Elaine and the Gnome

"Elaine and the Gnome" is not the name of a summer blockbuster movie. They are both stone statues in my backyard.
Elaine is my beautiful statue on the west side of the yard. I purchased her years ago at a lovely nursery near Kitchener. Her tag said ELAINE so I have always referred to her as that. Her head is bowed, as she feeds the birds seeds from her apron.
I leave Elaine out over the winter even though she is made of cement. She is on a slab of flagstone so has never suffered frost damage or cracks.

Over the years, the Elaine bed has filled in and is now lush and full. It contains some of my favourite combinations as well as 11 hostas.

When we moved here, my friend gave me a white gnome as a "joke" housewarming gift. She knew I didn't care for gnomes but I have kept him over the years (well hidden away!). Still, the garden bed he's  in bears his name: the Gnome Bed. It also contains a few lovely combinations.

Let me show you how the Elaine bed looks right now

We have had enough rain that everything is plump and lush and full. Most hostas are mature enough that they have reached their maximum height and spread. Some are 3-4 feet in diameter! And many have just started to bloom.

I am really enjoying a new type of plant I bought in the spring: Chinese Astilbe (Astilbe chinensis var. Pumila). The leaves are similar to regular Astilbe but the flower heads look puffy and soft. They are a gorgeous shade of fuschia.

The Brunnera 'Jack Frost' continues to look lovely and the annuals fill in the faded bulb areas.

The Bergenia cordifolia has put out fresh, glistening leaves.

And a wonderful dainty deep pink clematis (maybe "Princess Diana"? I have lost the tag) winds its way through the pussywillow branches.

The Gnome bed is just inside the gate as you enter the backyard. You'll notice the Gnome himself is tucked waaaay back into the foliage :) This bed consists of Japanese Painted Fern, a perennial geranium, phlox, a small leaf blue Hosta and some annuals. The bed is surrounded by junipers, climbing roses and euonymus.

I leave you with a few more parting shots of Elaine……..

Please check out my food blog - the latest recipe is for Peach Pie.

Spring is REALLY emerging…at last!!

I just walked the property, with my camera around my neck, and here's what's emerging in my spring garden (hyacinths above):

Bleeding Hearts - Dicentra spectabilis

Crabapple 'Profusion'

Chionodoxa and Scilla

Climbing Hydrangea

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'

Primrose

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)…an Ontario Wildflower

Trillium…another Ontario Wildflower

Forsythia

Pink Lady Quince - Chaenomeles sup. 'Pink Lady

Viburnum Burkwoodii

Muscari

Peony shoots

Please take a look at my recipe blog - the last posts are Red Peppers stuffed with Saffron Rice and Pine Nuts as well as Broccoli and Potato Soup.

Top Perennials Part 2 (of many)

Garden Tours are beneficial for many reasons but my favourites are that you get to (legally) snoop in a stranger's garden and you usually pick up the names of some wonderful new plants to try!

This was how I discovered Dictamnus albus. My friend and I saw it for the very first time on a Toronto garden tour. We asked the volunteer if she knew what it was and she said it was a Gas Plant. Weird name, we thought.

Here's what Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/dictamnus-albus.html says about it:

"...Not often seen in gardens, the Gas Plant is slow to establish, but very long lived. Plants form a bushy, upright clump of lemon-scented, glossy green leaves. Spikes of spidery-looking white flowers appear in early summer, rather showy in effect, and worthwhile for cutting. On still days a match held below the spike will ignite a burst of methane gas. Attractive to butterflies. Clumps resent being disturbed, once established."

It's true that it takes a while for them to grow tall and strong but once there, they never disappear. I have had mine for over 20 years. It's a lovely plant and I look forward to seeing it come up every June near my arbour.

Brunnera 'Jack Frost' was a plant I coveted when it first became popular. All the nurseries charged an exorbitant fee for a small 4" pot of 'Jack Frost' when garden columnists and garden magazines described it as THE plant to buy that year! So I waited and waited and finally purchased it last year, whereas many of my gardening friends have had it forever. It is a beauty with its variegated leaves and Forget-Me-Not type blue flowers.

Again I quote from Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/brunnera-macrophylla-jack-frost.html

"...A superb introduction, forming a clump of heart-shaped silver leaves, delicately veined with mint green. Sprays of bright blue Forget-me-not flowers appear in mid to late spring. This is a choice collector's plant, but an easy-to-grow perennial that performs well in all but the driest of shady conditions. Excellent for the woodland garden. ‘Jack Frost’ handles more direct sun that most other variegated types of Brunnera, though in hot-summer regions some afternoon shade is recommended to prevent leaf scorch. Selected as the 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association."

Another favourite that comes up beautifully year after year is Platycodon grandiflorus the Balloon Flower. They show up late so I have to be careful not to plant an annual on top of them! But I know now exactly where they are.

Last year they bloomed and bloomed for over 6 weeks. I guess they like their partially shady location. Before they bloom, they look like balloons about to pop. And when they open, they are such an intense shade of purple/blue!

Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/platycodon-grandiflorus-fuji-blue.html says:

"...Balloon Flowers are summer-blooming cousins to the more familiar Bellflowers. Plants form a mound of green foliage, bearing inflated buds that open into star-shaped violet-blue blossoms. This medium-height selection is great for the border, or in mixed containers. Especially good for cutting. Because they come up very late in the spring, consider planting tulips or daffodils beside the clump to mark the location. Division is seldom necessary, and not always very successful because of the carrot-like root."

My one and only small complaint about Balloon flowers is that they need to be staked. But that's a very small complaint.

If you add these three plants to your garden this summer, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Look what I got on sale!!

We had a light rain yesterday but that didn't stop me from wandering through a few garden centres. And one of them had cool stuff ON SALE!
I picked up 3 Iberis sempervirens (Candytuft) - a perennial that's actually a hardy evergreen sub-shrub.

It blooms these pretty white flowers in the spring, sometimes even before the daffodils come up.

Next I had read about a new columbine that Heritage Perennials was selling and I was lucky enough to find 3.

It's called Aquilegia v. 'Clementine Rose'. It's very lovely!

Heritage also had a very cool looking Martin's Spurge called Euphorbia x martin 'Ascot Rainbow'

Cool flower but the foliage is superb!!

And last but not least I finally got Brunnera 'Jack Frost', the 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year!!

Don't you just love getting things for at least 25% off????  I sure do!