Plants From My Garden

[cnycharles]

hey, that stop sign in the picture is in english! no french, there? it was over 80F here two nights ago and like dot says, we may get snow soon.

 

[parvi_17]

hey, that stop sign in the picture is in english! no french, there? it was over 80F here two nights ago and like dot says, we may get snow soon.

:rollhappy: Quebec is the only province in Canada that has French signs (Ontario might have a few, never been there). Next to no one speaks French in the West.

 

[Kevin]

hey, that stop sign in the picture is in english! no french, there? it was over 80F here two nights ago and like dot says, we may get snow soon.

All Federal signs across the country are (or at least should be) in both English and French. Provincially, like Joe said, French is not really spoken outside of Quebec, although New Brunswick is bilingual too.

We're getting tons of rain here, but no snow - yet! It might be coming soon, though.

 

[parvi_17]

All Federal signs across the country are (or at least should be) in both English and French. Provincially, like Joe said, French is not really spoken outside of Quebec, although New Brunswick is bilingual too.

We're getting tons of rain here, but no snow - yet! It might be coming soon, though.

Yes, everything at the federal level has to be, by law, in both. But stop signs, advertisements, news and media, etc. is all English here in Alberta.

 

[Lanmark]

:rollhappy: Quebec is the only province in Canada that has French signs (Ontario might have a few, never been there). Next to no one speaks French in the West.

Some cities in Ontario (such as Sault Ste Marie) used to have many non-federal signs in French, but I don't know about out where traverse des bourgots. Everything changes, but c’est tiguidou...le sigh.

 

[parvi_17]

With that snow now melted and the ground and air warm again, things are more or less back on track in the garden. Time for an update!

One of my favorite woodland wildflowers is bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis. I have both the regular and the double form, the latter pictured here. My regular form is planted in a cooler spot so it emerges later. This is called Sanguinaria canadensis f. multiplex 'Plena'. It used to be a rare collectors' item but has recently become more available commercially, albeit at a slightly higher price than the regular form, and it is still not as common. It is, however, much more charming; it looks like a little waterlily flower to me. This plant I've had for about 3 years now. It seems to be getting smaller each year and I may have to get another one in case it disappears. The shoots do kind of appear erratically, often at quite a distance from each other, so I may be surprised in a week, but right now there's just the one shoot, with a flower the size of a quarter (much smaller than it should be).



Next up is Lewisia tweedyi. Lewisias may be my favorite rock garden plants. This species has proven to be a real winner in my garden; too bad it's so rare in my area. There are hundreds of buds on this plant, and the first few flowers are just opening up now (I'll post another photo when they are all open). The photo is a little overexposed; the flowers are a lovely soft peach color. I am amazed that the plant reached this size in only 3 years. You'll see what I mean when I post a photo of the whole thing!



The buds on my Tulipa pulchella were a little damaged by the frost and snow, but they opened nonetheless:



I have some Muscari americana growing in my rock garden. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but they're pretty and easy to grow:



And finally, I spotted this little violet, similar to a Johnny jump-up, growing in my rock garden. It's a diminutive plant, with a big, beautiful flower. No idea what it is though:



There will, of course, be many more photos to follow!

 

[SlipperFan]

Don't you just love Spring?!

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Hey Joe, good to see the garden is back on track after all the cold and snow. I really like that Lewisia and can't wait to see more pics of it. Interesting about the bloodroot going into decline. Perhaps you are at the cold limit it can withstand. I have just the opposite problem, I'm at the warmth limit! I'm glad to say my modest clump is slowly expanding each year though. Also fascinating are the T. pulchella - I grow them here as well (zone 9!) and you can grow them too - very temperature indifferent species! Lastly, that little violet is darling! It is amazing just how widespread and diverse these plants are.

 

[parvi_17]

Hey Joe, good to see the garden is back on track after all the cold and snow. I really like that Lewisia and can't wait to see more pics of it. Interesting about the bloodroot going into decline. Perhaps you are at the cold limit it can withstand. I have just the opposite problem, I'm at the warmth limit! I'm glad to say my modest clump is slowly expanding each year though. Also fascinating are the T. pulchella - I grow them here as well (zone 9!) and you can grow them too - very temperature indifferent species! Lastly, that little violet is darling! It is amazing just how widespread and diverse these plants are.

You may be right about the bloodroot. I never mulch it; maybe if I did it would do better. I should note though, that the regular form (as of last year) actually increases in size. Perhaps the double form is known only from a warmer part of its range?

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

You may be right about the bloodroot. I never mulch it; maybe if I did it would do better. I should note though, that the regular form (as of last year) actually increases in size. Perhaps the double form is known only from a warmer part of its range?

Hmmm, maybe. They are found naturally quite far south, even to the panhandle of Florida, so it may indeed be a deep south form. Something to research!

 

[Kevin]

Bloodroot does have a large range, however it is native to parts of Manitoba that has a climate zone equal to or less than Edmonton. There is only one species in the genus, and the double form is just a form of the species, so it should be just as hardy, although it could be a bit trickier since it is a different variety (kind of like albas are sometimes more finicky than regular forms of species). You say the regular form does well for you - try planting both of them together. Did you get this one from FTF? I wonder if it still needs to adjust from coming from a zone 9 to your zone 3.

 

[parvi_17]

Bloodroot does have a large range, however it is native to parts of Manitoba that has a climate zone equal to or less than Edmonton. There is only one species in the genus, and the double form is just a form of the species, so it should be just as hardy, although it could be a bit trickier since it is a different variety (kind of like albas are sometimes more finicky than regular forms of species). You say the regular form does well for you - try planting both of them together. Did you get this one from FTF? I wonder if it still needs to adjust from coming from a zone 9 to your zone 3.

Well no what I meant was that if the double form only comes from a certain locality which is a warmer climate than this one, it will have evolved to grow under those conditions as opposed to the wide range of climates the regular form grows in. But I have no idea where this form comes from, so it's really just a wild theory. I do agree that it *should* be just as hardy, I'm just speculating here. It may also just be more finicky as you suggest.

Both of my plants - the regular and the double - are from Hole's. No idea who their supplier is but I doubt it's Thimble Farms.

 

[parvi_17]

More photos...

This is my one and only daffodil, though I quite like it. My grandma planted it before I could walk, and it has stayed in this spot undisturbed ever since. I've tried to grow daffodils all over the yard and they just never do well, but this one comes up reliably every year and flowers, even though it's in half shade. It does flower late because of the shade though.



Epimedium x rubrum, commonly called red bishop's hat or red barrenwort, is one of my favorite perennials. It has these tiny red flowers with yellow centers, and leaves edged in red, which turn almost completely red in the fall. What a great plant. The flowers are very tiny so the photo is rough, but I couldn't omit it.



The Lewisia tweedyi is coming along, but still has many buds to open. Most of them have only opened on one side of the plant (the sunny side). For scale, the plant is about 18" (45cm) in diameter.



Primula cortusoides, pink woodland primrose, is one of only a couple primroses in my garden. Everyone should have one of these vigorous, easy growing plants in their gardens. I grow this in almost full sun, despite its preference for shade. It would probably do better in shade.



The next photo is just apple blossoms. My mom planted two apple trees (along with a variety of other fruit) when I was a little tyke so I could enjoy the fruit and learn about nature and where our food comes from. I love apple blossoms; they're pretty and wonderfully fragrant.



And now for a couple plants blooming in my coldframe, waiting to be planted. First, Iris cristata, crested iris:



And Androsace sarmentosa 'Chumbyi', rock jasmine. Great fragrance on this neat little plant!

 

[smartie2000]

I have never had success with daffodils outdoors here, so nice job!

I am headed out to Hole's Garden Centre tomorrow I wish to get a peony.
And if I am really lucky maybe I will find a hardy chrysanthemum. I planted some in my childhood that were cold hardy to Edmonton, I moved to a new house and I have never seen a hardy cultivar again since If I remember correctly it was Chrysanthemum 'Coral' (it was so long ago some part of the name could be missing) and I bought it from a grocery store

 

[parvi_17]

I have never had success with daffodils outdoors here, so nice job!

I am headed out to Hole's Garden Centre tomorrow
I wish to get a peony.
And if I am really lucky maybe I will find a hardy chrysanthemum. I planted some in my childhood that were cold hardy to Edmonton, I have never seen that cultivar again since

What you need is one of the morden chrysanthemums (Dendranthemum x morifolium). The two most common cultivars are 'Dreamweaver' and 'Suncatcher'. Those do really well for me, though I have to replace them every 3 years (short-lived?).

I've already been to Hole's 4 times this year . I also work at Greenland, so yeah... I buy a lot of plants .

 

[JeanLux]

Very nice!!! I esp. like the Iris!!! Jean

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

The Lewisia is to die for, really one of "those" plants! Love the little primrose too - so cute. I too love Epimediums and even though there is a great selection here in Japan I have yet to grow any Maybe this year. Do you think the I. cristata can survive you winters OK?

 

[parvi_17]

Do you think the I. cristata can survive you winters OK?

Yep - they're grown here all the time.

 

[goldenrose]

The Lewisia is to die for, really one of "those" plants!

:clap: :drool: my favorite!!! :drool: :clap:

 

[biothanasis]

VEry nice flowers!!!