Gordon's Garden Diary

7 Apr '07 7:35 pm

Hi again, Jack-

Your peony must be the one they call, "Molly the Witch", eh? I know what you mean about the Polish accident Very Happy

!

As for me, I wouldn't want a double one, as the flowers are so heavy that they fall to the ground when it rains, and it rains a LOT here!! Of course, we get our summer droughts, too, but the rain invariably arrives just as the peonies are in bloom (gnashing of teeth!!)! In fact, I noticed in a book about tree peonies that in China and Japan they put umbrellas over the plants to protect them from late snowfalls! I'm thinking that I should try it for the rain. After all, I DO have a reputation for eccentricity to keep up Very Happy

!

And I second your tongue-in-cheek about an emoticon for greed (ha,ha Very Happy

)!

Enjoy the Easter weekend!

gordonf

8 Apr '07 8:23 am

Hi, everyone!

Well, the sun has finally returned and I've been out in the garden digging plants to give to a new neighbour. Lots of fun!

Here are some pics that I took today. There's a Hellebore argutiflorus (I think!) beside a Hose-in-Hose primula which has tried to bloom all winter but is really coming into its own now. There is a picture of the species tulips that I posted in bud yesterday but now they're in full bloom, and very pretty, too, I think.

Also, I took a picture of my Brunnera, "Jack Frost", which is now in bloom, but which has a ways to go before its leaves grow to their later, impressive size.

Then there's a picture of a couple of Oregon Juncos at the bird feeder. I tried for ages yesterday to get this!

Enjoy!

gordonf

8 Apr '07 9:58 am

I do enjoy your attention to detail,Gordon .The green and white colour scheme is so sweet ,and the bird feeder is adorable -you have such a variety of beautiful birds in Northern America.With the bird feeder -I am trying to get one made before winter here ,and have printed out your picture to use as a guide .Do you have the food solid and standing upright behind netting ?
Dixie.

8 Apr '07 3:21 pm

Hi, Dixie'

My bird feeder is a commercially-available one that I bought. I buy the food, which is fat or lard of some kind filled with a variety of seeds and small fruit. It comes in a plastic tray and you just remove the plastic wrapping and stand the whole thing, including the tray, in the feeder. The wire mesh on the lower part of the feeder holds it in position, and the little roof prevents the rain from washing the food away.

The feed blocks are available in standardized packages at pet stores and animal feed stores as well as in larger grocery stores. So far, the only drawback I've found with this design is that in really hot summer weather, the fat sometimes melts and runs down the post; doesn't bother anything but looks a bit messy.

If you do build a feeder like this, make sure that the roof can swivel so you can get the feed in and yet be close enough to the feed to keep the rain off.

And thanks for the comments on the pictures! A friend told me yesterday that my garden was "a mess" and that I really should clean up the winter litter Shocked

! I'm afraid to do much of that this early as there are so many plants just breaking through the surface and I don't want to take the chance of breaking them. Besides, my garden's colder than hers is, and I like a clean house!! SO THERE Wink

!

All the best!

gordonf

8 Apr '07 5:27 pm

Hi, again!

I forgot to mention earlier that today I saw my first hummingbird of the season. They've returned!! Now, I must boil up some sugar and water so I can refill the feeder tomorrow!.

So long for now!

gordonf

8 Apr '07 10:08 pm

'Molly the witch' it is, Gordon! And then I've just caught up with Dixie's Fairy Garden post and heard your story - and the amazing responses. They are,I think, the pages which best illustrate the remarkable life that Eggie's gift to his mom has taken on, becoming a meeting place for friends and like-minded people such as I have seldom known to exist!

It was a sobering read, and one I shall quote - for the simple reason that white South Africans (and many black ones!) are very quick to winge about the crime in this country, with so often an 'in the good old days' implication which completely ignores both the evil of the times and the immanence of an appaling civil war, which we somehow avoided in one of the few cases in history where human good en masse triumphed over, rather than just survived, human evil en masse. And of course car hijacking (as it is known in SA) is high on the list of crimes quoted - and Canada high on the list of countries used as examples of perfect law and order...

9 Apr '07 3:16 am

Congrats, Gordon! - I see you've got your bird pic! Not one but a pair of lovely Juncos! Well done! Hope we get to see your hummers too!

Enjoyed seeing all your gorgeous and intriguing plants and flowers! Almost all are new to me except for your daffs! Your tigridias's heart is absolutely captivating and I love your arty-looking gold lace primulas, species tulips and all those plants with variegated leaves! Beautiful!! Thanks for sharing, Gordon! Very Happy

9 Apr '07 5:44 am

I look forward to seeing your Brunnera jack Frost again, Gordon, when the leaves get larger. I think it is a very good looking plant though I haven't tried it yet myself I still hope to. One thing holding me back has been the hoards of snails and slugs that call my garden home. I've given up growing hostas for that reason and have feared the Brunnera would be in that class in terms of drawing the mollusks.

9 Apr '07 7:03 am

Well!

Thanks everyone for the wonderful responses to my thread here!

Jacqueline, you can be assured that I will post pictures of the hummers as soon as I can get some. The little critters move so quickly that often, even when one gets a picture of them it's blurred! But I should be able to catch them at the feeder as they do become quite possessive of it and have even been known to go after people who approach too closely to it while they're feeding!! But they don't scare me Very Happy

!

Mark, you speak about slugs and other molluscs; well, we have those 6-inch+ black slugs as well as the native, almost-equally-sized greenish ones that have voracious appetites, and, so far, they haven't bothered the brunnera. I do have to use slug bait for the hostas, though. I have found a brand that won't harm pets or birds and works very well on the slugs. I hate doing this, but I really got tired of throwing them over the fence, and anyway, I have a new neighbour there and I don't think she would appreciate my throwing slugs into her yard Rolling Eyes

!

Jack, I can't tell you how much Canadians admire South Africans for the way in which they avoided a civil war! Your method is certainly a model for the rest of us! And, as for justice in Canada, while it's really quite good, we still have a ways to go to make it completely fair. But then, that's life, isn't it - always trying to improve a little, so that once the "big" issues become solved, other, previously unnoticed ones become of prime importance and keep us on the alert! Like any other country, we have our problems, too!

Isn't it great that every country has gardeners to help to offset the less attractive parts of life. HURRAH FOR US!!

Yesterday, I mentioned my canna babies filling up my table. Well, here they are!!

Cheers, everyone!

gordonf

9 Apr '07 8:12 am

Gordon! I just loved so much all these lovelies here, especially enchanted by these sky-blue" Brunneras" and the birds! Tell me some more about the Brunneras, please, whenever you have some time available, you know, botanical things....

Gordon's Garden Diary

Peonies

April 7, 2007

lovely pictures

Bird Feeder

A Late P.S.

Witches and fairies

Happy Easter!

Your Spring delights!