Hostas

 Mrs. F.G. started collecting Hostas at least 40 years ago.  We lived in the country outside Guelph at the time, and created a large garden where the Hostas spread.  Hostas come in a wide number of varieties, each with its own name, though by this time, 40 years later we have forgotten most of those.  When we moved north and started creating our garden in the valley, we moved many Hostas up there, and when we moved again we took about 30 of our favourites with us here to Meaford.

I can`t give you a horticultural description, but I can show you some of the differences that are obviously apparent, so I hope you enjoy these.

I think my favourite Hosta now is this light green two tone one, with quite small leaves.

   

This one on the other hand is huge!  Heavily ridged leaves and about three feet across.

Looking down beside the shed we have one that is almost yellow, growing in full sun.

I love this one, with the heavily wrinkled leaves.  About how I feel many days!

Here are a couple more with the two-tone leaves, the second one much more distinct with white borders.

This is another huge one with slightly `blue` leaves, but they are very big!

Finally we have what I consider a `sport`, a variety that emerges spontaneously with different leaf features.  Some leaves are plain light green, while other have light borders on a dark green leaf.

I hope I`ve shown you how Hostas can come in a variety of sizes and pattern if nothing else!

More Peonies and Poppies

 I can't resist one more post featuring this year's Peonies, to which I will add a few Poppy shots.  In comparison we'll now be dawdling through a less colourful phase of the garden.  The weather is horrible!  The forecast is for rain rain rain, and temperatures distinctly on the cold side.  I do get tired of just sitting inside!

The deep red Peonies have been my favourite,

but the deep coral are a close second.

I tried to get some close-ups for you, but the breeze has been so consistent that the plants just don't sit still!

The Poppies are quickly taking over.  I find the interior of these blooms fascinating.

This is the developing seed pod of the Poppies.  Our Peonies have not spread at all; they just get bigger with more blooms.  But the Poppies do spread, with new plants popping up regularly.  I expect we'll have to put some effort into controlling these in the future.  I the meantime they provide a colourful seasonal bridge between the Peonies and the Lavender and Day Lilies still to come.

Peonies and Poppies

 I can't get over how much I'm enjoying just sitting out in our garden watching the Peonies.  They seem to have been more colourful and lasted longer than in past years.  But all things in the garden must move on, and as the Peonies fade the Poppies are unfolding their striking orange blooms.

This has been the view from the deck recently, 

.... and this the view from the patio as I ride past.

The deep coral ones are beautiful!

But the deep red ones are really striking!

And then there are the Poppies, so bright!

The orange blossoms stand out so much in the morning sunshine!

Meanwhile it was a rainy day here, everything douesed!

Does anyone know how to get rid of 'Live View' on an iphone?  That camera setting is really distracting!  I haven't found a single situation in which I'd like to keep it!  This is just one of several 'Live View' shots.  I can turn it off, but later it will come right back of its own accord.  Any way to get rid of it permanently?

And Yet More Garden Stuff

Here are some more pix from around the garden, just miscellaneous stuff I have photos of and wanted to share.  They may give you more of a taste of what this place is like.

I'm afraid the second large Sugar Maple (on the right) out on the golf course has died.  It's not completely gone yet, but I don't think there's any coming back from this.  Two years ago it was as luxuriantly green as the other big maple to its left.  I expect that this fall we will see it cut down.

Right within our own garden we have a tiny tree, a Japanese Maple know for its red foliage.  It has adopted a horizontal growth form, but we don't know how large it will get.

I also spotted a pot of Pansies tucked back beneath some taller plants at the back of the garden.  Pansies are one of the spring flowers here, but suffer from summer heat, so I expect Mrs. F.G. put them back there to protect them.  They may bloom again in the fall.

The towers that were put u p and planted a few weeks ago are already cascading with plants.  They provide a place where Mrs. F.G. can experiment with plants that otherwise have no space.

I'm still astonished at the colour of our Peonies.  With our lack of heavy rain which beats Peonies down, and our lack of any heat wave (!) they are lasting longer than usual.  I think the colour comes out even batter on cloudy days.

Out freont we have our little patriotic display, a small but important statement we wanted to make.

And in 'scenes from a life in a wheelchair' we have a bask in my wall where I ran into the wall with my footplates!

More Garden Stuff

 I tend to collect a miscellany of photos when I ride around in the morning, so here they are.  More will show up in the coming days.

We benefit from our view of the golf course, but this summer our neighbours have also provided some nice plants for us.  On the one side they have planted a white Lilac, which is blooming nicely.

The Lilac photo overlaps with a nice Spirea behind it.  They won't see either of these this year as they're away on a long trip.

On the other side  the tiny Lilac they planted has taken seven years to warm up, but this spring it has exploded, giving us beautiful pink blooms.

Our own tiny white Clematis has also exploded reaching far behind the trellis we put up, though it has not bloomed yet.

This morning I looked out and saw two new Poppies had opened their very bright blooms.

Unfortunately the Poppies are higher than my wheelchair, so I haven't been able to get a good view of the blooms from above.

You may have noticed the flourishing number of petals on our large pink Peonies.

In spite of this we have made a point of only purchasing 'single' Peonies, not the 'doubles' that close off access for bees and other insects.  The 'doubles' may look fancier, but we always keep in mind the success of pollinators when buying flowers.

Garden Stuff

 Here's a first attempt to spend a quiet afternoon by the computer, as it's supposed to start raining soon.  I'm really enjoying sitting out in the garden in the mornings and the first thing I do is ride around sand get some pictures.

When I pull out onto the deck in the morning this is my view, with the Peonies adding a lot of colour.

I ride down onto the deck and toward the patio.  I feel surrounded by all the growing flowers.

These are the seed pods of Sweet Cicely, delicious to chew on when they are fresh. They have a slight licorice taste.

The Pinks are tiny but mighty.  They are the most fragrant plants in the garden right now.

We have our first tomato flowers.

And I found a single stem of light pink Columbine, growing off by itself.

Finally I was out front early one day and got a more complete shot of our beautiful white Clematis.

A Touch of Pneumonia!

It seems like I've been diagnosed with a touch of pneumonia!  It's the ,mild kind, labelled 'walking pneumonia' as II should be able to carry on with my usual daily activities.  But needless to say I won't be posting as much for awhile, or at least not as often.

But the weather is such that I can sit out of the back deck, moving between deck and patio as sun and shade shift.  The garden is doing wonders for me mental health!