dark water.

Chest deep he throws the cane back to us on shore and he and Nancy take the plunge.

Burr that's got to be cold!

But as I look at my Dad's face as it pops up out of the water, he looks only happy. While he struggles to be mobile on land, he is buoyant in the water. Jubilation is written all over his face.

That moment of sheer joy will most certainly be one of my dearest memories of my trip home to Nova Scotia.

Jacquie's Garden

There are lots of other wonderful memories too. 

Though there was little time to visit local gardens, Mom took me to visit her friend Jacquie's garden the afternoon I arrived.

Martagon lilies.

My favourite object in Jacquie's garden: a carving of a hand with long tapered fingers. The hand rests on an old wooden bench. One day I must ask her about the story behind the hand.

This is Valentine. 

As you can by her dark stare, Valentine eyed me with suspicion the whole time we were in Jacquie's garden. 

My Mom, on the other hand, she adored. Though Valentine notoriously dislikes visitors, she put her tiny paws up on my Mom's trouser legs and begged repeatedly to be petted. 

I am sure she would have nipped my hand if I had dared to do the same! So much for the notion I hold any sway with dogs!

Mahone Bay

Almost everywhere I went on my trip to Nova Scotia, there seemed to be flowers.

Liatris with pink Phlox paniculata in the background.

Blazing Star or Gayfeather, Liatris spicata: forms a low clump of grass-like foliage with flowers spikes of magenta-purple, white or flowers in late summer. Attractive to butterflies and bees. Full sun. Height: 75-90 cm, Spread: 30-45 cm. Laitris will grow in a variety of soil types and are pretty drought tolerant once established.

Honeysuckle Vine

Mahone Bay

Houses in Nova Scotia are sometimes painted the most outrageous colors.

I had to pull the car to the side of the road and take this picture.

Orange Tiger Lilies en masse.

My sisters and I (a third sister lives in Dartmouth, N.S.) did the most touristy thing we could possibly do: we went on a little mini-vacation that took us along the South Shore to Peggy's Cove and Mahone Bay. We avoided the main highway and opted instead for old twisty-turny road along shores of the Atlantic ocean.

The land that hugs the St. Margaret's Bay is a lunar landscape of granite boulders and plants that manage to cling to life in thin soil, salt air and harsh winds.

When you reach Peggy's Cove, the vista becomes a mix of rolling hills of stone and little salt water ponds.

The white lighthouse at Peggy's Cove is one of Nova Scotia's most famous landmarks.

Do you see the figure on the lower right?

This lady, with her wide brimmed hat and accordion, was singing traditional ballads 

for all the visiting tourists.

My sisters and I stayed overnight in this resort hotel.

We had our evening meal on the terrace and watched the sun go down. Dinner was delicious! I had roast chicken, while both my sisters enjoyed pan-seared halibut with scollops and shrimps in a lobster-cream sauce.

I flew home on the weekend with a bit of a heavy heart. How I wish I lived closer so I could check in on my parents more often! They need help, even though they are reluctant to accept it.

When I got home this big bouquet of dahlias awaited me on the kitchen counter. It was a wonderful trip, but it is always nice to come back home.