A Garden Story, Chapter Four

Closer Looks

Taking a closer look at a few things today. Because you absolutely must know every detail about my garden. Plus, I am determined to stretch this series to 5 days. No, I don't know why. I just am.

So, the red flowers here are new, just planted this spring. Asiatic Lilies from the Superstore garden center. The big mess of green leaves is a patch of some kind of lily - they are orange. They were one of the few things that were actually in the garden when we moved in. I had to dig some out this year because they have been spreading a bit every year and they were starting to take over. And let me tell you - these suckers are not easy to dig out. They really do not like to let go.



And a close up. The new red lilies add a little splash of colour, until the orange ones bloom.



These purple irises came from my neighbor. The first fall that we were in our house, she was separating her bulbs (thinning them out?) and she asked if I'd like some. I think this year I am going to have to dig them up and thin them out a bit as well. I love these flowers though - I think in the garden, purple is my favourite colour for flowers. They really seem to stand out against the foliage and house.

As an aside, my neighbor has an outstanding garden. Obviously she has been working at it for a long time and it is beautiful. On the weekend, Husband came out to see what I was doing. Looking around, he commented that aside from our neighbor, he thought we had the nicest garden in the neighborhood. That made me feel good!



My mother-in-law gave me a trellis one year, so then I had to find something that would climb it. I ended up getting this honeysuckle. Originally, I had this in front of the house, between the two windows. It had a hard time the first couple of years, being nibbled on by the deer. Last spring, when I was redoing the gardens, I decided to move this around to the side because I wanted to put other plants out front. It's been doing quite well here, though this year it is rather crowded by the irises.



Back behind the irises, there is a patch of comfrey. My sister dug some up from the back yard at home in Nova Scotia and brought it over a few years back. This has gone through a similar transition - was in front of the house, got eaten by the deer. Last spring I moved it and I cannot believe how tall these plants grew. It is also spreading, so I may have to dig some up. Not sure the best time of year to do that?



The comfrey plants always make me think of my grandmother. I grew up in a two generation home, with my grandparents right next door. I have memories of my grandmother, out working in the gardens. Also, she was into natural remedies and I remember comfrey being one of the things she would use.



And this is a little patch of violas in front of the cat door. I just love the little splash of colour there. These things pop up all over the place. I suppose someone who prefers a tidy garden might not like that, but I think it's great.




-------------------------------
Daily Record
-------------------------------
BF: Muffin, coffee
Lunch: Corn & Black Bean salad, cottage cheese
Snack: Vanilla yogurt w/raspberries & coconut
Supper: Green Curry Chicken & Basmati rice, a wee bit of ice cream for dessert

Workout: Treadmill session - 1 hour